Citation

Savage RL. Publius 1985; 15(3): 111-126.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1985, Temple University, Center for the Study of Federalism, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Most students of policy diffusion have noted that new policies have tended to be adopted by most American states in ever shorter time spans in the twentieth century. Historically, rapid policy diffusion has usually occurred only when the federal government has served as a central propagating agency, especially when it has used the incentive of grant funds. In the past decade, however, a number of policies have diffused rapidly (i.e., thirty or more states adopting in one to five years, with little or no central propagation). During 1983–1984, two such policies were laws mandating child passenger restraints and lemon-aid laws. Two broad agenda items, education reform and driving while intoxicated, also received much attention in 1984. A variety of specific policies were enacted in a majority of the states. It would appear that some problems become so widespread today that proffered solutions are readily snapped up by state governments as though the policies were ones whose “time has come.” The rapidity of their diffusion seems limited primarily by their “fragility,” that is, the degree of perceived organized resistance to their adoption.