Small, Slow, and Gradual Reform: What can Historical Institutionalism Teach us?

In this article, the issue of "small, slow and gradual reform" is explored, particularly from the perspective of "historical institutionalism." Historically grown and solidified institutions explain why change usually is only small, slow, and gradual. We have a closer look at the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of public administration 2011-01, Vol.34 (8), p.475-485
Main Authors: Kickert, Walter J. M., van der Meer, Frans-Bauke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrative reform
Agricultural administration
Agriculture
Case studies
Change
Conceptualization
Government agencies
Historical institutionalism
Institutional change
Institutionalism
Netherlands
organisational change
Organizational change
Path Dependence
Political Science
Political Science Theories
Public administration
Reform
Reforms
Studies
Types
Typology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this article, the issue of "small, slow and gradual reform" is explored, particularly from the perspective of "historical institutionalism." Historically grown and solidified institutions explain why change usually is only small, slow, and gradual. We have a closer look at the political science theory of historical institutionalism. After considering key-concepts of historical institutionalism such as "path dependency" and "punctuated equilibrium," we look at recent developments of typologies of incremental, gradual transformations. Elaborating upon this typology we develop a conceptual framework of various and varying types of change. The descriptive validity of this framework is "tested" by offering empirical illustrations in three case studies of changes that have occurred in and around the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture.
ISSN:0190-0692
1532-4265
DOI:10.1080/01900692.2011.583768