Is Devolution Working? Federal and State Roles in Welfare

Examining Administrative Effect on Changes in TANF Caseloads in the United States

“…Ewalt and Jennings (2004) presented a similar argument, emphasizing the importance of the influence of administrative activities on changing TANF caseloads (also see Nathan & Gais, 2001). Unfortunately, such closely related empirical studies are rare, and in themselves inadequate, and pay little attention to the mediating role of the administrative effect on welfare caseloads.…”

“…A review of prior research reveals that, in the late 1990s, welfare caseloads declined as a result of reduced numbers of people entering the welfare system, 1 administrative errors, 2 and intentional administrative behaviors. Nathan and Gais (2001) highlight the actions of government officers as a key factor in the decline in TANF caseloads (also see Bane & Ellwood, 1994;Brodkin, 1986Brodkin, , 1997Broughton, 2010;Lipsky, 1980;Weaver & Hasenfeld, 1997), while De Jong et al (2006) indicate that numerous states exhibited a trend toward more stringent requirements for maintaining TANF eligibility.…”

Decentralizing Pork: Congressional Roll‐Call Voting, Decentralized Administration, and Distributive Politics

“…We call this decentralized implementation. That outcomes may vary widely across states when implementation is decentralized in this way is neither surprising to scholars of policy processes (e.g., Baumgartner and Jones 1993;Boushey 2010;Gray and Lowery 1996;Nathan and Gais 2001;Volden 2007) nor to members of Congress. When a program is centralized-a federal agency administers its programs, services, and resources-members can advocate on behalf of their constituents, push for demonstration programs, and claim credit for any successes from agency efforts regarding that program.…”

Policy Research: The Field Dimension

“…Observational accounts of the recent fall by journalists and field researchers trace it principally to welfare reform, by which a welfare mothers take employment seriously as an alternative to welfare. Jobs also had to be available, and they were, but what triggered change was the new work policy (DeParle, 1997; Nathan & Gais, 2001).…”