State policymakers tend to look for lessons from their neighbors and other innovative states

U.S states are often described as ‘laboratories of democracy’, as they have a significant amount of freedom to try out and experiment with public policies. David Glick takes a close look at how states learn from one another. Focusing on policy briefs prepared for state policymakers, he finds that these reports tend to focus on information from nearby states and those that are known to be innovative. He also finds that other states’ policies tend to be used as inputs into the policymaking process rather than being simply adopted wholesale.