Assessing Policy Process Knowledge: A Systematic Review of Three Theoretical Approaches That Are Applied to Cases of Policy Change

European Policy Analysis, Forthcoming

38 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2018

See all articles by Jeroen van der Heijden

Jeroen van der Heijden

Victoria University of Wellington, School of Government; Australian National University, School of Regulation & Global Governance (RegNet)

Johanna Kuhlmann

Öffentliche Versicherung Braunschweig

Date Written: April 9, 2018

Abstract

This article seeks to understand how knowledge of the policy process, and especially of policy change, is generated. For three dominant approaches — punctuated equilibrium theory, incremental change theorising, and institutional isomorphism theorising — we ask where, by whom, and especially how these theoretical approaches have been applied in empirical studies. Answering these questions is relevant for synthesising knowledge on policy change across such studies. For a stratified sample of 153 empirical articles, we find that the theories have mainly been applied for single-n or small-n studies at the national level, in western countries, and by scholars affiliated with western universities. We also find that the theoretical approaches are, generally, only partially and loosely operationalised. This limits the generic lessons we can draw from this body of empirical work.

Keywords: Policy Change, Institutional Change, Policy Transformation, Punctuated Equilibrium, Incremental Policy Change, Institutional Isomorphism, PRISMA Analysis

Suggested Citation

van der Heijden, Jeroen and Kuhlmann, Johanna, Assessing Policy Process Knowledge: A Systematic Review of Three Theoretical Approaches That Are Applied to Cases of Policy Change (April 9, 2018). European Policy Analysis, Forthcoming , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3159415

Jeroen Van der Heijden (Contact Author)

Victoria University of Wellington, School of Government ( email )

PO Box 600
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.victoria.ac.nz/sog/about/staff/jeroen-vanderheijden

Australian National University, School of Regulation & Global Governance (RegNet) ( email )

Australian National University
Building #8
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

Johanna Kuhlmann

Öffentliche Versicherung Braunschweig

Theodor-Heuss-Str. 10
Braunschweig, 38100
Germany

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