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The Politics of Ideas and the Spread of Enterprise Zones

Karen Mossberger

"This is, refreshingly, both a positive and a realistic policy story."
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This book explores how policy ideas are spread—or diffused—in an age in which policymaking has become increasingly complex and specialized. Using the concept of enterprise zones as a case study in policy diffusion, Karen Mossberger compares the process of their adoption in Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts over a twelve-year period.

Enterprise zones were first proposed by the Reagan administration as a supply-side effort to reenergize inner cities, and they were eventually embraced by liberals and conservatives alike. They are a compelling example of a policy idea that spread and evolved rapidly. Mossberger describes the information networks and decisionmaking processes in the five states, assessing whether enterprise zones spread opportunistically, as a mere fad, or whether well-informed deliberation preceded their adoption.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Diffusion and Decision Making in Five States

Decision Making Models

Washington's Most Successful Nonprogram

Diffusion in the States: Old Wine in New Bottles?

Polydiffusion in an Intergovernmental Network

The Diffusion of a Policy Label

Informed Decision Making

A Decision-Making Continuum

Conclusion: Diffusion, Decision Making, and the Politics of Ideas

Postscript

Appendix 1. Methodology

Appendix 2. Legislative Questions

Appendix 3. Administrative Questions

Appendix 4. Washington Interviews

Appendix 5. Respondents

Chapter Notes

References

Index

Reviews

"This is, refreshingly, both a positive and a realistic policy story."—Australian Journal of Political Science

"Intriguing analysis . . . [this book] promises to reinvigorate research on policy diffusion and policy learning at the state and local level."—Susan E. Clarke, University of Colorado at Boulder

Contributors


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Awards

About the Author

Karen Mossberger is associate professor of public administration, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Hardcover
288 pp., 6 x 9

ISBN:
Jul 2000
World

Paperback
288 pp., 6 x 9

ISBN: 978-0-87840-801-6
Jul 2000
World

Ebook
288 pp.

ISBN: 978-1-58901-459-6
Jul 2000
World

American Governance and Public Policy series
Gerard W. Boychuk, Karen Mossberger, and Mark C. Rom, Series Editors

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