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Second-Order Devolution, Bureaucratic Discretion And The Implementation Of The Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Program, Byungkyu Kim

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The passage of PRWORA in 1996 gave states the opportunity to engage in secondorder devolution (SOD), which allows local governments to exercise more discretionary power in the implementation of welfare policies. Currently 14 states have engaged in significant SOD, with a number of other states practicing SOD to a lesser degree. Given this trend in TANF administration, it is important to explore if and how SOD affects the implementation of TANF work sanctions and work-related policies.

Opponents of welfare decentralization insist SOD may lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ in welfare generosity to avoid the immigration of the poor, …