Policy Coherence and Component-Driven Policymaking: Arctic Policy in Canada and the United States

Authors: Peter J. May; Bryan D. Jones; Betsi E. Beem; Emily A. Neff-Sharum; Melissa K. Poague

Source: Policy Studies Journal, Volume 33, Number 1, February 2005 , pp. 37-63(27)

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Abstract:

This research extends theorizing about the implications of political environments to the content of policy areas. We consider the case of Arctic policy in Canada and the United States as an example of what we label as component-driven policymaking. We show how the lack of a clear constituency and the lack of a stable policy subsystem for the Arctic create a policy environment for which the politics of particular issues dominate Arctic policymaking. The result is a policy space labeled Arctic policy that lacks policy coherence. We suggest that similar features of component-based policymaking help explain limited policy coherence for a variety of policy areas such as policies for children, families, rural areas, urban areas, and women in the United States.

Keywords: policy coherence; Arctic policy; policy subsystem; interest groups

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2005.00091.x

Affiliations: 1: Center for American Politics and Public Policy, University of Washington

Publication date: 2005-02-01