MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING: WELFARE REFORM AND A NEW RACE TO THE BOTTOM

In: Publius: the journal of federalism, Band 28, Heft 3, S. 67-87

Abstract

THE 1996 WELFARE-REFORM LAW HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS A SIGNIFICANT ACT OF DEVOLUTION. FOR SOME, THIS DEVOLUTION WILL FREE STATES TO BECOME "LABORATORIES OF DEMOCRACY" THAT DEVELOP BETTER WELFARE POLICIES; FOR OTHERS, IT WILL PROVOKE A DEBILITATING "RACE TO THE BOTTOM" WHERE STATES WILL REDUCE BENEFITS OUT OF FEAR OF BECOMING "WELFARE MAGNETS" THAT ATTRACT RECIPIENTS FROM OTHER STATES. THIS ARTICLE SUGGESTS THAT NEITHER "LABORATORIES OF DEMOCRACY" NOR "RACE TO THE BOTTOM" DOES JUSTICE TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE 1996 REFORMS. IN THE CASE OF THE FORMER, NEW FEDERAL MANDATES LIMIT STATE ACTION AND STATES FACE INFORMAL PRESSURE TO "KEEP UP" WITH ONE ANOTHER IN DEVELOPING NEW RESTRICTIONS SO THAT THEY CAN AVOID BECOMING "WELFARE MAGNETS." WELFARE REFORM MAY PRODUCE A PROCEDURAL RACE TO THE BOTTOM THAT TURNS THE MYTH OF MIGRATION INTO A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.