A persistent question in the literature on policy adoption and diffusion focuses on the ways in which jurisdictions gather policy information. Decades of research have offered numerous conclusions regarding knowledge transfer mechanisms assumed to drive diffusion. While important, we suggest that the characteristics of existing work may have limited what we know about the exchange of policy information among peers. Most studies infer learning indirectly, and as a result, the literature has tended to focus on exchange between geographic and ideological peers, to the exclusion of other channels. As an alternative, this study takes a more direct approach and draws on a survey of 112 U.S. expert informants in the area of energy policy. We use the information exchange channels revealed by these informants to predict the diffusion of state renewable portfolio standards and electricity deregulation among the American states to determine whether they offer explanatory leverage beyond the “traditional” channels.
AndrewsClinton J.2000. “Diffusion Pathways for Electricity Deregulation.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism30 (3):17–34.
2.
ArdoinPhillip J.DennisGrady. 2006. “The Politics of Electricity Restructuring across the American States: Power Failure and Policy Failure.” State and Local Government Review38 (3):165–75.
3.
BallaSteven J.2001. “Interstate Professional Associations and the Diffusion of Policy Innovations.” American Politics Research39:221–45.
4.
BerryWilliam D.FordingRichard C.RingquistEvan J.HansonRussell L.KlarnerCarl E.2010. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the U.S. States: A Re-Appraisal.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly10 (2):117–35. http://rcfording.wordpress.com/state-ideology-data/ (accessed January 19, 2011).
5.
BoehmkeFrederick J.2009. “Policy Emulation or Policy Convergence? Potential Ambiguities in the Dyadic Event History Approach to State Policy Emulation.” The Journal of Politics71 (3):1125–40.
6.
BousheyGraeme. 2010. Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Bromley-TrujilloRebeccaButlerJ. S.PoeJohnDavisWhitney. 2016. “The Spreading of Innovation: State Adoptions of Energy and Climate Change Policy.” Review of Policy Research33 (5):544–65.
8.
ButlerDaniel M.VoldenCraigDynesAdam M.ShorBoris. 2017. “Ideology, Learning, and Policy Diffusion: Experimental Evidence.” American Journal of Political Science61 (1):37–49.
9.
CarleySanyaMillerChris J.2012. “Regulatory Stringency and Policy Drivers: A Reassessment of Renewable Portfolio Standards.” Policy Studies Journal40 (4):730–56.
10.
CarleySanyaNicholson-CrottySeanMillerChris. 2016. “Adoption, Reinvention, and Amendment of Renewable Portfolio Standards in the American States.” Journal of Public Policy40 (4):730–56.
11.
ChandlerJess. 2009. “Trendy Solutions: Why Do States Adopt Sustainable Energy Portfolio Standards?”Energy Policy37 (8):3274–81.
12.
CrainRobert L.1966. “Fluoridation: The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Cities.” Social Forces44(4): 467–76.
13.
DesmaraisBruce A.HardenJeffrey J.BoehmkeFrederick J.2015. “Persistent Policy Pathways: Inferring Diffusion Networks in the American States.” American Political Science Review109 (02):392–406.
14.
FosterJohn L.1978. “Regionalism and Innovation in the American States.” The Journal of Politics40 (1):179–87.
15.
FowlerLukeBreenJoseph. 2013. “The Impact of Political Factor on States’ Adoption of Renewable Portfolio Standards.” The Electricity Journal26 (2):79–94.
16.
GarrettKristin N.JansaJoshua M.2015. “Interest Group Influence in Policy Diffusion Networks.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly15 (3):387–417.
17.
GilardiFabrizio. 2012. “Transnational Diffusion: Norms, Ideas, and Policies.” (2012). In Handbook of International Relations, eds. CarlsnaesWalterRisseThomasSimmonsBeth. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, pp. 453–477.
18.
GilardiFabrizioFüglisterKatharina. 2008. “Empirical Modeling of Policy Diffusion in Federal States: The Dyadic Approach.” Swiss Political Science Review14 (3):413–50.
19.
GlickDavid M.FriedlandZ. 2014. “How often Do States Study Each Other? Evidence of Policy Knowledge Diffusion.” American Politics Research42 (6):956–85.
20.
GormleyWilliam T.1986. “Regulatory Issue Networks in a Federal System.” Polity18:595–620.
21.
GrossbackLawrence J.Nicholson-CrottySeanPetersonDavid A. M.2004. “Ideology and Learning in Policy Diffusion.” American Politics Research32 (5):521–45.
22.
Haider-MarkelDonald P.2001. “Policy Diffusion as a Geographical Expansion of the Scope of Political Conflict: Same-Sex Marriage Bans in the 1990s.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly1:5–26.
23.
Haider-MarkelDonald P.MeierKenneth J.1996. “The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Rights: Expanding the Scope of the Conflict.” The Journal of Politics58 (2):332–49.
24.
HillKim QuaileKlarnerCarl. 2002. “The Many Faces of Elite Power in the ‘System of 1896’.” The Journal of Politics64 (4):1115–36.
25.
