IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/amposc/v54y2010i1p1-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

After Enactment: The Lives and Deaths of Federal Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher R. Berry
  • Barry C. Burden
  • William G. Howell

Abstract

While many scholars have focused on the production of legislation, we explore life after enactment. Contrary to the prevailing view that federal programs are indissoluble, we show that programmatic restructurings and terminations are commonplace. In addition, we observe significant changes in programmatic appropriations. We suggest that a sitting congress is most likely to transform, kill, or cut programs inherited from an enacting congress when its partisan composition differs substantially. To test this claim, we examine the postenactment histories of every federal domestic program established between 1971 and 2003, using a new dataset that distinguishes program death from restructuring. Consistent with our predictions, we find that changes in the partisan composition of congresses have a strong influence on program durability and size. We thus dispel the notion that federal programs are everlasting while providing a plausible coalition‐based account for their evolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher R. Berry & Barry C. Burden & William G. Howell, 2010. "After Enactment: The Lives and Deaths of Federal Programs," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(1), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00414.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00414.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00414.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Canes-Wrone, Brandice & Brady, David W. & Cogan, John F., 2002. "Out of Step, Out of Office: Electoral Accountability and House Members' Voting," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(1), pages 127-140, March.
    2. Stephen Morris & Stephen Coate, 1999. "Policy Persistence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1327-1336, December.
    3. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521546744.
    4. Carpenter, Daniel P. & Lewis, David E., 2004. "Political Learning from Rare Events: Poisson Inference, Fiscal Constraints, and the Lifetime of Bureaus," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 201-232, July.
    5. James P. Lester & Ann O'M. Bowman & Malcolm L. Goggin & Laurence J. O'Toole, 1987. "Public Policy Implementation: Evolution Of The Field And Agenda For Future Research," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 7(1), pages 200-216, September.
    6. Levitt, Steven D & Snyder, James M, Jr, 1997. "The Impact of Federal Spending on House Election Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 30-53, February.
    7. Jones, Bryan D. & Sulkin, Tracy & Larsen, Heather A., 2003. "Policy Punctuations in American Political Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(1), pages 151-169, February.
    8. De Figueiredo, Rui J. P., 2002. "Electoral Competition, Political Uncertainty, and Policy Insulation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(2), pages 321-333, June.
    9. Forrest Maltzman & Charles R. Shipan, 2008. "Change, Continuity, and the Evolution of the Law," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(2), pages 252-267, April.
    10. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521837682.
    11. Coleman, John J., 1999. "Unified Government, Divided Government, and Party Responsiveness," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(4), pages 821-835, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Borghetto & Lars Mäder, 2014. "EU law revisions and legislative drift," European Union Politics, , vol. 15(2), pages 171-191, June.
    2. Kwan Nok Chan & Shiwei Fan, 2021. "Friction and bureaucratic control in authoritarian regimes," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1406-1418, October.
    3. Boswell, John & Cairney, Paul & St Denny, Emily, 2019. "The politics of institutionalizing preventive health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 202-210.
    4. Dana Foarta, 2021. "How Organizational Capacity Can Improve Electoral Accountability," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21156, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    5. Burroughs, Richard, 2015. "Feedback switching and the evolution of U.S. coastal management," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 94-100.
    6. Dana Foarta, 2021. "How Organizational Capacity Can Improve Electoral Accountability," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21156, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    7. Daniel J. Beers, 2020. "The End of Resettlement? U.S. Refugee Policy in the Age of Trump," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-44, July.
    8. Matthew C. Stephenson, 2013. "Does Separation of Powers Promote Stability and Moderation?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 331-368.
    9. Stuart Kasdin & Anthony McCann, 2022. "What drives program terminations for the federal government?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 28-44, March.
    10. William Howell & Stefan Krasa & Mattias Polborn, 2020. "Political Conflict over Time," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(3), pages 554-568, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 267-293, March.
    2. Schelker, Mark, 2018. "Lame ducks and divided government: How voters control the unaccountable," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 131-144.
    3. Matthew C. Stephenson, 2013. "Does Separation of Powers Promote Stability and Moderation?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 331-368.
    4. Коршунов И. А. & Гапонова О. С., 2017. "Непрерывное Образование Взрослых В Контексте Экономического Развития И Качества Государственного Управления," Вопросы образования // Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 4, pages 36-59.
    5. Ilana Shpaizman, 2020. "The end–means nexus and policy conversion: evidence from two cases in Israeli immigrant integration policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(4), pages 713-733, December.
    6. Paul Ryan & Howard Gospel & Paul Lewis, 2007. "Large Employers and Apprenticeship Training in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 127-153, March.
    7. Anke Hassel, 2014. "Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 6, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    8. Yannis Papadopoulos, 2018. "How does knowledge circulate in a regulatory network? Observing a European Platform of Regulatory Authorities meeting," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(4), pages 431-450, December.
    9. Victoria Johnson & Walter W. Powell, 2015. "Poisedness and Propagation: Organizational Emergence and the Transformation of Civic Order in 19th-Century New York City," NBER Working Papers 21011, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Viola, Lora Anne, 2008. "WHO says competition is healthy: How civil society can change IGOs [Die WHO sagt: Wettbewerb ist gesund. Wie Zivilgesellschaft IGOs verändern kann]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2008-307, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    11. Ji-Whan Yun, 2016. "The Setback in Political Entrepreneurship and Employment Dualization in Japan, 1998–2012," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 473-495, September.
    12. Daniel Béland & Michael Howlett & Philip Rocco & Alex Waddan, 2020. "Designing policy resilience: lessons from the Affordable Care Act," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(2), pages 269-289, June.
    13. Norlander, Peter & Erickson, Christopher, 2022. "The Role of Institutions in Job Teleworkability Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1172, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Erkko Autio & Saurav Pathak & Karl Wennberg, 2013. "Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 334-362, May.
    15. Busemeyer, Marius R., 2011. "Varieties of cross-class coalitions in the politics of dualization: Insights from the case of vocational training in Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/13, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. Dicks, Alexander & Levels, Mark, 2022. "NEET during the School-to-Work Transition in the Netherlands," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 25-55.
    17. Paul Ryan & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Silvia Teuber & Karin Wagner, 2012. "Apprentice pay in Britain, Germany and Switzerland: institutions, market forces, market power," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0075, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    18. Alejandro Portes, 2006. "Institutions and Development: A Conceptual Reanalysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(2), pages 233-262, June.
    19. Geys, Benny, 2010. "War casualties and US presidential popularity: A comparison of the Korean, Vietnam and Iraq war," Discussion Papers, Research Professorship & Project "The Future of Fiscal Federalism" SP II 2010-05, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. DiVito, Lori, 2012. "Institutional entrepreneurship in constructing alternative paths: A comparison of biotech hybrids," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 884-896.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:1-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5907 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.