POLITICAL SCIENCE, GENERAL (0615)
A number of social, economic and political characteristics of the American states
were examined to
determine which factors contribute to innovation in public policy. Growth management
legislation was
selected as a policy issue area for testing alternative theoretical explanations
of innovation. Four
dimensions of growth management were considered: population stabilization, land
use, economic
development, and environmental resource management. Policy innovation in the
states was measured
by an index, developed from each state's record in adopting innovative growth
management programs.
Only programs adopted during a ten-year period between 1965 and 1975 were examined.
The study
does not address the diffusion process; rather, the focus is strictly on early
adopters of selected growth
management programs. Major theoretically explanations of policy innovation were
tested including: (1)
the propensity to be innovative as measured by past trends; (2) the ability
to innovate as measured by
economic and fiscal resources; (3) political characteristics such as party competition
and voter
participation rates; and (4) various growth pressures stemming from economic
and demographic
changes. The findings reveal economic and demographic change to be significant
determinants of
growth management innovation in the states. Fiscal ability and political characteristics
have little
relationship to policy innovation. Policy innovativeness as a general trait
among particular states is
rejected in favor of an evolving pattern of innovation in which new leaders
are constantly emerging and
old ones receding. The results have broader implications for change, especially
economic and
demographic change, as a motivating force in American politics.
Social
Systems Simulation Group
P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA 92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX (619) 660-1603 |