This study examines state variations in health care services for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities across the fifty states through the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (ADDM). The ADDM network monitors and tracks the number of children with Autism and other developmental disabilities. The purpose of this study is, first, to understand the differences between the states in the implementation of the ADDM network and, second, to determine what state factors (political variable, i.e., party identification; structural administrative variables, i.e., Medicaid Home and Community Based Service Waiver, HCBS (Section1915C) and the number of pediatricians per 10,000 children; Autism prevalence variable, i.e., Autism among children in special education per 10,000 children; and state economic variables, i.e., spending per pupil for children with Autism in special education, children in poverty, and state financial health) influence the likelihood of a state applying for the ADDM network. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to consider the potential impact of these various state characteristics in order to understand what state factors might contribute to such differences. The results reveal that structural administrative and economic factors influence a state’s decision to apply for the ADDM network. Furthermore, political factors (e.g., Democratic party control of governorship and legislature) did not influence a state’s decision to apply for the ADDM network. However, when controlling for Republican political party identification, the structural administrative, economic, and political (Republican-controlled legislature) state characteristics influence whether a state applying for the ADDM network. The results indicate that political party control does not play a significant role in determining whether a state will apply for the ADDM network. In expanding the research, to include another structural administrative factor (prior application), political party control (i.e., Republican-controlled legislature) was no longer significant. Thus, the bureaucratic environment is not influencing the actions of state administrators. Instead the individual characteristics of the state is influencing whether a state will apply for the ADDM network. Understanding the differences between the states in the implementation of the ADDM network provides a comprehensive model for establishing the ADDM network or similar programs in other states.

在關於政黨認同的研究中，除了明白表示出政黨認同的這群人之外，其餘沒有明白表示出政黨認同的選民，通常被歸類為所謂的「中立無反應」者，或是「獨立選民」。然而，這群沒有明白表示出政黨認同或投票對象的受訪者是否真是中立或無反應者，抑或真是獨立選民呢？葉銘元（1994）針對我國的獨立選民曾做過相當詳細的研究，本文接續其研究，選擇政治大學選舉研究中心的面訪資料，針對1989年至1999年間我國獨立選民的發展與變遷情形，分別就「我國獨立選民政黨認同及社會背景的發展與變遷」、「我國獨立選民政治涉入的發展與變遷」、「我國獨立選民投票取向的發展與變遷」及「影響獨立選民發展與變遷的因素」等方面作分析。 研究結果發現：我國獨立選民的比例雖然有下降的趨勢，但是近年來此種趨勢似乎有逆轉的情形，且獨立選民比例的高低的確會受到選舉制度不同的影響。獨立選民的社會背景也和政黨認同者有差異，他們的政治涉入較政黨認同者為低，對候選人及政黨評價較低，對議題保持中立的立場，投票時比較會考量候選人的條件優劣，較不會依政黨界限投票。與此同時，我們也發現獨立選民的組成上是由政治知識及政治涉入較低的「冷漠型獨立選民」，逐漸轉變為政治知識及政治涉入較高的「理想型獨立選民」。 在未來的發展趨勢上，我們發現新世代及新新世代選民中獨立選民所佔的比例是較低的，因此我們可以預期，獨立選民的比例應該還有下降的可能性。在民主化的進程繼續推展，政黨政治日益成熟穩定之後，我們預期有政黨認同的選民會呈現增長的趨勢，與此同時，獨立選民並不會大幅度的減少。基於獨立選民是理想公民的期待，我們相信還是會有一定比例的民眾認為自己是獨立選民，但正如同我們觀察到的，此時的獨立選民將不再是對政治一無所知，或是對政治冷漠的冷漠型獨立選民；而將成為對政治保持高度關注，並能依自己客觀的態度做出政治決定的理想公民。 / In most studies about party identification, people who do not clearly indicate their party identification are usually classified as so「neutral non-respondents」or 「Independents」. Are these respondents really neutral or non-response, or are they really independents ? Yeh Ming-Yuan (1994) has done detailed research on independent voters in Taiwan. This thesis follows his research, using individual level survey data to analyze the developing and changing situation of independent voters in Taiwan from 1989 through 1999. In particular, this thesis examines changing party identification and social background of independent voters, changing political involvement among independent voters, changing vote intentions of independent voters, and the facts which have influenced the develop of independent voters. Our research outcomes have shown that although the percentage of independent voters in Taiwan has declined, in recent years this trend seems to have reversed, The percentage of independent voters has actually been influenced by changes in the electoral system. There are differences in social background between independents and party identifiers. The degree of political involvement of independent voters is lower than that of party identifiers. Their evaluation of candidates and parties is also lower than those of party identifiers. They tend to stay neutral to all political issues when making their voting decisions, they tend to consider the conditions of the candidates, rather than voting by the boundary of parties. However, we also discover that independent voters are gradually evolving from "apathetic independent voters", with lower political knowledge and lower political involvement, to "ideal independent voters", with higher political knowledge and higher political involvement. Looking to the future, we discover that the percentage of independent voters in the next generation and the generation after that are much lower. Hence we can predict that the percentage of independent voters will likely decline. With the continuing development of democracy and the increasing maturity and stability of party politics, we expect that the percentage of party indentifiers will grow. However, this does not necessarily mean that the percentage of independent voters will decline dramatically.Because of the expectation that independent voters are the ideal citizens, we believe that there are still a certain percentage of people who will consider themselves as independent voters. Hence, independent voters increasingly will not be "apathetic independent voters" who know nothing about politics. On the contrary, they will become "ideal citizens" who keep highly concerned about politics and make political decisions according to their own subjective attitudes.