Same Policy Area, Different Politics: How the Characteristics of Policy Tools Alter the Determinants of Early Childhood Policymaking

Elizabeth Rigby, University of Houston - Main

Abstract

This article tests a theory of how key characteristics of a policy tool under debate magnify the importance of particular elements of the policymaking context in U.S. states. In particular, it is expected that state use of more visible policy tools will depend on the economic context in the state, whereas state use of more coercive policy tools will vary with the ideological and partisan context in the state. These hypotheses are tested in a policy area for which states employ a range of distinct policy tools—early childhood education policy. Pooling data from all 50 states at four time points (N = 200), hierarchical linear models are estimated to examine the variation and change in states’ use of four policy tools—focusing in particular on the degree of visibility and coerciveness of each tool. As expected, wealthier states typically make use of more visible tools; however, when poorer states experienced economic growth, they expanded less visible policy tools more often than visible tools. Politically liberal states used the primary coercive tool more often than conservative states; less coercive tools expanded under Democratic Party control. This empirical test of commonly accepted theories of the politics of policy tool choices reveals complex relationships between politics and policy, contributing to a fuller description of how the characteristics of the policies under consideration can actually alter the way that “politics determines policy” and “policy determines politics” in U.S. states.