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Policy Change

Encyclopedia of Public Policy

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Central Definition

Policy change, or the creation or modification of an existing public policy, is a quintessential topic for society and policy process scholars. Its importance lies in how governments can adapt through public policies to signal their responsiveness to societal needs and wants. Policy change also lies at the foundation of ongoing scholarship.

Public policy can be defined as a formal government action (or inaction), often to serve the public interest in response to an issue or problem (Dye, 1972). When public policies are passed, they usually reflect the values and understandings of those individuals and organizations formulating the policy (Sabatier, 1987). Thus, public policies are inherently political and reflect the positions of those with and in power. Nevertheless, public policies are also instrumental in being created to mitigate or solve perceived problems. Scholars have developed various measurements to understand what is changing, understanding patterns over...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Allegra H. Fullerton & Christopher M. Weible

Authors
  1. Allegra H. Fullerton
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  2. Christopher M. Weible
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Correspondence to Christopher M. Weible .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Public Policy, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Minna van Gerven

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Montreal, Montréal, Canada

    Christine Rothmayr Allison

  3. Institute of Political Science, University of Münster, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Klaus Schubert

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Social and Public Policy, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Minna van Gerven

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Christine Rothmayr Allison

  3. Institute for Political Science, Universität Münster, Münster, Germany

    Klaus Schubert

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Fullerton, A.H., Weible, C.M. (2023). Policy Change. In: van Gerven, M., Rothmayr Allison, C., Schubert, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_28-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90434-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90434-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Policy Change
    Published:
    23 June 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_28-2

  2. Original

    Policy Change
    Published:
    09 May 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_28-1

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