Abstract
Over the last two decades the literature on public policy has placed a strong emphasis on the role of policy feedbacks, especially in explaining patterns of policy stability over time within particular policy sectors (Pierson, 1993, 2000, 2004). Central to this argument is a claim that positive feedbacks tend to lead to the growth of supportive constituencies around policies in place and to the truncation of reform options considered, resulting in stable policy regimes. This is nowhere more true than in the case of pensions. Myles and Pierson (2001), for example, argue that pension programs, while undergoing incremental cutbacks, have largely avoided fundamental change even in the face of severe demographic and financial pressures.
The American Townsend Plan is the most prominent (Skocpol, 2003; Amenta et al., 2005); Blaikie (1990) also tells the story of two largely failed old-age pressure groups in Britain in the interwar years.
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© 2015 R. Kent Weaver
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Weaver, R.K. (2015). Policy Feedbacks and Pension Policy Change. In: Torp, C. (eds) Challenges of Aging. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283177_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283177_5
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