Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Venue shopping has been a theoretical concept for those studying policy and interest groups but rarely tested empirically. The paper uses charter school political activities to test theories of venue shopping activities measured along two dimensions.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Public policy scholars are increasingly incorporating the notion of ?venue shopping? into their analyses of policy change. Venue shopping refers to the activities of advocacy groups and policymakers who seek out a decision setting where they can air their grievances with current policy and present alternative policy proposals. Studies of venue shopping recognize that advocacy coalitions who are intent on changing policy will ?shop? around for a favorable venue, whether it is a court or a congressional committee, that is receptive to their claims about the nature of a policy problem and its solution. Such activities can lead to dramatic changes in policy if a new policy image is adopted and a new set of institutions achieves some control over an issue.
Venue shopping is an integral part of the policy process, and at the heart of many political strategies. But the practice of venue shopping is often more complex than some studies suggest, and an oversimplified portrayal of venue shopping runs the risk of overstating the opportunities for and frequency of policy change. This paper supports the general theory of venue shopping but presents a more complicated analysis of its practice than most empirical studies to date. I focus in particular on the motivations of advocacy groups who may, or may not, search for alternative policy venues. The paper begins with a general discussion of venue shopping and its relationship to policy change. I then review several assumptions implicit in theories of venue shopping, and raise questions about some aspects of them. The final part of the paper presents evidence from a case study of forest policy advocacy in Canada to illustrate the complexity of venue shopping strategies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper addresses the question why ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has organized and advocated for poor and working-class Americans since 1970, was an “early adopter” of national organizing campaigns relative to most congregation-based community organizations. External political factors—heightened grievances and threats—explain why their national efforts accelerated since 2000, but not why they began national efforts in the 1970s. Internal organizational factors—its structure as one centralized national organization, identity as a “movement” and not just an organization, and consistently national ambitions--help explain why ACORN has more national organizing experience than most other national organizing groups. ACORN’s national-level organizing campaigns take two forms: the incremental, decentralized groundswell, and the simultaneous multi-level (local, state, national) campaign.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Due to their direct intervention into human procreation,
advanced fertility treatments, commonly known as assisted reproductive
technologies (ART), are associated with particularly complex policy
problems. Developments in these technologies since the 1978 birth of
the first “test-tube” baby create policy questions such as: is
procreation a right? If so, does government have a role in providing
the means to realize this procreative right? Should society bear the
costs of enabling the infertile to become biological parents? What is
the role of the state in regulating procreation? Should access to,
advancement and applications of ART be under the purview of the state?
The major focus of this investigation is to determine the intra- and
extra-governmental factors contributing to ART related policy outcomes.
Applying Baumgartner and Jones’ (1993) dual mobilization model, we
propose to examine the extent of the relationship between media issue
definition and policy change and the effects of this relationship on
ART policies, specifically state mandated insurance coverage, in three
states: Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. According to this
model, a rapid change in media tone accompanied by increased issue
density will lead to policy venue instability. We hypothesize, then,
that changes in the tone of media coverage of ART accompanied by
increases in related issue density will lead to ART-policy venue
change. In addition, the model contends shifts in venue are likely to
be accompanied by issue redefinition resulting in corresponding changes
in policy outcomes. For our purposes, then, we hypothesize that
ART-policy venue change leads to shifts in ART-policy outcomes. Our
research is based on an analysis of 784 ART-related articles printed in
the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and
Philadelphia Inquirer from 1980 to 2000. QSR NUD*IST was used to
analyze and code the tone and density of issue coverage from each
newspaper. Additional data were collected from archival sources such as
legislative records of floor proceedings and committee transcripts of
hearings. Personal interviews were conducted with intra- and
extra-governmental actors who were active in either the policy
formulation or policy decision-making stage of ART-policies. We also
administered some detailed mail questionnaires. This research
contributes to agenda setting theory and to the growing field of
assisted reproductive technology policy. While the majority of research
on ART policy is limited to the consequences of policy outcomes on
technology access and technology development, this study analyzes the
factors affecting ART-policy adoption and outcomes.
Baumgartner, Frank and Bryan Jones. Agendas and Instability in American
Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.