Addition preferences among policymakers as driver of policy growth

Bibliographic Data

ID17545251
AuthorsAlexa Lenz (0000-0001-8286-5101, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, corresponding author), Christoph Knill (0000-0002-8562-2102, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Yves Steinebach (0000-0001-7453-7204, University of Oslo)
Year2026
Pages1-26
Publication date2026-04-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402382.2026.2650384
OpenAlexW7152460946
LanguageEN
References cited78

Policy growth has become a defining feature of modern governance, contributing to administrative overload and reduced policy effectiveness. While most research addresses this phenomenon from a macro-level perspective, this study examines how individual policymakers contribute to policy growth through a systematic preference for additive policy solutions. Integrating insights from social psychology, public administration, and political science, the article argues that addition preferences stem from cognitive mechanisms, such as subtraction neglect, and strategic incentives linked to policy expansion. Using a survey experiment with 1,454 elected policymakers in Norway, it tests the prevalence of addition preferences and how they are influenced by contextual conditions. The results reveal (1) a persistent addition preference among policymakers; and (2) that information about available implementation capacities can slightly reduce these tendencies. These findings advance behavioural understanding of policy development and democratic governance, emphasising the need to expose decision-makers to implementation realities.

Government (linguistics) · Politics · Public policy · demographic modeling and climate adaptation · Policy Transfer and Learning · Social Policy and Reform Studies