Comparative Policy Research Research Articles

Explaining Incremental and Non-Incremental Change: Medicaid Nursing Facility Reimbursement Policy, 1980-98

AbstractPolitical scientists have long distinguished between incremental and non-incremental policymaking. In this study, I illustrate the relevance of this distinction for comparative state policy research by modeling both incremental and non-incremental change in the same policy area: Medicaid nursing facility reimbursement. I use mixed-modeling techniques to model incremental year-to-year changes in per diem rates and payments per recipient and event history analysis and ordered logit to model non-incremental comprehensive innovation in this policy area. My results indicate that federal action prompted non-incremental change in capital reimbursement policy by limiting state discretion over incremental year-to-year spending decisions. Incremental policy appears to be affected by regional diffusion, but there is no evidence of this effect for non-incremental policy. Furthermore, when a state's fiscal health declined and the demand for government services grew, it was more likely to respond by making incremental adjustments than non-incremental system overhauls. Whereas governing capacity influenced both incremental and non-incremental change, state ideology influenced only incremental change. The rate at which states pursue incremental or non-incremental policy change depends on their relative vulnerability to federal policy changes, their receptivity to neighboring state influences, and their susceptibility to internal political, economic, and programmatic conditions.

State health policy making determinants, theory, and methods: A synthesis

The American states exhibit considerable differences in health policy and market characteristics. Not only do they display substantial variation in spending, but they also display substantial variation in the strategies chosen to control costs, improve access, and ensure quality care. This article synthesizes studies that use 50-state statistical techniques to model policy adoption in the health sector. The purpose is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of this literature, to place it in the context of comparative state policy research generally, and to identify factors that best predict 17 health policy outcomes at the state level. A database was assembled containing 245 equations abstracted from 63 studies published between 1975 and 2002. Some predictors (such as income, aged population, public opinion, and nursing home beds) were studied much more frequently than others (e.g., education, divided government, federal Medicaid mandates, other states’ adoptions). Results show that 43 of the 87 policy making determinants examined consistently predict two or more state-level outcomes, including four that predict five outcomes (non-white, urban, income, unemployment), two that predict six (tax capacity/effort, hospital beds), and two that predict seven (nursing home beds, liberal public opinion). Gaps are shown to exist in our understanding of the policy making effects of political system and intergovernmental characteristics.

Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policymaking Behavior: Lessons from the Sociological Institutionalism

Although comparative state policy frameworks consider the role of societal norms, few account for cognitive and normative imperatives that originate outside a state's boundaries and are specific to promoting or impeding the adoption of particular policies. One approach that does so is the new institutionalism in sociology, which emphasizes legitimacy-seeking actors who face pressures to conform to cultural rules, norms, and expectations, regardless of outcomes. This article introduces comparative state policy researchers to the sociological institutionalism, emphasizing basic concepts and arguments and suggesting how reliance on this framework can enable researchers to better integrate rational-actor and cultural-based views for understanding why states choose particular public policies. Interviews with national and state experts in Medicaid nursing-facility reimbursement illustrate the utility of the sociological institutionalism for comparative state policy research.

Advancing Comparative State Policy Research: Toward Conceptual Integration and Methodological Expansion

Advancing Comparative State Policy Research: Toward Conceptual Integration and Methodological Expansion

Government Investment in Cultural Capital: A Methodology for Comparing Direct Government Support for the Arts in the U.S. and the U.K.

In this paper I attempt to redress the lack of comparative cultural policy research between the United States and the United Kingdom. Specifically, I seek to develop and test a methodology of direct government investment in cultural capital. the new methodology will be presented in three parts. in the first part, the relevant literature in comparative cultural policy research is comprehensively reviewed for the strengths and weaknesses of currently available methodologies. in the second part, Throsby's (1995; 1999; 2001) concept of cultural capital is augmented by Austrian capital theory and analogized to the realm of natural capital in order to articulate the policy dimensions of sustainable development in cultural capital. in the third part, three quantitative metrics are then derived from the theoretical work and are empirically applied to assess and compare direct national government support for the arts in the U.S. and the U.K. Preliminary observations are offered in the conclusion.

Comparative Cultural Policy Research in Europe: A Change of Paradigm

Parallel to the ongoing European integration process, comparative cultural policy research has changed its orientation and methods during the last thirty years, moving from institutional, almost "diplomatic" exercises to networking exchanges, and has arrived at an approach which favours integrated research projects. Against this background, this paper reviews the methodological problems of and first steps taken towards a more action-oriented and, at the same time, cohesive ("European") concept of cultural research, which extends beyond a mere comparison of national policies and experiences. This is illustrated through individual research projects and the more recent appearance of ERICarts, the European Research Institute for Comparative Cultural Policy and the Arts.

State legislation concerning individuals with dementia: an evaluation of three theoretical models of policy formation.

