Bringing the states back in: The National Governors' Association and transformations in United States welfare policy, 1986--1996

Existing theories of national policy transformation fall into three main categories: state-centered, class dominance, and interest group activity, with each category emphasizing a different key actor in policy-change. A problem with this framework, however, is that it may not appropriately capture the policy-making process within the United States. Because of the federalist structure of the nation-state, national policy-change within the U.S. often involves the input of subnational government organizations. As political actors, these organizations pose a challenge to dominant theories of political process and policy-change because they connect state, elite and organized interests in unique ways: individual members of subnational governments theoretically constitute state actors, these elite actors form professional associations, and these professional associations represent their member's interests in national policy arenas. It is unclear, however, whether they function as state actors, elite-class representatives, or interests groups in policy-making processes.; To understand more fully, how these organizations function national policy-making, this dissertation provides a detailed analysis of the efforts of the National Governors' Association (NGA) to transform U.S. welfare policy, from 1986 to 1996. Data for this project were gathered from forty-four semi-structured interviews with political actors who were involved in the welfare policy-making process during the time period that this dissertation examines. In addition, primary source documents were utilized to supplement the interview data and to provide an accurate record of legislative history.; The empirical evidence suggests that the function of the NGA in national welfare reform changed over time and across differing political contexts, from an interest group to a state actor. This change in function was prompted by an interaction between intra-organizational variables---institutional capacity, and consensus and conflict over substantive policy matters---and shifts in the broader political context. Based on these findings, I propose an alternative approach to the concept of political action that helps to bridge existing theories of national policy-making processes, and outlines the specific conditions that facilitate different types of political action.