DOES WORKFARE WORK - EVALUATION RESEARCH AND WORKFARE POLICY

The passage of the Family Support Act of 1988, mandating workfare for recipients of AFDC, appears to have been influenced by a firm of program evaluation researchers. This paper examines the organization's research and presentation of findings to account for the unusual prominence of policy experts in the welfare policy domain. Evidence in this case suggests that effective mobilization and deployment of resources through interorganizational networks of policy experts, media, and policymakers, was more important than the position of technocrats in the policy process. This raises the question of whether knowledge about work, welfare, and single motherhood that extends beyond the purview of current policy research could possibly influence policy outcomes.