Eadington Lecture Delves into Factors behind Gaming Expansion

Supported by the UNLV Center for Gaming Research, Kim Manh -latest Eadington Fellow and with a Masters and Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of Houston- will be presenting “The Determinants of Gaming Policy Diffusion & Expansion” at 2 p.m. on December 13th at Lied Library.

In an interview with representatives from the University of Nevada, Mahn has offered the following preview of his dissertation, which is free and open to the public.

"Casino gaming acceptance has been trending upwards since the 1980s. A Gallup poll conducted in 2016 showed that gambling was found as morally acceptable by a record high percentage of all Americans. This includes within partisan subgroups, with acceptability rates at 74% for Democrats, 66% for Independents and 63% for Republicans," explains Manh. "From 2000 to 2015, the number of states with commercial gaming grew from 15 to 25. In addition to initial legalization, other states chose to expand gaming policy that was already in place."

Based upon his studies, Manh has reached the conclusion that the second wave of commercial gaming expansion we are currently experiencing heavily relied on the growth of public support throughout the country and across political subgroups. "However," Manh highlights, "there remains a fair amount of variation on the timing in which gambling expansion policies have been adopted. What accounts for this variation? In other words, what factors influence the expansion and pace of expansion of gaming rights?"

"My presentation will be on research analyzing historically significant variables impactful to the adoption of gaming policy. The role of democratic mechanisms, the presence of industry subgroups, political ideology, competition factors, and other variables which have been attributed to pushing for or pulling against the expansion of gaming rights in both commercial and tribal arenas," Manh summarizes.

Among the resources the Eadington Fellow quotes to base his studies, the Eugene Martin Christiansen Papers -a collection of consultant research files spanning almost 70 years- seem to have been key in helping Manh "look for insight into motivations and views of industry players that provide evidence for, or perhaps challenge the theoretical assumptions of, how gaming policy diffuses throughout the states."

"I’m also researching the Katherine Spilde Papers, a massive collection of work on Native American Gaming, in order to study the spread of tribal gaming and how that process compares to commercial gaming. Together these collections afford me the opportunity to create a comprehensive model of gaming policy diffusion," concludes Manh.