SHARP, Elaine B. <br/><br/>
Local government, social programs, and political partcipation :  A test of policy-centered theory 

 - Georgia :  Carl Vinson Institute of Government of the University of Georgia,  2009 
<br/><br/> This article applies policy-centered theory to a study of the effect of county governments' social program activity on local political participation. The analysis shows that participants' exposure to heightened levels of means-tested and universal programs does have the contrasting consequences for local forms of civic engagement that have been found in studies of national-level participation. Moreover, the participation-dampening effect of means-tested programs trumps the mobilizing effects of universal programs. The analysis also extends policy-centered theory by showing that means-tested programs send demobilizing messages to a somewhat broader target population than policy-centered theory usually envisions.