Business Improvement District Enabling Laws in the United States and Germany: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Learning

Abstract

This study aims to answer the question of how political cultures of respective countries affect policy learning processes. Using historical and contextual information about the political cultures of the United States and Germany and with applications of the advocacy coalition framework and cultural theory, this study finds that the originally American business improvement district (BID) institutional form was adopted in Germany when its political culture was open to it. German policy makers adopted the provisions of the U.S. laws that were compatible with their secondary beliefs, which were related to where and how to deliver local services. They did not directly adopt the BID governing models in the U.S. laws, which were based on the American deep core and policy core beliefs. Instead, they adapted the American models to their own Hegelian deep core beliefs and the hierarchical political core beliefs, which resulted in the formulation of the “Aufgabenträger” (task performer) model.