Between the lines also explores the understanding of welfare rights that has guided the development of welfare policy over the past fifty years what basic beliefs about the welfare state underlie court decisions interpreting these statutes to what extent do members of congress share these views how have the assumptions of judges and members of congress changed over time these are some of . Between the lines interpreting welfare rights r shep melnick no preview available 1994 common terms and phrases action administrators advocates afdc agencies agriculture allowed amendments american appropriate argued assistance authority became benefits bill changes chapter child circuit civil claim committee congress congressional congressional quarterly constitutional cost court . Weaving coherent themes out of the many statutes and case law permutations requires a deft hand drawing from those themes real insights into the role of courts in policy making is an even more daunting task r shep melnick chair of the politics department at brandeis university takes on this challenge in his new book between the lines interpreting welfare rights. Between the lines interpreting welfare rights author mellor william h iii tweet free between the lines also between lines interpreting welfare rights r shep melnick the brookings institution washington dc contents parti issues and context i statutory interpretation in american politics 3 statutory interpretation and the american constitution 8 from laissez faire to programmatic rights 13 child