When do policies become path dependent? the Czech example

This article asks the question of why some social policies can be path dependent, while others are not, even if the country goes through what clearly seems to be a ‘critical juncture’ caused by exogenous shocks. We argue that in the Czech Republic labour market policies represent a clear break with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of European social policy 2013-10, Vol.23 (4), p.437-450
Main Authors: Saxonberg, Steven, Sirovátka, Tomáš, Janoušková, Miroslava
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Critical path analysis
Czech Republic
Economic policy
Family
Family Policy
Government Policy
Health care
Health Care Services
Health Care Services Policy
Health policy
Historical institutionalism
Labor Market
Labor policy
Labour market
Markets
Policy making
Public Support
Social Policy
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Summary:This article asks the question of why some social policies can be path dependent, while others are not, even if the country goes through what clearly seems to be a ‘critical juncture’ caused by exogenous shocks. We argue that in the Czech Republic labour market policies represent a clear break with the past, while healthcare and family policies have been path dependent to various degrees. There are several reasons. First, during the first years of the transition policymakers gave greater priority to labour market issues. Second, labour market policies were less constrained than the other policy areas, both because the government had to create new institutions in this area rather than rely on old ones and because these new institutions had not yet built up popular support as the old institutions had. Third, labour policy was not as influenced by policy legacies.
ISSN:0958-9287
1461-7269
1461-7269
DOI:10.1177/0958928713507465