Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Chapter 5 uses a contemporary case of racialized policymaking to explore the inevitable volatility that results from the simultaneous diffusion of progressive and regressive policies. It traces the spread of three progressive and three regressive policies to uncover how a state’s commitment to and alignment in the competition between racial orders yields differing types of policy volatility. Convicted states resemble runaway trains as they act constantly and unrestrained in pursuit of either progressive or regressive policy change. Second-wave adopters—leaner states—suffer from a case of whiplash where they often take a slower, yet predictable, path towards either progressive or regressive change. However, they are more susceptible to adopting policies from the competing order than their more convicted peers. Conflicted states seek to preserve the racial status quo by adopting a balanced slate of progressive and regressive policies. In doing so, they are constantly pushed and pulled in competing directions.</jats:p>