Ideology, Learning, and Policy Diffusion
Ideology, Learning, and Policy Diffusion

Author: Daniel M. Butler

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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We introduce experimental research design to the study of policy diffusion in order to better understand the role of political ideology in policymakers' willingness to learn from one another's experiences. Our two experiments, embedded in national surveys of U.S. municipal officials, expose local policymakers to vignettes describing the zoning and home foreclosure policies of other cities, and offer an opportunity to learn more. We find that: (1) policymakers who are ideologically predisposed against the described policy are relatively unwilling to learn from others, but (2) such ideological biases can be overcome with an emphasis on the policy's success or on its adoption by co-partisans in other communities. We also find, however, a similar partisan-based bias among traditional ideological supporters. Thus partisanship does not solely broaden patterns of learning and diffusion, but can also undermine such learning precisely where it is most likely to occur absent any partisan cue. We finish with a discussion on the vast array of new opportunities that an experimental approach offers scholars of policy diffusion.

Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America
Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America

Author: Graeme Boushey

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1139493000

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Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America integrates research from agenda setting and epidemiology to model factors that shape the speed and scope of public policy diffusion. Drawing on a data set of more than 130 policy innovations, the research demonstrates that the 'laboratories of democracy' metaphor for incremental policy evaluation and emulation is insufficient to capture the dynamic process of policy diffusion in America. A significant subset of innovations trigger outbreaks - the extremely rapid adoption of innovation across states. The book demonstrates how variation in the characteristics of policies, the political and institutional traits of states, and differences among interest group carriers interact to produce distinct patterns of policy diffusion.

The Study of US State Policy Diffusion
The Study of US State Policy Diffusion

Author: Christopher Z. Mooney

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-01-07

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 1108962513

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In 1969, political scientist Jack Walker published 'The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States' in the American Political Science Review. 'Walker 1969' has since become a cornerstone of political science, packed with ideas, conjectures, and suggestions that spawned multiple lines of research in multiple fields. In good Kuhnian fashion, Walker 1969 is important less for the answers it provides than for the questions it raises, inspiring generations of political scientists to use the political, institutional, and policy differences among the states to understand policymaking better. Walker 1969 is the rock on which the modern subfield of state politics scholarship was built, in addition to inspiring copious research into federalism, comparative politics, and international relations. This Element documents the deep and extensive impact of Walker 1969 on the study of policymaking in the US states. In the process, it organizes and analyzes that literature, demonstrating its progress and promise.

Bounded Rationality and Policy Diffusion
Bounded Rationality and Policy Diffusion

Author: Kurt Weyland

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-02-09

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1400828066

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Why do very different countries often emulate the same policy model? Two years after Ronald Reagan's income-tax simplification of 1986, Brazil adopted a similar reform even though it threatened to exacerbate income disparity and jeopardize state revenues. And Chile's pension privatization of the early 1980s has spread throughout Latin America and beyond even though many poor countries that have privatized their social security systems, including Bolivia and El Salvador, lack some of the preconditions necessary to do so successfully. In a major step beyond conventional rational-choice accounts of policy decision-making, this book demonstrates that bounded--not full--rationality drives the spread of innovations across countries. When seeking solutions to domestic problems, decision-makers often consider foreign models, sometimes promoted by development institutions like the World Bank. But, as Kurt Weyland argues, policymakers apply inferential shortcuts at the risk of distortions and biases. Through an in-depth analysis of pension and health reform in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Peru, Weyland demonstrates that decision-makers are captivated by neat, bold, cognitively available models. And rather than thoroughly assessing the costs and benefits of external models, they draw excessively firm conclusions from limited data and overextrapolate from spurts of success or failure. Indications of initial success can thus trigger an upsurge of policy diffusion.

Promoting the General Welfare
Promoting the General Welfare

Author: Alan S. Gerber

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2007-05-01

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0815731221

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The U.S. Constitution calls on the government to "promote the general welfare." In this provocative and innovative book, a distinguished roster of political scientists and economists evaluates its ability to carry out this task. The first section of the book analyzes government performance in the areas of health, transportation, housing, and education, suggesting why suboptimal policies often prevail. The second set of chapters examines two novel and sometimes controversial tools that can be used to improve policy design: information markets and laboratory experiments. Finally, the third part of the book asks how three key institutions—Congress, the party system, and federalism—affect government's ability to solve important social problems. These chapters also raise the disturbing possibility that recent political developments have contributed to a decline in governmental problem-solving activity. Taken together, the essays in this volume suggest that opportunities to promote the common good are frequently missed in modern American government. But the book also carries a more hopeful message. By identifying possible solutions to the problems created by weak incentives, poor information, and inadequate institutional capacity, Promoting the General Welfare shows how government performance can be improved. Contributors include Eugene Bardach (University of California-Berkeley), Sarah Binder (Brookings Institution and George Washington University), Morris P. Fiorina (Stanford University), Jay P. Greene (University of Arkansas), Robin Hanson (George Mason University), Charles A. Holt (University of Virginia), David R. Mayhew (Yale University), Edgar O. Olsen (University of Virginia), Mark Carl Rom (Georgetown University), Roberta Romano (Yale Law School), William M. Shobe (University of Virginia), Angela M. Smith (University of Virginia), Aidan R. Vining (Simon Fraser University), David L. Weimer (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Clifford Winston (Brook

