state ideology across the liberal-conservative continuum, to see if these values affect morality
policy adoption- with the expectation that more liberal states would enact more liberal policies
and vice-versa. Since citizen participation is an integral aspect of morality policy theory, many
scholars examine the role of public opinion on the policy topic (Cocca, 2002; Mooney, 2000;
Mooney & Lee, 1995, 1999, 2000).
The "usual suspects" were mostly insignificant just as scholars suspected when studying
morality policy, yet some are worth examining in regards to studying MFP (Mooney & Lee,
1995). Does the ideology of the state affect the adoption and type of MFP policy? While the
morality policies studied, abortion and the death penalty clearly split down conservative-liberal
lines, MFP does not. It would therefore be interesting to learn if political ideology plays a role in
spurring MFP adoption, and what ideology favors what type of MFP.
Morality policy theory is fruitful in offering several variables that could affect MFP
adoption, as well as the types of MFP that states adopt. It was useful in spite of the fact that no
studies existed on MFP itself. Fortunately, there are a wealth of studies on ADL that should also
assist in uncovering variables that address this question and also finding those additional
variables that could supplement the "usual suspects" in studying MFP policy adoption. Morality
policy studies typically use these suggested factors as control variables and examine variables
related to the policy issue, like the number of women in the workforce likely to be in favor of
legal abortion was used to examined abortion reform laws (Mooney & Lee, 1995). Reviewing
ADL literature should also provide variables that can be tested to address my question of MFP
adoption.

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