Cognitive and Normative Determinants of State Policy Making Behavior: Lessons from the Sociological Institutionalism.

Though comparative state policy frameworks sometimes account for societal norms, as reflected in concepts such as political culture, policy traditions, innovativeness, and religiosity, few consider specific cognitive and normative imperatives that promote or impede the adoption of particular policies. One approach that does is the new institutionalism in sociology, which emphasizes legitimacy-seeking actors who face pressures to conform to cultural rules, norms, and expectations regardless of the efficiency implications of the practices to which they conform. This article introduces comparative state policy researchers to the new institutionalism in sociology, emphasizing basic concepts and arguments and suggesting how reliance on this framework may enable researchers to better integrate rational actor and cultural-based views for understanding why states choose the public policies that they do. Interviews with national- and state-level experts in Medicaid nursing facility reimbursement illustrate the utility of the sociological institutionalism for comparative state policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]