What is the Submerged State?

But the truth is, that almost all of us, even the richest and most well-off, benefit from government services and programs.

There are services that most of us can recognize as government programs: food stamps, welfare, Pell Grants, Medicare and Medicaid, and Social Security retirement benefits. Maybe you’ve used some of these.

But there are also not so visible government programs that we might benefit from without realizing. These are usually hidden in the tax code or through subsidies through private organizations. These include the home-mortgage-interest deduction and tax exemptions you may get on employer-provided health and retirement benefits. You might have used some of these as well without even knowing it. 

We speak with Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell University, calls this the "submerged state." She is also the author of the book “The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy.”