Understanding coalitions in state educational policy: The selection of alliance partners in reading policy issue networks

During the past two decades, state educational policymaking has become increasingly characterized by coalitional politics. Despite the impact of coalitions on the politics of education, we have little empirical knowledge concerning the origins of coalitions, their activities, and their influence on state educational policies and practices. This study attempts to open up the “black box” of coalitions in state educational policy. Drawing extensively on the notion of issue networks, interest group theory, and the existing research on coalitions in public policy, this study examines which policy actors are likely to enter into alliances and whom do policy actors choose as alliance partners. This study also explores the effect of state policy environments on collaborative activity, as well as examines the nature of coalitions in state educational policy issue networks.;Data for this study are drawn from interviews with 111 private and public sector policy actors involved in the development of reading policy in California, Connecticut, Michigan, and Utah. Models of alliance formation are estimated using probit analysis and a modified multivariate regression quadratic assignment procedure. Qualitative data methods are used to supplement the information provided by the statistical model.;The results indicate that coalitions were common in state reading policy issue networks; coalitional activity in reading policy issue networks can be characterized by six forms of coalitions; and previous history and government activity promote alliance formation. The results also indicate that being a governmental actor and homophily—the desire to be with policy actors with similar policy preferences and the same organizational type—constitute important motives for alliance formation. The findings of this study also demonstrate that state contextual factors influence the extent to which these explanatory factors predict alliance formation.