Between 1965 And 1970, Welfare Caseloads More Than Doubled And Costs GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Caseloads at social agencies more than quadrupled, and expenses tripled between 1965 and 1970. Comprehensive welfare reform failed to win over a majority of lawmakers under the presidency of Richard Nixon. The welfare reform legislation raised difficult questions about who is entitled to help, how much, and on what conditions; these are the sorts of queries that have been resistant to a political settlement for the whole of welfare's existence.

The Nixon administration used a standard instrument for management—performance monitoring—to bring about changes in government policy. Officials working at the middle management level in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) transformed quality control, which is a system for monitoring the accuracy of state welfare payments, into an instrument that can indirectly influence states to become more restrictive in the provision of welfare. The apparent objective of quality control was to achieve budgetary responsibility.

Using this tool, the Department of Health and Human Services could keep an eye on welfare payments made by states and withhold federal reimbursement for those payments it regarded to be in error. Quality control also had a covert political purpose, partially reflected in its design. It would only punish states for overpayments and payments given to those not qualified.

The efficiency of quality control was contingent on the uncoordinated reactions of street-level bureaucrats working in hundreds of local welfare offices to the new requirements that administrative reform put on the workplace. For instance, social workers turned the organizational concern for procedural regularity into demands that welfare applicants frequently present hundreds of papers that may or may not be relevant to their eligibility for the program.

Regardless of whether or not these requirements were acceptable, applicants for welfare who could not satisfy these procedural requirements were not approved. The reform of the administrative system substituted laxity for errors of strictness. Workers reacted to incentives to enhance quantifiable dimensions of performance, including procedural uniformity and productivity, which effectively supplanted behaviours geared toward the helpful parts of welfare policy. These attributes include productivity and procedural uniformity. During this same period, workers' discretion to make excessive procedural demands went largely unrestrained.

The integrity of the theoretical claim to welfare guaranteed by legislation and backed by judicial precedent was not flagrantly compromised by quality control in any way. On the contrary, it seemed to be crafted to guard this promise. On the other hand, quality control has begun a process that effectively deprives people of their entitlements. Because its negative impacts were never assessed nor witnessed, the quality control system retained its visible validity. As a result, governmental institutions and officials were shielded from the consequences of the activities they took. In this regard, quality control worked to undermine the accountability of the government, which is paradoxical given that this was one of its stated goals. In addition, via quality control, federal authorities have the potential to indirectly influence state administrative procedures without explicitly intruding on areas traditionally reserved for nominal state power. Performance assessment supported by financial consequences was shown to be a rather powerful device, even if it was inadequately cast, for penetrating a decentralized bureaucracy.

“Between 1965 and 1970, welfare caseloads more than doubled and costs”- is a GMAT reading comprehension exercise. Candidates need to be highly proficient in GMAT reading comprehension. There are three comprehension questions in this GMAT reading comprehension section. The purpose of the GMAT Reading Comprehension questions is to evaluate candidates' comprehension, analysis, and application skills. Candidates who are actively preparing can benefit from GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. The author of the paragraph describes all of the above as unfavourable impacts of quality control, with the following exceptions:

1. a focus that is disproportionately placed on administrative paperwork and processes.
2. sanctions for state welfare agencies that are arbitrary and inconsistent with one another
3. a reduction in the number of persons who were qualified to receive assistance from the welfare system
4. the absence of responsibility for some systemic violations committed inside the welfare system.
5. the beginning of a procedure that will ultimately result in a loss of entitlement

2. The term "uncoordinated replies of street-level officials" may be found in paragraph 4 and is used for the following reasons:

1. you should agree with the author's contention that the inappropriate administrative processes led to the denial of welfare payments for many applicants.
2. disprove the hypothesis that quality control was used to force states to adhere to greater responsibility in managing their financial resources.
3. Provide evidence that the quality control measures were first implemented to further political goals rather than social ones.
4. Suggest a feasible explanation for why performance monitoring hasn't successfully brought about broad-based welfare reform.
5. rebukes bureaucrats for how things are going regarding quality control and the situation they've created.

3. According to the author of the passage, what recommendations do they make about using standard management instruments to bring about policy changes in the welfare system?

1. Changes in policy and practice at welfare organizations need to be implemented in such a manner as to guarantee that personnel and applicants comply with applicable legislation.
2. Methods of administrative reform such as performance monitoring can potentially push welfare organizations toward adopting too restrictive policies.
3. Changes in how welfare is administered at the national level may make it possible to efficiently monitor state payments and financing from the federal government for repayment.
4. The federal government was held more responsible for its acts thanks to implementing quality control procedures.
5. In the past, such instruments have needed to be more effective in implementing policy changes.

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