Second-Hand Policy Feedback: How State Policies Create New National Politics

• In Event: Diffusion of Policy and People across the United States

Abstract

American politics in the twenty-first century has been characterized by both the nationalization of political issues and the devolution of policymaking to the states. State policy decisions can make headlines in-state and out-of-state. These headlines effectively act as advertisements of the state's endorsement of the policy. Additionally, people can observe an out-of-state policy by traveling across state lines. Do state policy adoptions influence public opinion outside of the state adopting the policy? Using a sample of pooled survey data from a variety of sources—such as the Roper Center's survey database and the Cooperative Election Study—across several policies—including recreational marijuana, assault weapon bans, and same-sex marriage—I find that individuals are more likely to support a policy when a state that is geographically, ideologically, or culturally close to them adopts it. This means that a single state's policy adoption can change the politics of other states by bringing a new policy to the political agenda and potentially reconfiguring the policy's supporting and opposing constituencies.

Author

• Samuel F. Harper, University of Iowa