This study examined the formation of state government policies concerning persons with dementia. In particular, we identified variables associated with the passage of pertinent state laws by testing three theoretical models of policy formation: the iron triangle, the policy system, and an integrated model. We sampled 44 states and counted the number of laws concerning individuals with dementia that passed during the 1998 legislative sessions. We constructed nine independent variables to represent the three theoretical models of state policy formation. Then the number of legislative actions were regressed onto each model. The integrated model that consisted of political actors, legislative features, and environmental inputs met goodness-of-fit criteria for a maximum likelihood regression analysis (chi2/df = 1.55). The advocacy effort of the Alzheimer's Association, number of legislative champions, supply of special care beds for persons with dementia, and recent policy activity were related significantly with increased legislative activity concerning individuals with dementia. Policy responses concerning persons with dementia increasingly have been created within state governments, and we identified variables associated with the passage of pertinent state laws. This research also contributed to the advancement of comparative state policy research by contrasting the three theoretical models of policy formation.

The Florida State University State Politics and Policy Data Archive

AbstractThe State Politics and Policy Data Archive is a free-access, web-based archive of publication-related datasets focusing on comparative American state politics and policy research. This essay describes the utility of the archive, provides instruction on its use, and requests that readers contribute data.

Conflict cultures – Qualitative Comparative Analysis of environmental conflicts in forestry

Owing to the internationalisation of the forestry debate and forest policy, there is growing need to conduct comparative forest policy research at an international scale. This research compares environmental confl icts in forestry in seven cases during 1984–1995. The cases include Finland, France, Minnesota USA, Norway, Pacifi c Northwest USA, Sweden and West Germany. The research is based on the notion that each society has its own ‘cultural’ ways of producing and managing environmental confl icts in forestry, depending on the social, political, economic, and resource characteristics of the society. The purpose of the study is to describe these confl ict cultures, to identify and analyse the societal aspects that impact them, and to discuss the implications of understanding confl icts as cultural phenomena. The research is based on focused interviews of multiple actors related to forest management and protection. For the data analysis, a ‘hermeneutic’ (interpretative and understanding) approach is introduced to Qualitative Comparative Analysis, the use of which has been dominated by causal applications. As a result of the analysis, models of confl ict cultures and confl ict management strategies are constructed. The model of confl ict cultures indicates three basic dimensions of confl ict culture, and defi nes how they are related to each other. These dimensions are mild vs. intense confl icts, separatist vs. co-operative relations between actors and stability vs. change in forest resource policy and use. The model of confl ict management strategies indicates to what extent the different cases place emphasis on interactive vs. institutional confl ict management, and the management of confl icting (sub)cultures within the society vs. the confl ict culture of the society.

Meta-Analytic Methods for Comparative and Exploratory Policy Research: An Application to the Assessment of Regional Tourist Multipliers

This article addresses the question how meta-analytic methods can be used to draw quantitative economic inferences on case studies (or phenomena) when actual information is scarce. It argues that the recently developed rough set theory may offer an operational contribution to impact assessment on the basis of transferability of research findings from previous case study research findings on similar phenomena. This approach is able to identify band widths of plausible outcomes in light of prior knowledge. This new analysis framework is illustrated by means of an empirical investigation into the size of tourist income multipliers in various tourist areas, with a particular focus on the Greek island Lesvos.

Institutions in Comparative Policy Research

The article explores the intersections between the different perspectives of institutional and policy research and discusses the characteristic purposes and conditions of theory-oriented policy research, where the usefulness of statistical analyses is generally constrained by the complexity and contingency of causal influences. Although comparative case studies are better able to deal with these conditions, their capacity to empirically identify the causal effect of differing institutional conditions on policy outcomes depends on a restrictive case selection that would need to hold constant the influence of two other sets of contingent factors—the policy challenges actually faced and the preferences and perceptions of the actors involved. When this is not possible, empirical policy research may usefully resort to a set of institutionalist working hypotheses that are derived from the narrowly specified theoretical assumptions of rational-choice institutionalism. Although these hypotheses will often be wrong, they are useful in guiding the empirical search for factors that are able to explain policy outcomes that deviate from predictions of the rationalist model.

Localisation or mainstream bending in urban regeneration?

Major uncertainties surround the appropriate response to unemployment and social polarisation within European cities. This paper discusses the rhetoric and reality of efforts to promote urban regeneration through local partnerships of various kinds. It focuses on the experience of cities facing some of the greatest challenges- Glasgow, Dublin andDuisburg. There are broad lessons to be learnt about the circumstances in which mainstream bending and localised initiatives are appropriate; how to establish effective local capacity; and the strengths and limitations of a purely "bottom-up" approach. Sam Aaronovitch was very interested in the problems facing European cities, in practical policies to overcome them and in comparative policy research of this kind. His use of the term multi-level regeneration helped to inspire this paper.

