Charles Lindblom is alive and well and living in punctuated equilibrium land

Abstract

Incrementalism enjoyed an almost uninterrupted 40 year run as the dominant model of policy change from the publication of Lindblom and Dahl's first mention of the subject in 1953. In the mid-1990s, however, the elements of a new orthodoxy of policy dynamics began to appear in the form of various models of ‘punctuated equilibrium’, most notably in the works of Peter Hall, Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones. It is important to note, that the new orthodoxy did not replace the old, but rather supplemented it through the addition of notions of ‘atypical’ or ‘paradigmatic’ change to the pattern of marginal or incremental change put forward by Lindblom and his colleagues in the 1950s and 1960s. Contemporary models thus owe a great debt to incrementalism, attempting to incorporate its strengths while overcoming its weaknesses. This article discusses this evolution in theories of policy dynamics and the research agenda currently found in this area of policy studies.

Importing Concepts from Biology into Political Science: The Case of Punctuated Equilibrium

“…I propose substituting the term “punctuated incrementalism” for “punctuated equilibrium” when referring to the theory of policymaking first articulated by Baumgartner and Jones in 1993. The new descriptive phrase would underscore the point made recently by Howlett and Migone that Baumgartner and Jones's model of policymaking is actually a much‐improved version of the incrementalist theory, rather than an application of biological insights to politics (Howlett & Migone, 2011).…”

Theories of the Policy Process: Contemporary Scholarship and Future Directions

“…Its essence is a trope inspired by the natural sciences (paleontology), which provides an explanatory framework on which to ground empirical observations (Howlett & Migone, ; Prindle, ). In order to rid the framework from the pitfalls of the metaphor, Prindle () suggests renaming it “punctuated incrementalism”; indeed Howlett and Migone () find incrementalism to be very much a salient component of PET. There is a binary quality in Punctuated Equilibrium as its space is occupied by either incrementally occurring change or bursts.…”

Muddling through with climate change targets: a multi-level governance perspective on the transport sector

“…Here we will present only some key concepts about incrementalism. For further readings see the reviews provided by Weiss and Woodhouse (1992), Allison and Saint-Martin (2011) and Howlett and Migone (2011), and the critiques provided by Dror (1964) and Lustick (1980).…”