Concepedia

The Stages of the Policy Process and the Equal Rights Amendment, 1972–1982

American Journal of Sociology · 2006 · 245 citations · 78 references

TL;DR

Policy change is often treated as a simple adoption decision, but this view obscures how movements and other factors influence distinct stages of the policy process, each governed by different rules and outcomes. The study investigates how the Equal Rights Amendment’s state ratification process unfolds across three policy development stages. The authors analyze state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by focusing on three policy development stages. They find that movements influence legislative decisions more strongly in early stages, while public opinion dominates in later stages.

Abstract

Studies of how social movements impact policy outcomes typically treat policy change as a dichotomous phenomenon; a governmental unit either adopts or does not adopt a particular policy in a particular time frame. This simplistic view of the policy process runs the risk of masking how movements and other factors matter at various stages of the policy process. Each stage is characterized by different rules and different consequences; thus, movements and other factors ought to matter differently at each stage. The authors examine three stages of policy development with regard to state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Results show that movements mattered more to legislative decisions in the earlier stages of the policy process, but that their effects were eclipsed in later stages by public opinion.