Reassessing Policy Drift: Social Policy Change in the United States

Authors

Daniel Beland, McGill University
Philip Rocco, Marquette UniversityFollow
Alex Waddan, University of Leicester

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

18 p.

Publication Date

3-2016

Publisher

Wiley

Source Publication

Social Policy & Administration

Source ISSN

0144-5596

Abstract

As formulated by Jacob Hacker, the concept of policy drift turned institutional theories of public policy on their heads by suggesting that consequential policy changes often happen in the absence of reform. Especially prevalent in times of political gridlock or stasis, policy drift is a useful concept for capturing how inaction can gradually diminish the effectiveness of social programmes over time. By highlighting cases of difficult-to-see policy inaction, however, Hacker ’s concept sets a high bar for empirical scholarship. In this article, we suggest that analyzing policy drift requires attention to comparative policy outcomes, the implementation of reforms intended to alleviate drift, and the time frame of the study. With these insights in mind, we analyze the impact of drift on US retirement security and health care coverage to reflect policy changes that have occurred since Hacker’s original analysis was published.

Comments

Accepted version. Social Policy & Administration, Vol. 50, No. 2 (March 2016): 201-218. DOI. © 2016 Wiley. Used with permission.

Philip Rocco was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh at the time of publication.

Recommended Citation

Beland, Daniel; Rocco, Philip; and Waddan, Alex, "Reassessing Policy Drift: Social Policy Change in the United States" (2016). Political Science Faculty Research and Publications. 34.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/polisci_fac/34