The mechanisms and explanations underpinning gender-equitable reform: A longitudinal study of same-sex marriage policy change within the Advocacy Coalition Framework

This study investigates the legalization of same-sex marriage at the state level across the United States from 2004 to 2015 when the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision established marriage equality nationwide. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), we analyze the patterns of adoption of same-sex marriage laws and the rationales driving these policy shifts across multiple states and over time. We contribute to the ACF literature by providing a nuanced measurement of policy change, both distinguishing between types of change (policy core or secondary change) and assessing the scales of change (major or minor change). We then combine the types and scales of policy change in a two-by-two matrix and categorize the enacted same-sex marriage legislation as major policy core change, minor policy core change, major secondary change, or minor secondary change. To understand the rationales for policy change, we explore the emotional and cognitive motivations that policy actors cite for proposing or enacting marriage equality bills. This innovative approach to measuring the factors driving reform sheds light on the ways actors make sense of policy change, as well as their strategies and goals in justifying a move away from unequal gender structures. Doing so, we not only capture in detail the evolution of same-sex marriage bills over time. We also offer deeper insights into the mechanisms and explanations underpinning gender-equitable reform by comparing our findings to previous ACF studies of policy change in different policymaking contexts and among marginalized and non-marginalized communities.