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COVID-19 as a policy window: policy entrepreneurs responding to violence against women
[The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID-19 on domestic violence]

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Mintrom
  • Jacqui True

Abstract

Policy windows emerge through alignment among specific policy problems, political forces, and proposed policy responses. During policy windows, it becomes possible for change to occur, driven by the agenda-setting of policy entrepreneurs. We consider how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) created a significant policy window. As we do so, we seek to advance theorization of the conditions under which policy change occurs and when it sticks. We ground this discussion in exploration of a salient policy matter: responding to violence against women (VAW). Shortly after the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a global pandemic, in April 2020, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuke, Executive Director of United Nations (UN) Women—the entity of the UN dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women—coined VAW the “shadow pandemic” and launched a global public awareness campaign. We review the advocacy work that led in 2020 to broader recognition of VAW as a significant policy problem. That advocacy has driven policy changes at local and national levels that are intended to have long-term, trajectory-altering impacts on reducing violence. We conclude by drawing insights to guide theory-driven empirical analysis of other policy windows.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Mintrom & Jacqui True, 2022. "COVID-19 as a policy window: policy entrepreneurs responding to violence against women [The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID-19 on domestic violence]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(1), pages 143-154.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:41:y:2022:i:1:p:143-154.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/polsoc/puab017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mintrom,Michael, 2019. "Policy Entrepreneurs and Dynamic Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108461467, Enero-Abr.
    2. Htun, Mala & Weldon, S. Laurel, 2012. "The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change: Combating Violence against Women in Global Perspective, 1975–2005," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(3), pages 548-569, August.
    3. Elinor Ostrom, 2025. "Doing Institutional Analysis Digging Deeper than Markets and Hierarchies," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, edition 0, chapter 5, pages 73-102, Springer.
    4. Zbyslaw Dobrowolski, 2020. "After COVID-19. Reorientation of crisis management in crisis," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(2), pages 799-810, December.
    5. Simmons, Beth A. & Elkins, Zachary, 2004. "The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(1), pages 171-189, February.
    6. Caroline Bradbury‐Jones & Louise Isham, 2020. "The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID‐19 on domestic violence," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(13-14), pages 2047-2049, July.
    7. Pierson, Paul, 2000. "Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(2), pages 251-267, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arjen Boin & Paul ‘t Hart, 2022. "From crisis to reform? Exploring three post-COVID pathways [Institutional crises and reforms in policy sectors: The case of asylum policy in Europe]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(1), pages 13-24.
    2. Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez & Stephanie Rodriguez-Besteiro & Juan José Cabello-Eras & Alvaro Bustamante-Sanchez & Eduardo Navarro-Jiménez & Macarena Donoso-Gonzalez & Ana Isabel Beltrán-Velasco & J, 2022. "Sustainable Development Goals in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-26, June.
    3. Luce Lebrun & Aline Thiry & Catherine Fallon, 2023. "How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase Salience of Intimate Partner Violence on the Policy Agenda?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Spano Dominick, 2023. "Multiple Streams Approach and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory: Compared and Contrasted," HOLISTICA – Journal of Business and Public Administration, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 137-147, December.

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