What effect do political leaders have on policy adoption in response to a crisis? The vote-counting crisis in the presidential election in Florida in 2000 forced policymakers in all 50 states to re-examine their own election laws and procedures. Some state leaders acted as entrepreneurs, seizing the opportunity to advance major reform, while others sought only modest or no substantive change. We test the impact of political leadership on policy adoption in a crisis situation by constructing a leadership variable from content analysis of news coverage in the states. We find that the activities of elected or appointed policymakers, particularly the states' chief elections officials (CEOs), had a decisive effect on the extent of election reforms adopted by the states. Five other factors also affected the adoption of election reforms: political culture, the ideology of a state's electorate, recommendations by statewide commissions, legislative term limits, and the interaction between the winner's margin of victory in the 2000 presidential election and the state's residual vote rate.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlvarezR. MichaelBetsy SinclairD. E.WilsonCatherine H.. 2004. “Counting Ballots and the 2000 Election.” In Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform, eds. CriglerAnn N.JustMarion R.McCafferyEdward J.. New York: Oxford University Press.
2.
AlvarezR. MichaelHallThad E.. 2004. Point, Click and Vote. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
3.
AnsolabehereStephenStewartCharlesIII. 2005. “Residual Votes Attributable to Technology.” Journal of Politics67: 365–89.
4.
BallaSteven. 2001. “Interstate Professional Associations and the Diffusion of Policy Innovations.” American Politics Research29: 221–45.
5.
BarnesJeb. 2004. “Congressional Compromise on Election Reform.” In Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform, eds. CriglerAnn N.JustMarion R.McCafferyEdward J.. New York: Oxford University Press.
6.
BeckerLawrence. 2005. Doing the Right Thing: Collective Action and Procedural Choice in the New Legislative Process. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press.
7.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 1990. “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis.” American Political Science Review84: 395–415.
8.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 1992. “Tax Innovation in the States: Capitalizing on Political Opportunity.” American Journal of Political Science36: 715–42.
9.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 1999. “Innovation and Diffusion Models in Policy Research.” In Theories of the Policy Process, ed. SabatierPaul A.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
10.
BibbyJohn F.HolbrookThomas M.. 2004. “Parties and Elections.” In Politics in the American States, eds. GrayVirginiaHansonRussell L.. 8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
11.
BoinArjenHartPaul't. 2003. “Public Leadership in Times of Crisis: Mission Impossible?” Public Administration Review63: 544–53.
12.
BowlingCynthia J.FergusonMargaret R.. 2001. “Divided Government, Interest Representation, and Policy Differences: Competing Explanations for Gridlock in the Fifty States.” Journal of Politics63: 182–206.
13.
BradyHenry E.BuchlerJustinJarvisMattMcNultyJohn. 2001. Counting All the Votes: The Performance of Voting Technology in the United States. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Government, University of California. http://ucdata.berkeley.edu/new_web/countingallthevotes.pdf (March 25, 2006).
14.
BullockCharles S.IIIHoodM.V.IIIClarkRichard. 2005. “Punch Cards, Jim Crow, and Al Gore: Explaining Voter Trust in the Electoral System in Georgia, 2000.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly5: 283–94.
Election Reform Information Project. 2001. What Has Changed, What Hasn't, and Why: Election Reform since November 2000. http://www.electionline.org (October 2001).
20.
Election Reform Information Project.2002. What Has Changed, What Hasn't, and Why: Election Reform since November 2001. http://www.electionline.org (October 2002).
21.
ElazarDaniel J.1984. American Federalism: A View from the States. 3rd ed.New York: Harper and Row.
22.
EriksonRobert S.WrightGerald C.McIverJohn P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States. New York: Cambridge University Press.
23.
GimpelJames G.DyckJoshua J.. 2005. “Maryland: Policy Entrepreneurship in a One-Party State.” In Election Reform: Politics and Policy, eds. PalazzoloDaniel J.CeaserJames W.. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
24.
GrayVirginia. 2004. “The Socioeconomic and Political Contexts of States.” In Politics in the American States, eds. GrayVirginiaHansonRussell L.. 8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
GrecoDonald Edward. 2002. “Election Reform after the Election of 2000: A Study of the Impact of Politics on Policy Decisions and How Those Decisions Impact the Responsiveness of the Electoral System.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA.
27.
GreensteinFred I.1968. Personality and Politics: Problems of Evidence, Inference, and Conceptualization. Chicago: Markham.
28.
Haider-MarkelDonald P.1998. “The Politics of Social Regulatory Policy: State and Federal Hate Crime Policy and Implementation Effort.” Political Research Quarterly51: 69–88.
29.
Haider-MarkelDonald P.2001. “Policy Diffusion as a Geographical Expansion of the Scope of Political Confict: Same-Sex Marriage Laws in the 1990s.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly1: 5–26.
30.
