Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Examining strategies used by policy entrepreneurs can enhance our understanding of how policy changes occur in the policy making process. This study builds on the works of Kingdon (1984), Schiller (1995), Worsham (1997) and Mintrom (1997, 2000). Specifically, this study focuses on policy changes pursued by policy entrepreneurs both directly and indirectly related to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The first two chapters of this dissertation introduce the policy changes incorporated in TANF and contrast them to those which made up its predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). How the discussion of domestic violence came about with respect to TANF's policy changes is explicated. Chapter Three offers a theory for how policy entrepreneurs select their strategies when pursuing policy change. Three factors are hypothesized to affect their strategies: the stage in which the policy currently resides, salience of the policy and the other interesteds who oppose the policy change desired by the policy entrepreneur. How each of these influences the policy entrepreneurs selection of strategy is considered. Chapter Four presents two case studies which test this theory. The first focuses on actions taken by Senator Joseph Biden in pursuing a policy change that resulted in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. The second examines the strategies adopted by Jody Raphael, J.D., in seeking a policy change, the Family Violence Option (FVO), which was added as an amendment to the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). This Act replaced AFDC with TANF. In Chapter Five, both individual level data and aggregate level data are examined in order to answer the question of whether women on TANF being trapped in abusive relationships, by virtue of the policy changes contained within this legislation. The findings reported herein suggest that correlates of domestic violence cited in other studies hold for the sample utilized in this research. Additionally, the results suggest that the ‘trapping’ effect of the policy changes incorporated in TANF are not reflected by the data examined in this analysis.

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