Diffusion of Good Government
Diffusion of Good Government

Author: Natasha Borges Sugiyama

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess

Published: 2012-12-15

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0268092826

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One of the most fundamental questions for social scientists involves diffusion events; simply put, how do ideas spread and why do people embrace them? In Diffusion of Good Government: Social Sector Reforms in Brazil, Natasha Borges Sugiyama examines why innovations spread across political territories and what motivates politicians to adopt them. Sugiyama does so from the vantage point of Brazilian politics, a home to innovative social sector reforms intended to provide the poor with access to state resources. Since the late 1980s, the country has undergone major policy transformations as local governments have gained political, fiscal, and administrative autonomy. For the poor and other vulnerable groups, local politics holds special importance: municipal authorities provide essential basic services necessary for their survival, including social assistance, education, and health care. Brazil, with over 5,000 municipalities with a wide variety of political cultures and degrees of poverty, thus provides ample opportunities to examine the spread of innovative programs to assist such groups. Sugiyama delves into the politics of social sector reforms by examining the motivations for emulating well-regarded programs. To uncover the mechanisms of diffusion, her analysis contrasts three paradigmatic models for how individuals choose to allocate resources: by advancing political self-interest to gain electoral victories; by pursuing their ideological commitments for social justice; or by seeking to demonstrate adherence to the professional norms of their fields. Drawing on a mixed-method approach that includes extensive field research and statistical analysis on the spread of model programs in education (especially Bolsa Escola, a school grant program) and health (Programa Saúde da Família, a family health program), she concludes that ideological convictions and professional norms were the main reasons why mayors adopted these programs, with electoral incentives playing a negligible role.

Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy
Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy

Author: Evan Ringquist

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-01-09

Total Pages: 590

ISBN-13: 1118190130

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Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy is a groundbreaking book that introduces meta-analysis and includes proven techniques for research in public management and policy. The book provides statistical approaches to meta-analysis most useful for public policy and management and features five examples of original meta-analyses of important questions in public management and policy conducted by the author and his team. These original studies show step-by-step how to conduct a meta-analysis and contribute original research on ...

Understanding Public Policy
Understanding Public Policy

Author: Paul Cairney

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-11-08

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 1350311979

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The fully revised second edition of this textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to theories of public policy and policymaking. The policy process is complex: it contains hundreds of people and organisations from various levels and types of government, from agencies, quasi- and non-governmental organisations, interest groups and the private and voluntary sectors. This book sets out the major concepts and theories that are vital for making sense of the complexity of public policy, and explores how to combine their insights when seeking to explain the policy process. While a wide range of topics are covered – from multi-level governance and punctuated equilibrium theory to 'Multiple Streams' analysis and feminist institutionalism – this engaging text draws out the common themes among the variety of studies considered and tackles three key questions: what is the story of each theory (or multiple theories); what does policy theory tell us about issues like 'evidence based policymaking'; and how 'universal' are policy theories designed in the Global North? This book is the perfect companion for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying public policy, whether focussed on theory, analysis or the policy process, and it is essential reading for all those on MPP or MPM programmes. New to this Edition: - New sections on power, feminist institutionalism, the institutional analysis and development framework, the narrative policy framework, social construction and policy design - A consideration of policy studies in relation to the Global South in an updated concluding chapter - More coverage of policy formulation and tools, the psychology of policymaking and complexity theory - Engaging discussions of punctuated equilibrium, the advocacy coalition framework and multiple streams analysis

Ideology & Social Networks
Ideology & Social Networks

Author: Natasha Borges Sugiyama

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13:

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This dissertation examines the politics of local social policy making following Brazil's re-democratization. Decentralization in Brazil granted municipalities responsibility to design and tailor social policies to meet local demands. Yet instead of developing their own programs many governments chose to adopt those made famous elsewhere. What accounts for the diffusion of innovations across Brazil? This dissertation tests three approaches for understanding policy makers' emulation decisions: political incentives, ideology, and socialized norms. Each of these three motivations reflects a different paradigmatic response to the question, what drives political behavior? A conventional political incentives approach follows a rational choice framework that incorporates neoclassical behavioral assumptions and posits people will behave strategically to further their own self-interest. The classic assumption in this vein is that politicians will seek to win re-election. On the other hand, scholars who adopt an ideational approach examine the way people make choices because of their ideological convictions. Rather than seek their own political self-interest, actors can make decisions in spite of themselves or others because of deeply held beliefs about what is right and how to enact social change. Lastly, a sociological approach examines how individuals conform to shared norms and seek legitimacy in the eyes of their colleagues. To test these motivational approaches I examine the diffusion of Bolsa Escola, an education program, and Programa Saúde da Família, a family health program. Evidence for my argument is based on statistical event history analysis and qualitative case study research from four exemplary cities. The electoral incentives approach offers a surprisingly weak explanation for the diffusion of innovative social policies. Rather, diffusion occurs when elected executives feel ideologically compelled to replicate programs and when policy professionals engaged in relevant networks seek to demonstrate their adherence to professional norms. Both ideology and social networks can work together in mutually reinforcing ways to promote diffusion.

Networks and Geographies of Global Social Policy Diffusion
Networks and Geographies of Global Social Policy Diffusion

Author: Michael Windzio

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-11-24

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 3030834034

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This open access book analyses the global diffusion of social policy as a process driven by multiplex ties between countries in global social networks. The contributions analyze links between countries via global trade, colonial history, similarity in culture, and spatial proximity. Networks are viewed as the structural backbone of the diffusion process, and diffusion is anlaysed via several subfields of social policy, in order to interrogate which network dimensions drive this process. The focus is on a global perspective of social policy diffusion via networks, and it is the first book to explicitly follow this macro-quantitative perspective on diffusion at a global scale whilst also comparing different networks. The collection tests the network structures in terms of their relevance to the diffusion process in different subfields of social policy such as old age and survivor pensions, labor and labor markets, health and long-term care, education and training, and family and gender policy. The book will therefore be invaluable to students and researchers of global social policy, sociology, political science, international relations, organization theory and economics.