Replication Data for: Copy, Paste, Legislate, Succeed? The Effect of Policy Plagiarism on Policy Success in the American States

Scholars and journalists have shown that state legislators often copy and paste policy text from other sources. This “policy plagiarism” is perceived by critics as symptomatic of process failures and likely to undermine policy success. To proponents, copying and pasting stems from an efficient learning process likely to guarantee policy success. We test competing hypotheses by measuring success and plagiarism across three areas of state policy: organ donation legislation, e-cigarette/vaping bans for minors, and anti-bullying legislation. We find that higher levels of plagiarism result in significantly less success at reducing youth vaping rates and increasing organ donor registrations. We also find a negative, though not significant, relationship between copying and success for antibullying policy. The evidence favors opponents: legislators risk harming policy success by copying from others. The results provide insights to how the phenomenon of “copy, paste, legislate” shapes states’ ability to govern effectively and efficiently.