Charles Lockhart
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Texas Christian University
Areas of Expertise:
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About Charles
Lockhart has studied how and why public social programs; such as social security and Medicaid; differ across societies and among the American states. Based on this research; he has also offered suggestions as to how particularly American national and state social programs might become less controversial and of greater help to vulnerable citizens. In this regard; he has served as a member of the board of directors of the State of Maine Slow Medicine Action Committee.
Contributions
The Pros and Cons of State Tax Breaks for Senior Citizens
Key Findings Brief,
How Women Legislators Help States Become More Supportive of Older Citizens
Key Findings Brief,
Why Do Some U.S. States Support Elders Better than Others?
Key Findings Brief,
In the News
Opinion: "Is Assisted Living in the United States Well Served by Regulations Requiring the Reporting of Detailed Operational Data That is Then Posted on the Internet?," Charles Lockhart, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 2009.
Publications
"Do Women Legislators Have a Positive Effect on the Supportiveness of States toward Older Citizens?" (with ). Journal of Women, Politics and Policy 33, no. 1 (2012): 38-64.
Argues that increasing women’s legislative presence is likely to better enable states to meet the needs of growing numbers of ever more aged citizens.
"Aging across the United States: Matching Needs to States’ Differing Opportunities and Services" (with ) (Penn State University Press, 2010).
Explains how and why the American states differ on five dimensions of “state age friendliness.”
"States’ Senior Residential Property Tax Abatements: Uncontroversial Benefit or Looming but Unrecognized Problem?" (with ). Politics and Policy 38, no. 4 (2010): 677-704.
Shows how the combination of a favorably viewed target population, tax expenditure status, and the frequent categorization of these programs as economic development rather than social policy provides few constraints on their growth.
"Comparing States’ Medicaid Nursing Facilities and HCBS Long-Term Care Programs: Quality and Fit with Inclination, Capacity and Need" (with ). Journal of Aging and Social Policy 21, no. 1 (2009): 52-74.
Demonstrates that the quality of states’ Medicaid nursing facility long-term care programs is only weakly related to the quality of their increasingly prominent (Medicaid) Home and Community Based Services long-term care programs, and the states’ inclination toward, capacity to undertake, and need for these latter programs also exert little influence on quality.
"Cross-State Variation in Medicaid Support for Older Citizens in Long-Term Care Nursing Facilities" (with ). State and Local Government Review 40, no. 3 (2008): 173-185.
Shows that positive resource support for these programs among the states rests largely on states’ need for the service and their material capacity to support it; factors associated with reduced support include the stringency of functional admission criteria, reliance on Home and Community Based alternatives to nursing home care and the proportion of states’ older residents who are persons of color.
"Gaining Ground: Tailoring Social Programs to American Values" (University of California Press, 1989).
Explains how to build robust social policy coverage of American citizens consistent with American values.