Choosing Not to Choose in Comparative Policy Research Design: The Case of the Research Network on Gender, Politics, and the State

This research note presents the research design for an in ‐progress comparative study on women's policy offices being conducted by the Research Network on Gender. Politics. and the State. The goal of this article is to examine how this project has been integrating a combined approach into its core research design. It argues that rather than conceptualizing the research design enterprise in terms of a zero‐sum game, where a decision to use either quantitative or qualitative methodology compromises potential research findings, researchers may want to combine the strength of each approach in a single project.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A Useful Tool for Research into Forest Policy and Forestry Conflicts

Abstract The internationalization of the forestry debate and forest policy brings about a growing need to develop, apply, and discuss comparative methodologies in forestry research. This paper illustrates and discusses the use of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), a new comparative tool in forest policy research. The advantages and disadvantages of the method are demonstrated by reanalyzing previous research on public environmental criticism of forestry in Finland, Sweden, Norway, West Germany, France, and the United States between 1950 and 1983. In particular, the reanalysis illustrates the potential benefits of systematic techniques of comparison as supplementary tools to traditional "common sense" interpretations of qualitative data. In addition to arguing on behalf of the technical applicability of the method to comparative forest policy research, a need is expressed to expand the use of the method from causal to noncausal applications. For. Sci. 44(2):254-265.

Ten years on: Francis G. Castles and the Australian 'wage-earners' welfare state'

Francis Castles' The Working Class and Welfare (1985) has achieved classic status within mainstream policy studies and the historiography of the Australian welfare state. Exhuming the functionalist theoretical and 'positivist' methodo logical assumptions embedded in his prior comparative policy research helps to establish why he saw the puzzles he did in the Australasian experience and why the 'wage-earner's welfare state' model emerged as an answer to those puzzles. Castles' work reminds us that our theoretical and methodological assumptions can lead to a problem-setting process that generates a sophistic ated but misleading social heuristic. Castles' work, while it appears to affirm that 'politics matters' denies the contingency of history central to political processes. While he rightly insists we should look at 'occupational welfare', his work deflects attention away from the substantial experience with 'social policy by normal means' that labor governments have promoted.

To Sell or Not to Sell? Telecommunications Policy in Britain and France

ABSTRACTUsing Kingdon's agenda setting model and broadening it to the entire policy formation process, I offer an explanation of why the British privatised their telecommunications authority but the French did not. Privatisation is brought about by coupling three streams or factors in critical moments in time: available alternatives generated in policy communities, high government borrowing needs, and party politics. The findings illuminate the usefulness of Kingdon's model beyond its original application in the United States, and have implications for broader theoretical debates in comparative policy research.

Child Care Policies and Programs: An International Overview

Child development research is more extensive and more sophisticated in the U.S. than in any other country. U.S. policymakers have access to more and better information about the factors known to enhance or impede good child development than those in almost any other country. Nonetheless, the U.S. lags far behind almost all the major advanced industrialized countries with regard to the supply, quality, and affordability of out‐of‐home child care services for children under compulsory school age. This article documents the availability and quality of child care services and related policies, primarily in northern and western European countries, the leaders in the field. It identifies and describes the policy choices that the Europeans have made regarding child care for young children of different ages, and it proposes a brief agenda for future comparative child care policy and program research.

The challenges of comparative housing policy research

The challenges of comparative housing policy research

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article: Authority and Change: The Sources of Economic Growth. By JUDITH MARQUAND. The Centralization‐Decentralization Conundrum: Organization and Management in the Canadian Government. By PETER AUCOIN and HERMAN BAKVIS. Between Profit and State: Intermediate Organization in Britain and the United States. By ALAN WARE. In Pursuit of National Interests: Australian Foreign Policy in the 1990s. Edited by F. A. MEDIANSKY AND A. C. PALFREEMAN. Comparative Policy Research — Learning from Experience. Edited by MEINOLF DIERKES, HANS N. WEILER AND ARIANE BERTHOIN ANTAL. Political Economy of Economic Policy. By WILFRED L. DAVID. Innovation Through Technical and Scientific Information: Government and Industry Cooperation. By STEVEN BALLARD, THOMAS E. JAMES, JR., TIMOTHY I. ADAMS, MICHAEL D. DEVINE, LANI L. MALYSA, AND MARK MEO.

Diversity in the American States: Updating the Sullivan Index

The index of socioeconomic and cultural diversity among the American states formulated by John L. Sullivan for 1960 is recreated for 1980. Comparisons are made between the index for the two time periods, and changes among the states are examined over time. Significant differences continue to exist between northern and southern states, mainly because of cultural rather than socioeconomic factors. The diversity index remains a relatively powerful predictor of policy variation among the states and, as such, might be considered as a substitute for geographic region in comparative state policy research.