Welfare Policy

Interstate Competition and Welfare Policy. Mark Carl Rom, Paul E. Peterson, Kenneth F. Scheve, Jr.In Sanford F. Schram and Samuel H. Beer, Eds.. Welfare Reform, A Race to the Bottom?, 21-44. 1999.

In 1996, the federal government terminated the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and replaced it with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). Many powers once held by the federal government are now being used by state governments. Will welfare assistance be redesigned and expanded or will states “race to the bottom?” This issue is investigated by examining state welfare policy choices during the latter years of AFDC(1976–1994).

Interstate Competition and Welfare Policy. Mark Carl Rom, Paul E. Peterson, Kenneth F. Scheve, Jr.. Publius, The Journal of Federalism, 28(3). 1998.
State Response to Welfare Reform: A Race to the Bottom?. Paul Peterson. Urban Institute Welfare Reform Brief, No. 8. 1995.
Welfare Magnets: A Case for a National Welfare Standard . Paul Peterson, Mark C. Rom. Brookings Institution Press, 178 pages. 1990.

"The best way of handling the question of how much to give the poor, politicians have discovered, is to avoid doing anything about it at all." This book explains why that is not an accident.

American Federalism, Welfare Policy and Residential Choices. Paul Peterson, Mark C. Rom. American Political Science Review. 1989.
Administering Federal Policy. Paul PetersonIn Norman J. Boyan, Ed.. The Handbook of Research on Educational Administration. New York: Longman, 467-486. 1988.
The Case for a National Welfare Standard. Paul Peterson, Mark C. Rom. Brookings Review, 4, 24-32. 1988.