A new, general measure summarizes how American states allocate spending across policy areas by modeling yearly program expenditures with a spatial proximity approach.
📊 How the Measure Was Built
- Uses a spatial proximity model applied to yearly state program spending data across all major program areas.
- Produces a single continuous variable and a yearly score for each state that summarizes that state's spending profile.
🔍 What the Measure Reveals
- Empirical analysis shows state spending patterns fall on a clear, easily interpretable unidimensional continuum.
- That continuum distinguishes policies that deliver particularized benefits to needy constituencies from those that provide broader collective goods.
✅ Why the Measure Is Trustworthy
- The constructed variable meets standard evaluative criteria for measurement and exhibits desirable statistical properties.
- When compared to existing indicators of state policy activity, it performs favorably on validity and reliability.
📌 Practical Output and Uses
- Outputs a yearly score for each state, enabling comparison of spending priorities across time and across states.
- Can be interpreted as a valid and reliable representational measure of state policy priorities and incorporated into broader models of state politics.
