The policy initiative known as "Charitable Choice" or the "Faith-based Initiative" is aimed at increasing the amount of public funds flowing to religious organizations that do social services. This initiative began with the 1996 Welfare Reform Bill, and it has been implemented at the federal level mainly through executive orders and administrative changes. At this time, states are not required to pursue this initiative in any way beyond assuring non-discrimination against religious groups in competitions for grants and contracts involving relevant funding streams. However, there is tremendous variety among states regarding the extent to which they are pursuing faith-based initiatives. This variation provides the motivation for this dissertation, which asks two main research questions. First, what are states doing to implement Charitable Choice practices? Second, why are states implementing Charitable Choice practices? To answer the first question, I will document the variation among the 50 states in their implementation of both legislative and administrative Charitable Choice initiatives since 1996. I will investigate the second question by examining the extent to which the political and religious composition of a state, a state's dependence on federal funds, the closeness of ties between a state's leadership and evangelical Christianity, and other factors influence a state's pursuit of faith-based initiatives. This project will contribute to substantive knowledge about the institutionalization of a significant and ongoing policy initiative, and it will contribute to theoretical knowledge about the sources of variation in the depth of that institutionalization. It also will have at least two kinds of broader impacts. First, the data set I will construct will enhance the data infrastructure available for examining the sources of state-level variation in policy implementation. Second, and more broadly, the systematic information I gather about states' activities in this arena will help policy makers and the general public better understand exactly what the faith-based initiative looks like "on the ground," and the results of this research will inform public debate about an important and still developing policy initiative.
