The Weatherization Assistance Program shows that successful state implementation of federal policies depends on preexisting state regulations

The US system of government means that the states have to implement federal policies at the local level. In new research which uses the federal Weatherization Assistance Program as a case study, Jessica Terman looks at the influence of preexisting state regulatory environments on the implementation of federal programs. She finds that although state and federal programs can have similar goals, in practice, they may impede the performance of one another.