Jensen (2003)Patriots, Settlers and the Origins of American Social Policy,

Jensen (2003) analyzes the development of entitlements through a historical institutionalist lens. She shows how the policies have developed as a result of path dependency; path dependency is the idea that once a policy has been established, we maintain the original direction, or atleast for certain do not go back, because the further along a path we go, the more costs we will incur if we turn around. Jensen (2003) explores the origins of entitlements, and what factors in the early years of establishment of our coutry led entitlements to become defined as they are, today. Entitlements are policy driven non-discretionary commitments to individuals from the government. They are government instruments which, it could be argued, accrue less to the recipient than to the national government. The entitlements of the early 1800's were awarded to "certain categories of Americans who served the purposes of the state as it sought to claim, protect, and expand its sovereignty over an immense portion of the North American continent" (Jensen 205). Entitlements led to nation building and the centralization of the federal government. The Pension Act of 1818 and the Homestead Act are 2 examples of entitlements which were instigated the early part of the 18th century as a means for governmental expansion, on their terms. These entitlements benefited white, male Americans; these same citizens helped to solidify the goals early american governance sought to meet. Today, in the United States, entitlements are still geared more towards men, where as what we would call “welfare policy” is more for minorities and women. Jensen’s analysis is a clear description of how the different perceptions of social policy were contrived in America.