Research

Published Research

Policy Diffusion: Seven Lessons for Scholars and Practitioners

Authors: Craig Volden

The scholarship on policy diffusion in political science and public administration is extensive. This article provides an introduction to that literature for scholars, students, and practitioners. It offers seven lessons derived from that litereature, build from numerous empirical studies an applied to contemporary policy debates. Based on these seven lessons, the authors offer guidance to policy makers and present opportunities for future research to students and scholars of policy diffusion.

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Published Research

Rethinking Environmental Federalism in a Warming World

Authors: William Shobe

Climate change policy analysis has focused almost exclusively on national policy and even on harmonizing climate policies across countries, implicitly assuming that the harmonization of climate policies at the subnational level would be mandated or guaranteed. We argue that the design and implementation of climate policy in a federal union will diverge in important ways from policy design in a unitary government. 

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Published Research

Racial Bias in Perceptions of Others’ Pain

Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Kelly M. Hoffman, Adam Waytz

The present work provides evidence that people assume a priori that Blacks feel less pain than do Whites. It also demonstrates that this bias is rooted in perceptions of status and the privilege (or hardship) status confers, not race per se. Archival data from the National Football League injury reports reveal that, relative to injured White players, injured Black players are deemed more likely to play in a subsequent game, possibly because people assume they feel less pain.

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Published Research

Nonprofileration Policy Crossroads

Authors: Gerald Warburg

On October 1, 2008, Congress enacted a proposal that originated with President George W. Bush in 2005 to approve an unprecedented nuclear trade pact with India by removing a central pillar of US nonproliferation policy. Despite the numerous political challenges confronting the Bush administration, the initiative won strong bipartisan support, including votes from Democratic Senators Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. 

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Published Research

Geographic Price Variation, Housing Assistance, and Poverty

Authors: Edgar O. Olsen, Dirk W. Early, Philip N. Jefferson (ed)

Two important shortcomings of the official measure of poverty are its failure to account for noncash benefits (including the benefits of low-income housing programs) when calculating resources and differences in the cost-of-living across geographic areas when setting poverty thresholds. Alternative estimates of poverty rates that account for the variation in the cost-of-living across areas when setting thresholds and the value of rental housing subsidies when measuring household resources have been produced.

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Published Research

Investing in Karma: When Wanting Promotes Helping

Authors: Benjamin Converse, A., Risen, J. L., & Carter, T. J.

People often face outcomes of important events that are beyond their personal control, such as when they wait for an acceptance letter, job offer, or medical test results. We suggest that when wanting and uncertainty are high and personal control is lacking, people may be more likely to help others, as if they can encourage fate’s favor by doing good deeds proactively. 

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Published Research

Time Off with Baby: The Case for Paid Care Leave

Authors: Christopher J. Ruhm, Zigler Edward, Susan Muenchow

About the book, T. Berry Brazelton, MD writes:

“This is a long overdue book and I am proud to recommend it. We have been so fortunate to have had Ed Zigler lead us in obtaining the little bit of parental leave we have been able to get. It is so critical to provide the time in early infancy for mothers (as well as fathers) to learn about their babies as they make their attachments to their newborns and infants. Paid care leave will make this valuable time available to the underprivileged poor as well as the rich. This book should lead the way.”

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