http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770411153

The above article, “Put ‘Broken Windows’ Theory to the Test on Litter,” is an editorial endorsement for a litter-reduction act in North Carolina. The author claims that the state’s excessive litter accumulation is due in part to an information cascade in which people are more apt to litter if there is already trash on the ground. In promoting the litter-reduction legislature, the author references the apparent successes of Rudolph Giuliani in cleaning up NYC through the ‘Broken Windows’ initiative.

As described <here> on Wikipedia, “Broken Windows” is a theory of urban renewal and order maintenance policing, based on ideas related to information cascades. The theory was originally described in a 1982 article by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, and has been implemented in cities throughout the country, most notably through Mayor Giuliani’s “zero tolerance”/“quality of life” reform acts. Under Giuliani’s direction, NYC police arrested, and the city prosecuted, thousands of people for the petty crimes that would otherwise have warranted only a fine (e.g., subway fare evasion and public drinking).

Social scientists have pointed to confounds in assessing the effectiveness of the Broken Windows policy of in preventing major crime like murder. However, it is less debated that preventing an information cascade is the best way to combat petty crimes like littering in North Carolina.