Path contingency
Advancing a Spatial-Institutionalist Perspective on Decision Pathways for Disaster Risk Governance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6235092 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Tangney (0000-0003-3878-4034, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37-54 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10361146.2023.2294976 |
| OpenAlex | W4390047701 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 37 |
Path dependence has become a multi-disciplinary concept, employed across various literatures to explain why the past matters for decision-making. Debate within 'new institutionalist' scholarship has provided a detailed critique of the term over several decades. Some scholars argue that it is hampered by poor conceptual clarity and highlight its limitations in explaining institutional reform. Yet, this paper demonstrates how neglecting antecedent conditions and associated decision pathways is particularly inappropriate for politico-spatial issues like disaster risk and natural resource governance. Doing so risks omitting key material and perceptual contingencies influencing contemporary institutions. Examining southeast Queensland's flooding disaster of 2011, the paper proposes that path contingency provides a useful theoretical bridge between institutionalist theories of stability and reform, and the geographic contexts within which disaster risk governance proceeds. The analysis then addresses the potential generalisability of path contingency beyond its application to disaster management, for consideration across a broader range of institutionalist research
CLARITY · Contingency · Contingency plan · Corporate governance · Disaster research · Economics · Epistemology · Management · Path dependence · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Positive economics · Scholarship · Sociology · Community Development and Social Impact · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · International Development and Aid · Law
Theories of the Policy Process
Taking path dependence seriously
Essay
The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions
Rules, Games, and Common-Pool Resources
Critical junctures and path dependence in urban planning and housing policy
Mainstreaming climate change adaptation
Damming the ‘Flood Evil’ on the Brisbane River
Technological regimes, path dependency and the environment
Geographies of production I
Do organizational differences matter for the use of social media by public organizations? A computational analysis of the way the German police use Twitter for external communication
Two steps forward, one step back
A Critique of the Use of Path Dependency in Policy Studies
Only Good Fences Keep Good Neighbours! The Institutionalization of Ministry–agency Relationships at the Science–policy Nexus in German Food Safety Policy
Path Dependency and the Reform of English Local Government
The Politics of Path Dependency
Putting path dependence in its place
Process Sequencing Policy Dynamics
The three institutionalisms and institutional dynamics
Neo-Statecraft Theory, Historical Institutionalism and Institutional Change
Showing the path to path dependence
The Causal Logic of Critical Junctures
New institutionalism, critical junctures and post-crisis policy reform
Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics
Do We Really Need a New ‘Constructivist Institutionalism’ to Explain Institutional Change
Interpreting Interpretivism Interpreting Interpretations
Approaches to the State
Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics
Overcoming path dependency
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |