Onyiah, Constance Ify2014-05-162014-05-162014-05-01https://hdl.handle.net/11299/163198Professional paper for the fulfillment of the Master of Public Policy program.Over the last several decades, policymakers have used tax policy to expand government social programs. In typical social spending areas such as housing, healthcare, income security, commerce, and education; the federal government has increasingly used tax credits, exemptions, deductions, and exclusions as a means of delivering social benefits. These tax expenditures are a more indirect means of provision than more traditional direct government outlays for agency implemented programs. Scholars have identified these indirect programs as making up a “submerged state” that disproportionately serves high income populations. This paper examines whether there are racial disproportions between indirect and direct program types. By focusing on programs that appear to have similar goals in the areas of housing, healthcare, and income security and using a chi-squared test for significance, I find concentrations of non-whites in direct programs and whites in indirect programs. This finding has important public opinion, civic engagement, and equity implications and indicates an area of necessary further study.en-USState VisibilityRaceTax PolicyThesis or Dissertation