Study on Due Process Model of American Welfare Administration

American welfare administration due process transferred from the statutory entitlement model to the devolved contract model.In the statutory entitlement model,welfare is considered as a new property right directly protected by the due process clause in the constitution.However,the devolved contract model,originating from the Welfare Reform Act in 1996,defines the welfare as a contract right instead of a statutory entitlement,i.e.the welfare only can be obtained after obligation performance according to the public assistant contract sighed between welfare recipients and the devolved local government.Hence there becomes some new development of the protection of such welfare recipients' procedural right in some states.Comparatively speaking,in the statutory entitlement model,the federal government plays a major role in welfare administration and so do the judicial organs in the due process judgments,with only one side obligation of the government.While in the devolved contract model,the state government plays the major role and so does the legislature in the due process judgments,with two sides reciprocity.All this American experience is of great reference meaning for China to build a service government.