ABSTRACT
Prior to the routinization and bureaucratization of public welfare, the system could be loosely described as discretionary, professional, and decentralized. Instead of discretionary decisions, officials could work out their own and the community's hostilities, citizens would be protected by substantive and procedural rules; they would be rights-bearing citizens, not supplicants. Neutral principles of law applied by an independent judiciary would curb the discretionary authority of the rulers; they, too, would be subject to the rule of law. The burdens of asserting the rule of law, especially in the discretionary, continuous relationship, are just too great for the vast majority of the poor. For significant aspects of social welfare programs, discretion will be necessary, but more needs to be done than trying to refurbish the old system of standards, decentralization, and profession. The workers were pleasant, young, college-educated women, who did not know very much, but were nice to chat with.
