Panel: Frontiers of State Policy Diffusion: Constitutional Hurdles, Intergovernmental Relations & Target Populations
(Political Processes)

Friday, November 9, 2012: 9:45 AM-11:15 AM
Calhoun (Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel)

*Names in bold indicate Presenter

Organizers:  Jeffrey B. Wenger, University of Georgia
Moderators:  Mark Rom, Georgetown University
Chairs:  Susan L. Moffitt, Brown University

Models of policy diffusion have become commonplace in the policy literature. Recent research has identified five (5) five mechanisms of diffusion: learning, economic competition, imitation, coercion, and most recently, social contagion. Empirical evidence provides some support for each mechanism of diffusion. Despite the multidimensional aspects of diffusion and their empirical support, most studies have failed to investigate the institutional structures of policy diffusion. In this panel each of the four authors will discuss how institutional mechanisms alter policy adoption and policy outcomes. The four authors examine the social construction of target groups, the state constitutional limitations on policy adoption, barriers that intergovernmental relations play in policy adoption and diffusion, and the diffusion of interstate compacts. The strength of this panel is the high quality theoretical work of scholars who are well-published in the field and the focus on empirical investigation of the phenomena.

A Universe At Our Fingertips: The Diffusion of Interstate Compacts Among the American States
Sean C. Nicholson-Crotty, University of Missouri , Ann O'M. Bowman, Texas A&M University, Andrew Karch, University of Minnesota and Neal Woods, University of South Carolina



Intergovernmental Policy Diffusion: National Influence On State Policy Adoptions
Pamela McCann, Evans School, University of Washington, Charles L. Shipan, University of Michigan and Craig Volden, University of Virginia



A Hurdle to Policy Diffusion: The Impacts of Constitutional Structure On Policy Adoption
Daniel L. Fay, The University of Georgia and Jeffrey B. Wenger, University of Georgia




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