Search

Rising welfare rolls have led some students and practitioners to suggest that more efficient administration will curb welfare costs and provide greater uniformity in decisions concerning eligibility. In order to insure strict standards in the administration, the disability insurance program enacted in 1956 relegated the responsibility of determining eligibility to the states, expecting that they would expend benefits less liberally than the national government. This article shows that the administration by states has had at best a nominal impact upon rising costs and uniformity of eligibility decisions. Moreover, their analysis leads the authors to conclude, first, that the states continue to be a potent force in American federalism and, second, that people in need will apply for and receive benefits regardless of the program's nature or its administering agency.