Altered States : explaining domestic institutional change
By: CORTELL, Andrew P.; PETERSON, Susan
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ArticlePublisher: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, April 1999British Journal of Political Science 29, 1, p. 177-203Abstract: Existing explanations of domestic structural change focus on the role crises play in precipitating radical or episodic change. They largely ignore the sources and consequences of incremental change, even thought this type of change also can have significant effects for policy processes and outcomes. We outline a framework for studing institutional trasnformation that acccounts for both forms of change. The argument is a three part one. First, international and domestic events, including both crises and gradual pressures, open windows of opportunity that provide policy officials with the potential to transform existing institutions. Large-scale, system-wide changes create more limited opportunity for change. Secondly, whether an institutional change follows a window of opportunity depends on their institutional arrangements create opportunities for, or place limits on, officials' ability to make change. Two case studies illustrate and probe the plausibility of the argument
Existing explanations of domestic structural change focus on the role crises play in precipitating radical or episodic change. They largely ignore the sources and consequences of incremental change, even thought this type of change also can have significant effects for policy processes and outcomes. We outline a framework for studing institutional trasnformation that acccounts for both forms of change. The argument is a three part one. First, international and domestic events, including both crises and gradual pressures, open windows of opportunity that provide policy officials with the potential to transform existing institutions. Large-scale, system-wide changes create more limited opportunity for change. Secondly, whether an institutional change follows a window of opportunity depends on their institutional arrangements create opportunities for, or place limits on, officials' ability to make change. Two case studies illustrate and probe the plausibility of the argument
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