HuangMing-YuanAlavalapatiJanaki R. R.CarterDouglas R.LangholtzMatthew H.2007. “Is the Choice of Renewable Portfolio Standards Random?”Energy Policy35 (11): 5571–75.
26.
KarchAndrew. 2007. Democratic Laboratories: Policy Diffusion among the American States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
27.
KarchAndrew. 2012. “Vertical Diffusion and the Policy-Making Process: The Politics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research.” Political Research Quarterly65 (1):48–61.
28.
KarchAndrewNicholson-CrottySean C.WoodsNeal D.BowmanAnn O’M.2016. “Policy Diffusion and the Pro-Innovation Bias.” Political Research Quarterly69 (1): 83–95.
29.
LiebermanRobert C.ShawGreg M.2000. “Looking Inward, Looking Outward: The Politics of State Welfare Innovation under Devolution.” Political Research Quarterly53 (2): 215–40.
30.
LyonThomas P.HaitaoYin. 2010. “Why Do States Adopt Renewable Portfolio Standards? An Empirical Investigation.” The Energy Journal31 (3):133–57.
31.
MaggettiMartinoGilardiFabrizio. 2016. “Problems (and Solutions) in the Measurement of Policy Diffusion Mechanisms.” Journal of Public Policy36 (1):87–107.
MatisoffDaniel C.2008. “The Adoption of State Climate Change Policies and Renewable Portfolio Standards: Regional Diffusion or Internal Determinants?”Review of Policy Research25 (6):527–46.
34.
MatisoffDaniel C.JasonEdwards. 2014. “Kindred Spirits or Intergovernmental Competition? The Innovation and Diffusion of Energy Policies in the American States (1990–2008).” Environmental Politics23 (5):795–817.
35.
McCannPamela J.ClouserShipanCharlesVoldenCraig. 2015. “Top-down Federalism: State Policy Responses to National Government Discussions.” Publius45:495–515.
36.
MeseguerCovadonga. 2005. “Policy Learning, Policy Diffusion, and the Making of a New Order.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science598 (1): 67–82.
37.
MintromMichaelVergariSandra. 1998. “Policy Networks and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of Education Reform.” Journal of Politics60:126–48.
38.
MooneyChristopher Z. 1991. “Information Sources in State Legislative Decision Making.” Legislative Studies Quarterly, pp.445–455.
39.
MooneyChristopher Z.2001. The Public Clash of Private Values: The Politics of Morality Policy. CQ Press.
40.
MooneyChristopher Z.LeeMei-Hsien. 1995. “Legislative Morality in the American States: The Case of Pre-Roe Abortion Regulation Reform.” American Journal of Political Science39:599–627.
41.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 1991. Solar Radiation Data Manual for Flat-Plate and Concentrating Collectors. http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/pubs/redbook/ (accessed January 3, 2008).
42.
NC Clean Energy Technology Center. 2015. Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE). http://www.dsireusa.org (accessed November 2015).
43.
Nicholson-CrottySean. 2004. “The Politics and Administration of Privatization: Contracting Out for Corrections Management in the United States.” Policy Studies Journal32 (1):41–57.
44.
Nicholson-CrottySean. 2009. “The Politics of Diffusion: Public Policy in the American States.” The Journal of Politics71 (1):192–205.
45.
Nicholson-CrottySeanCarleySanya. 2016. “Effectiveness, Implementation Capacity, and Policy Diffusion: Or, ‘Can We Make That Work for Us?’”State Politics & Policy Quarterly16:78-97.
46.
Rabe BarryG.2004. Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
47.
RabeBarry G.2009. “Second-Generation Climate Policies in the States: Proliferation, Diffusion, and Regionalization.” In Changing Climates in North American Politics: Institutions, Policymaking, and Multilevel Governance, eds. SelinH.VanDeveerS.D.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 67–86.
48.
RogersEverett M.1995. Diffusion of Innovations. 4th ed.New York: The Free Press.
49.
SchafferLena MariaBernauerThomas. 2014. “Explaining Government Choices for Promoting Renewable Energy.” Energy Policy68:15–27.
50.
ShipanCharles R.CraigVolden. 2008. “The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion.” American Journal of Political Science52 (4):840–57.
51.
TewsKerstinBuschPer-OlofJörgensHelge. 2003. “The Diffusion of New Environmental Policy Instruments.” European Journal of Political Research42 (4): 569–600.
52.
UptonGregory B.Jr.SnyderBrian F.2015. “Renewable Energy Potential and Adoption of Renewable Portfolio Standards.” Utilities Policy36:67–70.
VarsanyiMonica. 2010. Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in US Cities and States. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
57.
VoldenCraig. 2006. “States as Policy Laboratories: Emulating Success in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.” American Journal of Political Science50 (2):294–312.
58.
VoldenCraigTingMichaelCarpenterDaniel. 2008. “A Formal Model of Learning and Policy Diffusion.” American Political Science Review102:319–32.
59.
WalkerJack L.1969. “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States.” American Political Science Review63 (3):880–99.
60.
YiHongtaoFeiockRichard C.2012. “Policy Tool Interactions and the Adoption of State Renewable Portfolio Standards.” Review of Policy Research29 (2):193–206.
