A Conceptual Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Policy Change: Measurement, Explanation and Strategies of Policy Dismantling

The analysis of policy change has so far concentrated on the assessment and explanation of different degrees of change. The distinctions between radical versus incremental, path-breaking versus path-dependent or self-reinforcing versus reactive sequences have dominated the debate while the precise direction of policy change has rarely been taken into account. This article therefore concentrates on the extent to which policy change implies a reduction, decrease or diminution of existing policy arrangements. It conceives of this direction of policy change as policy dismantling. In developing analytical tools to identify and explain policy dismantling, the article aims to elucidate some of the causes, conditions and strategies of policy dismantling and to establish policy dismantling as a distinct category of policy change.