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Joshua Jansa

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University-Stillwater
Chapter Member: Oklahoma SSN
Areas of Expertise:

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About Joshua

Jansa's research focuses on interest groups, lobbying, and campaign finance, state legislatures, policy diffusion, economic development policy, and the politics of economic inequality. Overaching themes in Jansa's writings include access, influence, representation, political and economic inequality, and the content/efficacy/diffusion of public policies. Jansa serves as lead researcher on several research projects related to these themes, and joined SSN in order to bridge research and policy.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Inequality is Higher in Some States Like New York and Louisiana Because of Corporate Welfare

Commentary,

In the News

"California's 'Fair Pay to Play' Law for College Athletes Has Other States Racing to Join Up. Here's Why," Joshua Jansa (with Roshaun Colvin), Monkey Cage, The Washington Post, November 18, 2019.
"Evidence from States Shows Why Trump’s Brand of Carrier-Style Dealmaking Won’t Work," Joshua Jansa, The Conversation, January 9, 2017.
"How States Plagiarize Interest Group Model Bills on Many Issues," Joshua Jansa (with Kristin Garrett), LSE US Centre, August 13, 2015.
"OpenGov Voices: Transparency Needed on Corporate Subsidy Spending in the U.S.," Joshua Jansa, Sunlight Foundation, October 10, 2014.

Publications

"You Catch More Flies with Honey: An Analysis of PAC Punishment and Congressional Vote Switching" Interest Groups & Advocacy 8 (2019): 184-207.

Finds labor unions punish allies in Congress who vote for free trade agreements, but this tactic backfires by making members of Congress less likely to support labor in the future.

"Copy and Paste Lawmaking: Legislative Professionalism and Policy Reinvention in the States" (with Eric R. Hansen and Virginia H. Gray). American Politics Research 47, no. 4 (July 2018): 739-767.

Finds state legislatures that have few staff resources are more likely to copy and paste bill text from other sources. Finds this is problematic for the ability of the legislature to customize policy language to address the problems in their state.

"Captured Development: Industry Influence and State Economic Development Subsidies in the Great Recession Era" (with Virginia Gray). Economic Development Quarterly 31, no. 1 (February 2017): 50-64.

Finds states increased their economic development incentive (i.e. benefits in tax code for businesses) spending in response to the Great Recession, but most of the spending benefited Fortune 500 businesses. Finds states where businesses spent more on lobbying also tended to spend more on economic development.

"Economic Development and Infrastructure Policy" in Politics in the American States A Comparative Analysis (11th Edition), edited by Virginia Gray, Russell L. Hanson, and Thad Kousser (CQ Press, 2017).

Presents the basics of economic development policy in the American states, specifically that the policy process in the states is dominated by wealthy businesses and, as a result, spending is skewed toward the wealthiest companies in the world.