Urine or You're Out: The Determinants of Welfare Drug Testing Policy, 2010-2015

• In Event: 065 - Regular Session. Social Welfare Programs

Abstract

Since 2010, fifteen U.S. states have passed some sort of restrictive drug-testing program for welfare-applicants and/or suspected recipients. Sociologists are often concerned with identifying the conditions under which states implement a particular social policy. As such, we ask what conditions separate states that have implemented drug testing policies for welfare applicants from those that have not. Using discrete-time event history analysis models we test several existing theories of policy creation, such as diffusion, group threat, and political processes. Results indicate that a lessening gap in unemployment rate between whites and racial minorities predicts policy enactment. We also find that passage is positively associated with possessing a Republican governor, and having a higher proportion of neighboring states that have passed legislation. In line with existing research, our results re-affirm the association between downward economic mobility and reactionary political response. They also underscore the ongoing shift towards disciplinary poverty management in the United States, even in the face of a substantial economic downturn.

Authors

• Andrew Davis, University of Arizona

• Eric Bjorklund, The University of Arizona

• Jessica Ann Pfaffendorf, University of Arizona