Ideas, federalism and policy feedback: an institutionalist approach

Abstract

Federalism and policy feedback are central issues within the institutionalist tradition, but scholars who study the role of ideas within that tradition have paid surprisingly limited attention to these two issues. More specifically, within the public policy literature, little has been published about the relationship between federalism and the ideational dimension of policy feedback. The objective of this article is to explore this relationship at the theoretical level before illustrating basic analytical claims about it through empirical work. The empirical sections draw on two case studies from Canada to illustrate the interaction between federalism and ideational policy feedback over time: provincial social policy, with a focus on Quebec, and the federal National Energy Program, with a focus on its impact on Alberta. The analysis stresses the role of identity formation in mediating the connection between ideational and institutional processes in federal political systems.

Policy feedback and the enforcement of international wildlife treaties in Germany

“…Michener's (2018) study on the racialized dimensions of Medicaid emphasizes the pitfalls of federalism, as decentralization often results in welfare recipients receiving different levels of benefits subject to different requirements (López-Santana, 2015). Béland and Lecours (2020) similarly look at how federalism can contribute to identity formation and ideas of exclusion in policy implementation in social and energy policy in Canada. These works bring federalism back to the forefront of PFT in ways that consider how federalism not only impacts how policies are enforced, but also impact policy recipients.…”

How Ideas and Institutions Shape the Politics of Public Policy

“…More generally, a program structure that gives second-level governments discretion over important program provisions may lead to differences in those programs that reflect differences in ideology, party control, and fiscal capacity across those governmental units (Fording and Patton 2020;Weaver 2020). It may even lead to the growth of regional identities that shape future policy development (Béland and Lecours 2020).…”

“…Other examples include highway construction policy, home ownership, and local land use regulations (see, e.g., Thurston 2015). In Canada, the intertwining of regional-economic and regional-linguistic divisions with political institutions and policy feedback has been similarly fundamental in shaping policy stasis and change (Béland and Lecours 2020), as have caste and religion in India.…”