Can States Share More Than Just Borders? An Examination of Policy Diffusion of Sentencing Legislation
Open Access
Author:
Peters, Caroline
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Michael J Nelson, Thesis Supervisor Sona N. Golder, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
policy diffusion sentencing reform
Abstract:
Do states influence each other when it comes to sentencing reform legislation? What factors make a state more or less likely to adopt sentencing reform legislation? Sentencing laws change over time due to a number of factors: public opinion, change in needs, and change in leadership. However, something else may affect changes in law—your neighbors. The polarization of a state’s own legislature as well as their neighbors' may affect their likelihood of adopting sentencing reform legislation. In this study, two examples are used: the passage of Three Strikes Legislation and marijuana legislation to represent stricter and more lenient legislation, respectively. Data from the 48 contiguous states from 1960-2020 were used to examine the possible passage of these forms of legislation. The results suggest that polarization is not as significant as expected, especially in comparison to the presence of unions or region. These results require future research and imply location may impact legislation more than previously believed.
