Vertical Diffusion and the Policy-Making Process

Abstract

This article examines the influence of national government activity on the politics of embryonic stem cell research in the American states. Its analysis of bill introduction patterns between 1999 and 2008 suggests that President Bush’s nationally televised address on stem cell research and the debate over the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act increased the probability that officials in a state would introduce stem-cell-related legislation in a given year. National activity also seemed to increase the number of bills that legislators introduced. These results illustrate how political forces can increase the salience of public policies and thereby serve as diffusion mechanisms during the agenda-setting process.