Policy Concepts: Path Dependency

Douglas North

Cultural/economic processing of info can stunt institutional development due to increasing returns

Entrenchment

Path Dependency; Continuing policies and programs that have diminishing returns or fail at achieving their set goals.

Path dependency/entrenched policy

Policies you inherit, even after a better way might have been developed, but you're too invested to change. Ex.) QWERTY, Social Security, HMOs, People depend on it, even if it's inefficient. It has worked in the past, so people are attached to it.

Third rail political issues

Too dangerous to tackle. Ex.) Gay marriage WAS a third rail issue

lasting power/consensual policy

When it comes to path dependency, we often make it for these to things

Venue Shopping

a lawmaking arena

scope of conflict

cannot expand/ minimizing dissent

critical juncture

caused by a political development that changes the basic contours of life.

Alternate Policy Options

framed as dangerous, fear mongering, demonized

timing

historical context

Institutional reform and public dissent

marginalized

sequencing

one policy leads to another, order of problems that point to a policy solution

Sunk costs

the economic and political cost of moving to another regime becomes greater because it transforms the universe of actors. As the policies entrench themselves, it transforms the distribution of preferences.