Explaining the adoption and comprehensiveness of morality policy innovations in the American States: The case of fetal homicide policy

This study examines the adoption and comprehensiveness of fetal homicide policies in the American States. Over the past several decades roughly half the states have passed legislation that designates a woman's fetus as a separate victim of homicide or manslaughter with maximum penalties ranging from the death penalty to several years in prison. In this study, a theoretical framework is developed to explain fetal homicide policy adoption and comprehensiveness that builds on previous theory by testing the role of citizen forces, political system factors, and state cultural factors on the adoption and comprehensiveness of fetal homicide policies. Three state cultural factors---participatory culture, social capital, and minority diversity---are expected to have independent effects on fetal homicide policy adoption and comprehensiveness due to the tendency of policies focused on moral values to attract citizen involvement. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis is used in order to test the theoretical framework while controlling for rival explanations. The quantitative and qualitative results indicated that states with high levels of citizen group opposition to fetal homicide policies were less likely to adopt fetal homicide policies. These states were also less likely to adopt comprehensive policies. Additionally, states with a participatory culture were more likely to adoption fetal homicide policies. States with higher levels of social capital were more likely to adopt more comprehensive fetal homicide policies. The case study analysis revealed that social capital among political elites facilitated compromise that is often difficult to achieve for morality policies, as groups tend to polarize on either side of the issue. While prior theories of morality policy have focused primarily on citizen mobilization, this study shows that the relative strength of citizen groups involved in a morality policy issue is not sufficient to explain policy outcomes. The state cultural context also exerts influence on the policy process in which citizen groups operate.