Congress as theatre
How Advocates Use Ambiguity for Political Advantage
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6296049 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Parrish Bergquist (0000-0003-0572-4764, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 51-71 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Public Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-814X • E-ISSN: 1469-7815 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0143814x18000284 |
| OpenAlex | W2901605357 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 25 |
Ambiguity – the capacity to have multiple meanings – is endemic to politics. Ambiguity creates political opportunities, structures debates and provides leeway for political entrepreneurs to advance their interests. I use the 2012 passage and 2014 rollback of reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program to show how ambiguity enables political entrepreneurship. In this puzzling case, Congress enacted and rolled back changes that threatened to impose politically unpalatable costs. Using semi-structured interviews and congressional testimony, I show how political entrepreneurs engaged with ambiguity in the buildup to the reforms’ passage. They used information strategically to interpret problems, solutions, rules, and goals; shape legislators’ perceptions of the reforms’ political implications; and adapt their arguments to the policy windows that opened. The case shows that ambiguity facilitates policy reform, but the direction of change depends on the priorities that are salient when a policy window opens and on the interests of political entrepreneurs
Ambiguity · Economics · Entrepreneurship · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Salient · Window of opportunity · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Engineering · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies
Learning From Strangers
Order Without Design
The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice
Agendas, alternatives, and public policies
A Theory of Gradual Institutional Change
At War with the Weather
Process Tracing
The Study of Policy Development
Agenda Dynamics and Policy Subsystems
Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research
The National Flood Insurance Program
Fish Stories
The Politics of Attention
Ambiguity and Choice in Public Policy
Framing
Causal Stories and the Formation of Policy Agendas
Toward a Theory of the Political Entrepreneur
Lobbying as Legislative Subsidy
Come Rain or Shine
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |