A Theoretical Understanding of Housing and Homelessness

Federal Homelessness and Housing Policy Through the Lenses of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and Advocacy Coalition Frameworks

Bibliographic Data

ID12981900
AuthorsVirginia Beard (0000-0002-1794-7976, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume5
Issue1
Pages67-87
Publication date2013-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePoverty & Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1944-2858 • E-ISSN: 2194-6027
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pop4.16
OpenAlexW2138795339
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited23

Homelessness and housing insecurity have gained increasing attention since the 1980s in the United States. The numbers of people experiencing homelessness and insecure housing are growing. The federal‐level policy responses to homelessness—from Homeless Persons' Survival Act and the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act and current reauthorizations under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009—potentially reflect stasis of ideologies and thus policy responses with a few key punctuated changes in the U.S. housing policy framework. This article employs the lens of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and Advocacy Coalition Framework as theoretical vantage points through which to understand federal‐level U.S. homelessness policy creation. Thus, this project examines what factors help explain housing and homelessness policy responses and ensuing program creations from the federal level over time

Affordable housing · Economic growth · Economics · Ideology · Policy development · Political science · Politics · Punctuated equilibrium · Sociology · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies