Stability and Punctuations in Public Spending: A Comparative Study of Budget Functions

Breunig, Christian; Koski, Chris; Mortensen, Peter B.

doi:10.1093/jopart/mup028

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The same is true for majoritarian and consensual democracies. Accordingly, we conclude that the way states reform morality policies depends more on characteristics of the policies than on characteristics of the states—a finding that adds to existing studies, which have found domain‐specific patterns of punctuated equilibrium in public budgets (Breunig & Koski, ; Breunig, Koski, & Mortensen, ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

Is Morality Policy Different? Testing Sectoral and Institutional Explanations of Policy Change

Hurka¹,

Adam²,

Knill³

2016

Policy Studies Journal

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We analyze morality policy change from the perspective of punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) to test whether reform dynamics in this policy sector follow a distinct pattern. First, we propose a new measurement scheme capturing changes in the intensity of morality policy output. Second, we demonstrate that morality policy change is strongly punctuated. Finally, and most importantly, we show that the degree of policy punctuations varies between different domains of morality policy, but not according to institutional features operating on the country level, supporting existing PET research, which has discovered similar domain-specific dynamics in changes of public spending. Specifically, punctuations are particularly pronounced in areas of manifest morality policy, that is, policies characterized by strong value conflicts, whereas punctuations are less pronounced for latent morality policies, that is, policies in which other dimensions of conflict are present next to the value dimension. Significant differences in reform dynamics are neither discerned for countries belonging to the religious or the secular world, nor for countries with majoritarian or consensual democracies. The analysis relies on an original dataset capturing legislative changes in five manifest (abortion, euthanasia, prostitution, pornography, and homosexuality), and three latent morality policies (drugs, gambling, and handguns) in 19 European countries .

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

Is Morality Policy Different? Testing Sectoral and Institutional Explanations of Policy Change

Hurka¹,

Adam²,

Knill³

2016

Policy Studies Journal

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“…Similar results have been found at the subnational level, from specific functions in a state (Robinson, 2004) to local government budgeting (John, 2006; Jordan, 2003) to pooled state budgets (Breunig & Koski, 2006; Ryu, 2009). Comparative studies in public budgeting took the study of punctuated equilibrium theory and budget policymaking a step further by attempting to identify how variations in institutions can produce differences in the extent to which budgets are punctuated (Breunig, 2006; Breunig & Koski, 2009; Breunig, Koski, & Mortensen, 2010; Ryu, Bowling, Cho, & Wright, 2007, 2008). It is on this comparative work that we hope to take the discussion of public budgeting to the next step by examining outcomes.…”

Section: Perspectives On Budgets and Policy Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The Tortoise or the Hare? Incrementalism, Punctuations, and Their Consequences

Breunig

Koski

2012

Policy Studies Journal

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In this article, we contrast the long‐term consequences of incrementalism and punctuated equilibrium. We test what the impact of each of these types of policy change is on long‐term budgetary outcomes for the American states. Policy scholars have applied both theoretical approaches to the study of budgetary spending as an extension of policymaking. Given the two contrasting paradigms of policy change, we develop the following line of inquiry: Does punctuated equilibrium create a different budget in the long term than incrementalism? We address this question through an analysis of American state budgets because the U.S. states provide a rich variation in both budgetary outcomes and political institutions. We use budget data from all American states across all government functions for the period between 1984 and 2009. We find that, first, state budgets and budget functions vary in their degree of punctuation and, second, the degree of punctuation in a state's budget function corresponds to smaller long‐term growth. Additionally, the kind of spending matters: allocational budget categories are more likely to exhibit punctuations.

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“…A long line of scholarship finds that distributions of changes in public budgets display a punctuated equilibrium pattern, characterized by high central peaks, 'weak shoulders', and very long tails (Baumgartner et.al. [2009];Breunig and Koski [2006]; Breunig, Koski, and Mortensen [2010]; Jones and Baumgartner [2005] ;Jones et.al. [2009];Jones, Sulkin, and Larsen [2003]; Robinson et.al.…”

Section: Punctuated Equilibriummentioning

confidence: 99%

Budgetary change in authoritarian and democratic regimes

Baumgartner

Carammia

Epp

et al. 2017

Journal of European Public Policy

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We compare patterns of change in budgetary commitments by countries during periods of democracy and authoritarianism. Previous scholarship has focused almost exclusively on democratic governments, finding evidence of punctuated equilibria. Authoritarian regimes may behave differently, both because they may operate with fewer institutional barriers to choice and because they have fewer incentives to gather and respond to policy-relevant information coming from civil society. By analysing public budgeting in Brazil, Turkey, Malta, and Russia before and after their transitions from or to democracy, we can test punctuated equilibrium theory under a variety of governing conditions. Our goal is to advance the understanding of the causes of budgetary instability by leveraging contextual circumstances to push the theory beyond democracies and assess its broader applicability.

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Stability and Punctuations in Public Spending: A Comparative Study of Budget Functions

Cited by 37 publications

References 31 publications

Is Morality Policy Different? Testing Sectoral and Institutional Explanations of Policy Change

Is Morality Policy Different? Testing Sectoral and Institutional Explanations of Policy Change

The Tortoise or the Hare? Incrementalism, Punctuations, and Their Consequences

Budgetary change in authoritarian and democratic regimes

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