Haider-MarkelDonald P.O'BrienSean P.. 1997. “Creating a ‘Well Regulated Militia’: Policy Responses to Paramilitary Groups in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly50: 551–65.
31.
HammKeith E.MoncriefGary F.. 2004. “Legislative Politics in the States.” In Politics in the American States, eds. GrayVirginiaHansonRussell L.. 8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
32.
HansenSusan B.1983. The Politics of Taxation. Westport, CT: Praeger.
33.
Indiana Bipartisan Task Force.2001. In the Best Interests of the Voter: The Final Report of the Indiana Bipartisan Task Force on Election Integrityhttp://www.in.gov/sos/pdfs/ DRAFTFIN.pdf (March 25, 2006).
34.
JewellMalcolm E.WhickerMarcia. 1994. Legislative Leadership in the American States. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
35.
KingJames D.1989. “Interparty Competition in the American States: An Examination of Index Components.” Western Political Quarterly42: 83–92.
36.
KingJames D.1994. “Political Culture, Registration Laws, and Voting Behavior in the American States.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism74: 115–27.
37.
KingdonJohn W.2003. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. 2nd ed.New York: Longman, Addison-Wesley.
38.
KnackStephenKropfMartha. 2002. “Who Uses Inferior Voting Technology.” PS: Political Science and Politics35: 541–8.
39.
KnackStephenKropfMartha. 2003. “Voided Ballots in the 1996 Presidential Election: A County-Level Analysis.” Journal of Politics65: 881–97.
40.
KousserThad. 2005. Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
41.
LindblomCharles E.1959. “The Science of ‘Muddling Through.’” Public Administration Review19: 79–88.
42.
LindblomCharles E.1979. “Still Muddling: Not Yet Through.” Public Administration Review39: 517–26.
43.
MacManusSusan A.2005. “Goodbye Chads, Butterfly Ballots, Overvotes, and Recount Ruckuses! Election Reform in Florida, 2000 to 2003.” In Election Reform: Politics and Policy, eds. PalazzoloDaniel J.CeaserJames W.. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
44.
McCafferyEdward J.CriglerAnn N.JustMarion R.. 2004. “A Tale of Two Democracies.” In Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of Election Reform, eds. CriglerAnn N.JustMarion R.McCafferyEdward J.. New York: Oxford University Press.
45.
MintromMichael. 1997. “Policy Entrepreneurs and the Diffusion of Innovation.” American Journal of Political Science41: 738–70.
46.
MintromMichaelVergariSandra. 1998. “Policy Networks and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of Education Reforms.” Journal of Politics60: 126–48.
47.
MooneyChristopher Z.LeeMei-Hsien. 1995. “Legislating Morality in the American States: The Case of Pre-Roe Abortion Regulation Reform.” American Journal of Political Science39: 599–627.
48.
MorehouseSarah M.1996. “Legislative Party Voting for the Governor's Program.” Legislative Studies Quarterly21: 359–81.
49.
National Association of Secretaries of State.2001. “National Association of Secretaries of State Election Reform Resolution.” http://www.nass.org/pubs/pubs_electionres.html (March 25, 2006).
50.
National Commission on Federal Election Reform.2001. To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: The Final Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform. Washington, DC: Century Foundation Press.
51.
National Conference of State Legislatures.2001a.Voting in America: Final Report of the NCSL Elections Reform Task Force. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures.
SabatierPaul A.1993. “Policy Change over a Decade or More.” In Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach, eds. SabatierPaul A.Jenkins-SmithHank C.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
60.
SavageRobert L.1985. “Diffusion Research Traditions and the Spread of Policy Innovations in a Federal System.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism15: 1–28.
61.
StrahanRandallGunningMathew. 2005. “Entrepreneurial Leadership and Election Reform in Georgia, 2001-2003.” In Election Reform: Politics and Policy, eds. PalazzoloDaniel J.CeaserJames W.. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
62.
TomzMichaelVan HouwelingRobert P.. 2003. “How Does Voting Equipment Affect the Racial Gap in Voided Ballots?” American Journal of Political Science47: 46–60.
63.
WalkerJack L.1969. “The Diffusion of Innovations in the American States.” American Political Science Review63: 880–99.
64.
WandJonathan N.ShottsKenneth W.SekhonJasjeet S.MebaneWalter R.Jr.HerronMichael C.BradyHenry E.. 2001. “The Butterfly Did It: The Aberrant Vote for Buchanan in Palm Beach County Florida.” American Political Science Review95: 793–810.
65.
WatsonRobert P., ed. 2004. Counting Votes: Lessons from the 2000 Presidential Election in Florida. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.
66.
WeissertCarol S.1991. “Policy Entrepreneurs, Policy Opportunists, and Legislative Effectiveness.” American Politics Quarterly19: 262–74.
67.
WintersRichard. 1976. “Party Control and Policy Change.” American Journal of Political Science20: 597–636.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
