Policy Analyses

Q 1. Baumgartner et al. urges in page 245 that even if persistent advocacy finally results in the level of change desired by proponents, such a result does not necessarily point to incrementalism. What is incrementalism? What does it entail?

The concept of incrementalism does not assume that the government occasionally alters its policies. Instead, it asserts that continual discussions take place within a narrow range of what is possible, that the changes made are consistently minor, and that they closely expand upon already-in place laws or regulations. We did not witness this in Washington. What we saw was a mixture of suggestions, some going cautiously forward, a far greater number moving dramatically in a new direction, and the majority not advancing at all. Numerous suggestions are constantly bumping up against a series of friction-causing barriers in both Congress and government agencies, which limits the flow of new legislation. Democratic leaders in Congress and committee chairpersons decide which suggestions will be taken up and which ones will be disregarded. 

Q 2. States facing military rivalry faced the life-or-death obstacle of obtaining sufficient resources to fight the extended warfare. How were the available repertoires of administrative response? Why was timing important?

In page 3, Pierson notes that having enough resources to fight protracted war was a life-or-death problem for states that engaged in armed conflict. The administrative response options, however, depended on the stage of historical development at when this difficulty first surfaced. Because there were a variety of technological resources accessible to state builders during this time, timing was important. In the twelfth century, complex bureaucracy was an unheard-of organizational tool and literacy was a very limited resource. In this historical setting, kings and queens were compelled to rely on proprietary office holding and tax farming systems, which "were substantially more advantageous. Therefor, nations that afterwards engaged in intense armed conflict discovered themselves in a very different world.

References

Baumgartner, F. R., Berry, J. M., Hojnacki, M., Leech, B. L., & Kimball, D. C. (2009). Lobbying and policy change: Who wins, who loses, and why. University of Chicago Press.

Pierson, P. (2011). Politics in time. In Politics in Time. Princeton University Press.