Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America

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.

Author Biography

Graeme Boushey is Assistant Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University. His teaching and research are organized around practical and theoretical questions of state and federal policy-making. He recently co-authored a review of individual and organizational decision-making for the Handbook of Public Policy, and he has also co-authored an article in the Journal of Comparative Public Policy on immigration policy in federations.