Archive
This page contains archived information on state and local policies. Specifically, it contains the original Sorens, Muedini, and Ruger (2008) data and the data used for Ruger and Sorens (2009). All these data are now deprecated (for time-series data, see the Data page) but are retained here for replication purposes.
References
Ruger, William P., and Jason Sorens (2009). Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom. Arlington, VA: Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Sorens, Jason, Fait Muedini, and William P. Ruger (2008). “U.S. State and Local Public Policies in 2006: A New Database.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 8 (3): 309-26.
Archived State Policy Data
- a_fiscal_09.xls – Fiscal policies (updated 2/19/09)
- b_guns_07.xls – Gun control (corrected 2/19/09)
- c_drugs.xls – Alcohol & marijuana laws
- d_mala.xls – Miscellaneous mala prohibita
- e_educ_06.xls – Education regulations (corrected 2/19/09)
- f_land.xls – Land-use and environmental laws
- g_labor.xls – Labor laws (corrected 3/3/09)
- h_health.xls – Health insurance regulations
- i_smoking.xls – Tobacco laws
- j_util.xls – Utilities deregulation
- k_lic.xls – Occupational licensing
- l_forf.xls – Asset forfeiture rules
- m_ed.xls – Eminent domain reforms
- o_courts.xls – Liability system ranking
- p_abor.xls – Abortion laws
- q_death.xls – Death penalty
- r_enfor.xls – Law enforcement statistics (updated 2/19/09)
- s_marr.xls – Marriage and domestic partnership laws
- t_elec.xls – Campaign finance regulations
- summary.xls – Summary file with policy ideology variables (updated 2/19/09)
Additional, uncorrected data from Sorens, Muedini, and Ruger (2008):
- a_fiscal.xls – Fiscal policy
- b_guns.xls – Gun control
- e_educ.xls – Education regulations
- g_labor.xls – Labor laws
- r_enfor.xls – Law enforcement data
- summary.xls – Summary file with policy ideology variables
Data for Ruger and Sorens (2009):