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36 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 663 (2004-2005)
The Doorkeeper and the Grand Inquisitor: The Central Role of Verification Procedures in Means-Tested Welfare Programs

handle is hein.journals/colhr36 and id is 671 raw text is: THE DOORKEEPER AND THE GRAND INQUISITOR:* THE CENTRAL ROLE OF VERIFICATION PROCEDURES IN MEANS- TESTED WELFARE PROGRAMS Amy Mulzer** I. INTRODUCTION All means-tested social welfare programs in the United States are made up of three primary elements: eligibility restrictions, benefit levels, and application procedures. Both eligibility restrictions and benefit levels have been persistent subjects of debate in this country. During the Reagan administration, disagreements over the importance of the nation's welfare program took the form of debates over benefit and eligibility levels. Rather than saying that he wanted to eliminate welfare, the President argued that his cuts were legitimate attempts to better target scarce resources at those who were truly needy.' Likewise, rather than arguing that aiding the * This title was suggested by a description of verification given by William Simon. Simon compares the social work model of verification with Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor and the legal-bureaucratic one with Kafka's Doorkeeper, who stands, passive and inscrutable, before the door to the Law, and announces only when it is too late, 'this door was intended for you.' William H. Simon, Legality, Bureaucracy, and Class in the Welfare System, 92 Yale L.J. 1198, 1198-99 (1983) (quoting Franz Kafka, The Trial 269 (Vintage ed. 1969)). ** B.A., Bard College (2001); J.D., Columbia University School of Law (2005); Articles Editor, Columbia Human Rights Law Review (2004-05). I would like to thank David Super for his valuable criticism on several drafts and for his support and encouragement. I would also like to thank Jason Parkin and Kristin Heavey for their editorial assistance. 1. See, e.g., Richard E. Meyer & Barry Bearak, Numbers Worsen: Poverty: Toll Grows Amid Aid Cutbacks, L.A. Times, July 28, 1985, at Al (quoting David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget and the chief

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