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Poverty, Policy, and Federal Administrative Discourse: Are Bureaucrats Speaking Equitable Antipoverty Policy Designs into Existence?
Author(s) -
Starke Anthony M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.13191
Subject(s) - citizenship , poverty , welfare , public administration , work (physics) , public policy , sociology , welfare reform , public discourse , political science , law , politics , mechanical engineering , engineering
Non‐elected , non‐appointed federal employees , referred to as “bureaucrats , ” are among the many policy actors that participate in policy discourse . This article investigates whether bureaucrats’ administrative discourse promotes economic equality , as Dr . Martin Luther King Jr . envisioned . Based on a qualitative analysis of data from congressional testimonies (n = 34) before and after the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, this study discusses the role of public administrators as contributors to welfare policy discourse and the resulting implications for the fight for equality and equal citizenship . It finds that bureaucrats’ welfare policy discourse marginalized vulnerable populations , particularly African American women .