Kelly Smith, Ph.D.

ksmith33@stetson.edu

Stetson University

Country: United States (Florida)

About Me:

I am an assistant professor at Stetson University. My research focuses on American politics with a particular emphasis on the relationship among state legislative politics, bureaucratic politics, and democratic governance.  I am currently examining the ways in which bureaucratic networks facilitate policy learning among bureaucrats and legislators during the diffusion of policy and its consequences for states as laboratories of democracy. Previously, I was a postdoctoral research associate on the education standards research team at the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy at Brown University. I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Brown University and my B.A. from Providence College.

Research Interests

State and Local Politics

Public Policy

Bureaucracy

Early Childhood Education

Education

State Bureaucracies

Health Policy

Countries of Interest

United States

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2019) Learning Without Widespread Adoption: Early Childhood Education in the American States, Publius

Do states learn from other states through venues other than the legislative enactment of new policies? This article demonstrates that two-way learning can occur through alternative venues: (1) legislators can adjust the budget of similar state policies to mirror other states’ policies and (2) bureaucrats can learn from other states’ policies and incorporate that learning through non-legislative state action, such as standards. Using an original forty-three state, thirteen-year dataset, I find that elected officials can learn from nearby states’ policies and adjust other policies to mirror those states through the budget process. Using an additional and original forty-three state, nineteen-year dataset, I also find the bureaucrats can learn from other states’ policies and incorporate that learning into the development of their own standards. This article assesses how states learn from other states through venues other than legislative enactment of new, diffusing legislation.