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.