The impact of intersectoral information networks on drug court policy

This research examines the distinct contribution of information disseminated by nonprofit organizations in intersectoral networks on policy implementation and on policy success in the American states. A diverse literature establishes the importance of information to policy diffusion and innovation in the intersectoral networks which characterize the state policy environment. Limited research suggests that nonprofit organizations diffuse synthesized, interpretive information of particular importance to state administrators. Less well understood is whether this information contributes to increased implementation or to successful policy outcomes.; This study presents the first use of multivariate statistical models to test the impact of information in an intersectoral network on the scope of policy implementation and on successful policy outcomes. Original interviews and original survey data identify and describe the network surrounding drug court policy and alternatives to incarceration in the fifty states. Drug courts have been embraced by states as a reform and innovation in response to sentencing pressures and the symbiotic relationship between drugs and crime.; In a series of fifty-state comparative studies, cross-sectional models test the influence of information against the cumulative scope of policy implementation and policy outcomes in 2004. Two-stage pooled cross-sectional time series models control for rival explanations and test these relationships over time from 1989 through 2004. Positive outcomes are measured through large-scale measures of criminal justice success including property crime, violent crime and drug abuse arrest rates.; Cross-sectional models demonstrate a significant relationship between state implementation, information and the volume of local policy implementation. Time series models demonstrate that information has a significant impact on state and local implementation when controlling for large-scale demographic factors. Increased state and local implementation are significantly related to measures of improved outcomes over time. Distinct from earlier studies, professional associations exercise a dominant influence in the drug court information network.; This research finds that information diffused by nonprofit organizations significantly influences the scope of implementation and policy outcomes in comparison to other factors. Findings suggest that nonprofit information contributes to state implementation capacity. Findings from this research also contribute to further understanding of government-nonprofit relations beyond contracting relationships and interest group influence.