The Logic of Policy Change after Crisis: Proximity and Subsystem Interaction

Abstract

Abstract What mechanisms link external events to policy change in a policy subsystem? This paper responds to this question by offering a nuanced re‐conceptualization of external events and by identifying the mechanisms that link disruptive crises to policy change. Building from the tenets of the advocacy coalition framework and a synthesis of the crisis management and policy change literatures, this paper (1) introduces the concept of policy and geographical proximity as a means to show how different types of crises alter the incentives for policy action within policy subsystems; (2) discusses an integrated set of proposals on how geographical and policy proximity affects the prospects of change in a policy subsystem; and (3) presents hypothesized scenarios outlining plausible intervening pathways linking a crisis to changes as contingent on policy subsystem structures.