Submission Date

4-28-2025

Document Type

Paper

Department

Politics

Adviser

Ann Karreth

Committee Member

Ann Karreth

Committee Member

Kathrin Reed

Committee Member

Colleen Lelli

Department Chair

Ann Karreth

Project Description

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 and protects people with disabilities (PWDs) from discrimination and includes provisions to make society more accommodating. The issue is that the ADA is federal legislation, but most of the implementation occurs at the state-level which means that some states are more accommodating than others. This project attempts to answer the following question: What factors contribute to the discrepancies in state-level disability policy and accommodation? It includes a quantitative study of all 50 states and investigates the impact of state income per capita, state partisanship, and business and disability interest group strength to understand the difference in state-level disability policy. There is also a comprehensive case study on Maryland to analyze entities like the governor, attorneys general, and specific interest groups that may make a state more accommodating than others. Both state partisanship and business interest groups significantly influence state-level accommodation suggesting actors at the state-level can enforce, implement, or change policies. Broader implications demonstrate that politics, partisanship and interest groups matter, and that states have a greater impact on disability policy, and policy in general, than previously reported.

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