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Direct democracy, policy diffusion, and medicalized marijuana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2021

Cynthia Rugeley ,
John Frendreis  and
Raymond Tatalovich
Cynthia Rugeley*
Affiliation:
University of MinnesotaDuluth
John Frendreis
Affiliation:
Loyola UniversityChicago
Raymond Tatalovich
Affiliation:
Loyola UniversityChicago
*
Correspondence: Cynthia Rugeley, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN. Email: crugeley@d.umn.edu
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Abstract

Virtually all studies of policy diffusion are based on statutory enactments by state legislatures. But a substantial number of medicalized marijuana laws were initiated through citizen initiatives and ratified by referenda (I&R). This case study suggests that the diffusion of laws adopted by I&R requires two modifications to the conventional model of policy diffusion. First, early policy adoptions must occur through direct democracy so that horizontal diffusion results when those past adoptions by the I&R process lead to future adoptions. Second, the necessity of bypassing institutions of representative government must be operationalized as an interaction between the availability of direct democracy and the precise political variable that blocks legislative enactments.

Keywords

direct democracyreferendummedicalized marijuanapolicy diffusion
Type
Research Notes
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , Spring 2021 , pp. 72 - 82
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Association for Politics and the Life Sciences

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