title: Race and the local politics of punishment in the new world of welfare.
abstract: To illuminate how race affects the usage of punitive tools in policy implementation settings, we analyze sanctions imposed for noncompliant client behavior under welfare reform. Drawing on a model of racial classification and policy choice, we test four hypotheses regarding client race, local context, and sanctioning. Based on longitudinal and cross-sectional multilevel analyses of individual-level administrative data, we find that race plays a significant role in shaping sanction implementation. Its effects, however, are highly contingent on client characteristics, local political contexts, and the degree to which state governments devolve policy control to local officials.
authors.affiliation: University of Kentucky. Department of Political Science, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0027, USA. rford@uky.edu
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fording
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soss
authors.forename: Sanford F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Schram
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D057766:Policy; D011057:Politics; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011678:Punishment; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012946:Social Welfare; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States