Direct Democracy and Policy Innovation in the American States: Exploring the Citizen Initiative's Impact on Policy Formulation through the Lens of Political Competitio

This dissertation explores the role played by direct democracy in the states regarding the state-level adoption of various social and economic policy innovations. Using a modified event history analysis, this dissertation explores two independent variables of interest---the simple presence of direct democracy in the states, and the difficulty of ballot placement for each state---against the single adoption of eight policy variables. It then explores the same independent variables in a repeating-events model, exploring the variable impacts on the multiple adoptions of tax-and-expenditure limitations and medical marijuana policies.;In the modified event history analysis, both measures of direct democracy play statistically significant roles to increase the adoption of three policy variables---family cap exemptions, medical marijuana, and tax and expenditure limitations. Further, mandatory bicycle helmets for children and primary seatbelt laws are significantly impacted by both measures of direct democracy, but in these cases direct democracy acts as a deterrent to policy adoption.;In the repeating-events model, both measures of direct democracy are significantly related to the adoption of repeating tax-and-expenditure limitation policy adoptions, but are not significant for the repeated adoptions of medical marijuana policies.