THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS AMONG THE AMERICAN STATES* JACK L. WALKER

               "The object of this analysis is the process of diffusion of ideas for new services or programs. Sometimes new legislation is virtually copied from other states. The California fair trade law, adopted in 1931, "was followed either verbatim or with minor variations by twenty states; in fact, ten states copied two serious typographical errors in the original California law."8 No assumption is being made, however, that the programs enacted in each state are always exactly alike or that new legislation is written in exactly the same way by every legislature". 

               For me I think Walker. 1969.clarified diffusion of innovations among the American states.In the American Political Science Review most States vary in how rapidly they tend to adopt new programs, policies' local legislature and many more. This variation can be explained with the "tree" model. There are regional leaders of innovation who emulate and compete with one another (this is the center of the tree, the main few branches). The rest of the states are smaller branches, sorted out according to the regional pioneer from which they take their cues.

              I chose to elaborate more on this paragraph because when Walker speaks of innovation, he doesn't refer to anything more than adopting a new program. Even if a state adopts a new program begrudgingly and appropriates only $1000 to it, the state has adopted the new program. Furthermore, Walker refers only to programs adopted by state legislatures and not by bureaucrats

             As to treating most states as identical and interchangeable and assumes that her interactive variable's significance implies actual influence of one state on another. However, it's possible to observe interaction without influence and noninteraction with influence

               Moreover, many may contend or try to rule out Walker's notion of regional emulation, assuming that any one state might emulate any other. Perhaps if we had considered these competing factors, then we would have noticed that rapidly diffusing policies are generally non-interactive but slowly diffusing policies are generally interactive