Turner, Robyne

State governments and the federal government, working together, implement more policy innovation in welfare reform. When the federal government dominated welfare policy, only three acts passed, all 20+ years apart--the 1935 Social Security Act, 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and 1988 Family Support Act. Then states, like Florida, became more involved in welfare reform through state waivers after the Family Support Act. Money, voter perceptions, and the states avoidance of becoming welfare magnets led to the shift of control to the states. All of their actions had to be approved by federal government state waivers. Florida, being influenced by the federal welfare dependency and culture of poverty ideologies did more in the next few years than the federal government did in the 60 years prior. The federal 1996 Welfare Reconciliation Act continues the partnership by them still working together and more policy innovation continuing to to be seen in welfare reform.

Many inner-city neighborhoods face a vast array of social and economic problems. These problems are partly due to crime and the lack of employment, housing & communication with local government. Likewise, participation in the political system is low within these neighborhoods as well. As a result, feelings of political alienation & social isolation may be found. This body of work tests for the presence of political alienation & social isolation within community-based organizations (CBOs) of West Palm Beach, FL. By looking at the presence and formation of CBOs, this work will measure if CBOs can remedy feelings of alienation & isolation, increase political participation & impact government policy-making.

The ways in which local newspapers select those actors who will be quoted in their stories has a profound effect on the local policy-making process. In stadium development issues, it is theorized that the media has a pro-growth bias because it has a vested interest in expanding its readership and it relies on institutional sources at the expense of community actors in part because of its increased need to maximize efficiency in its news gathering routines. The results are inconclusive on whether or not a growth bias exists but definitive in its illustration of the over-reliance on governmental sources. The result is that latent and/or actual community opposition to the stadium development issue is ignored in lieu of institutional complaints and the true sentiment of the public is not presented in the public arena.

This thesis examines the importance of a CDC in the revitalization efforts for the neighborhood. The thesis also examines various elements in the political, social, and economic climate, that can have an affect on the successful establishment of the community development corporation (CDC) as the agent for revitalization in the neighborhood. CDC presidents, neighborhood residents, presidents from private lending institutions, and government officials from various levels were interviewed in an attempt to gauge the climate in which CDCs in Palm Beach County operate in. This analysis was used to predict the likelihood that the CDC will successfully be established as the agent for neighborhood revitalization in three neighborhoods in Palm Beach County.