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Corrective policy reactions: positive and negative budgetary punctuations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2018

Carla M. Flink  and
Scott E. Robinson
Carla M. Flink*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Administration & Policy, School of Public Affairs, American UniversityWashington, D.C. USA
Scott E. Robinson
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: flink@american.edu
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Abstract

Punctuated equilibrium theory seeks to explain policy volatility and stability in government attention. In previous research into the temporal dynamics of punctuations, scholars found that punctuations occur in clusters – a recent budgetary punctuation increases the likelihood of a subsequent punctuation. This article examines the direction, positive or negative, of budgetary punctuations over time. Are budgetary punctuations corrective, grouping positive and negative changes? Or, do budgetary punctuations occur in cumulative trends of positive or negative changes? These questions address the heart of the theoretical metaphor for punctuated equilibrium. In an analysis of over 1,000 Texas school districts for nearly a 20-year-period, results support the notion of reactive patterns of budgetary punctuations – positive and negative budgetary punctuations pair up at a rate much higher than expected by chance. The findings demonstrate that even though it is likely to see consecutive positive and negative punctuations, they are not always fully corrective.

Keywords

policy processpublic budgetingpunctuated equilibrium theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 96 - 115
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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