Understanding Policy Change Using a Critical Junctures Theory in Comparative Context: The Cases of Ireland and Sweden

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    Abstract

    Utilizing a new theory for examining critical junctures, we seek to better understand the nature of industrial policy change in Ireland during the 1950s and macroeconomic policy change in Sweden in the 1980s. Did these policy changes constitute critical junctures, or something less, and if so why? The theory consists of three elements-economic crisis, ideational change, and the nature of the policy change-that must be identified for us to be able to declare with some certainty if a policy change constitutes a critical juncture. Herein, we will be examining the roles of a variety of change agents including the media, central banks, and politicians. Our findings will help explain why Irish industrial policy was transformed in the late 1950s, while Swedish macroeconomic policy underwent only minor change in the early 1980s.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)324-350
    Number of pages27
    JournalPolicy Studies Journal
    Volume40
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2012

    Keywords

    • Crisis
    • Critical juncture
    • Ideas
    • Industrial
    • Ireland
    • Macroeconomic
    • Policy change
    • Sweden

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