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ABSTRACT. This exploratory article examines the issue of state government procurement. It uses original survey data to create a measure of reformed state procurement practices, as suggested by the literature, and explores the ability of several variables from the state policy literature to explain observed differences in state procurement. Findings suggest that the states' procurement practices possess varying degrees of reform characteristics, that interest group diversity, legislative professionalism, results-oriented management, and regional effects each have significant relationships to state procurement practices, and that several "classic" explanations of state policy are not significantly related to state procurement practices. One implication is that procurement, like other forms of state administrative policy, may not be readily explained by widely utilized theories of state policy.
INTRODUCTION
Government spends a lot of money. This simple observation holds no matter which level of government - federal, state, or local - one is talking about. In fiscal year 2000, for example, the federal government's total non-defense consumption and gross investment (i.e., total purchasing) was $199.4 billion, while the combined level for state and local governments totaled $1.031 trillion (Bureau of Economic Analysis 2001). And, despite signs of modest declines in recent years, government's collective purchasing still accounts for nearly one-fifth of the nation's gross domestic product (Thai & Grimm, 2000).
In addition to its scale, the scope of government purchasing is equally impressive. In early times, a limited and routine role for government meant that procurement was confined to relatively routine purchases; but, as the scope of government has grown more complex, so too have the goods and services purchased (NASPO, 1999; Kelman 1990; Pettijohn & Qiao, 2000). Together, the amount of purchasing done by government and the increasing complexity of its purchases have served to focus attention on the procurement function (Zenz, 1994; MacManus, 1996).
The increased scrutiny procurement is receiving is warranted in light of the relationship between government procurement and performance. All public agencies, regardless of size or level of government, require the purchase of goods and services to support their functions (Thai & Grimm, 2000). As the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) puts it, ". . . the role that public procurement plays within the executive branch is more and more strategic to the success...