Dynamics of policy change: Conceptualising policy change and stability in a transforming society / Dynamiken des Policy-Wandels. Konzeptionelle Überlegungen zu Politikwandel und -stabilität in der Transformationsgesellschaft

Abstract

Policy change is at the heart of policy research. However, scholars mostly observe incremental rather than major or transformative change. As the hurdles for change are both high and diverse, policy research partly shifts from analysing major policy change to everyday politics. Following this analytical shift, this symposium addresses the dynamics of policy change. Its seven contributions examine the different qualities and modes of policy change identified in the (dis)continuities, path dependencies, and random or unexpected windows of opportunity. Adopting a processual analytical perspective, we reconsider different concepts of change and transformation. Starting from the explanatory power of overlapping policy process theories, we identify three analytical approaches (institutional, actor centred, politics of change) and summarise drivers and hurdles of policy change. Building on the contributions, we derive modes and qualities of policy change as a combination of these factors to facilitate exchange across theoretical perspectives and contribute to a better understanding of policy change and stability.