000 01442pab a2200169 454500
008 180718b2007 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aLens, Vicki
245 _aAdministrative justice in public welfare bureaucracies: when citizens (don't) complain
260 _c2007
300 _ap.382-418.
362 _aMay
520 _aOne of the few avenues open to citizens to dispute mistakes in the administration of public welfare programs is administrative hearings ("fair hearings"). However, recipients rarely use them. This has important implications for social equity, as government is obligated to ensure its process for distributing benefits is fair and equitable. Drawing on data from 28 qualitative interviews with recipients who were sanctioned for violating the work rules, this study explores why recipients appealed, or did not appeal, their work sanctions. The findings indicate that nearly all of the recipients believed they were wrongfully sanctioned and were aware of their right to appeal. For recipients who did not appeal, the fair hearing system was indistinguishable from the rest of the agency, which they viewed as inflexible and intractable. In contrast, those who appealed viewed fair hearings more favorably, and unlike the nonappealers, had been encouraged to appeal by social networks. - Reproduced.
650 _aPublic administration
773 _aAdministration and Society
908 _aN
909 _a74033
999 _c74033
_d74033