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Policy Learning, Policy Diffusion, and the Making of a New Order

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  • Covadonga Meseguer

    (Center for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences of the Juan March Institute (Madrid))

Abstract

This article surveys the role of learning as mechanism of policy diffusion in the context of the creation of a new political order. The author discusses policy learning against the background of recent research on the diffusion of deregulatory and regulatory policies and attempts to distinguish learning from other mechanisms of diffusion. She then surveys the challenges entailed in testing this mechanism and sets out her particular approach: a rational version of learning. She also reports the results of preliminary efforts to test learning as applied to the diffusion of regulatory policies. The author concludes that learning cannot be rejected as a plausible mechanism of the diffusion of policies, although it shares its explanatory role with less rational mechanisms of diffusion, in particular policy emulation. Further research and analysis is needed to test learning in either its rational or its bounded version and, in doing so, to delve into the politics of learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Covadonga Meseguer, 2005. "Policy Learning, Policy Diffusion, and the Making of a New Order," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 67-82, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:598:y:2005:i:1:p:67-82
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716204272372
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    16. Fabrizio Gilardi, 2005. "The Institutional Foundations of Regulatory Capitalism: The Diffusion of Independent Regulatory Agencies in Western Europe," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 84-101, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jacint Jordana & David Levi-Faur, 2005. "The Diffusion of Regulatory Capitalism in Latin America: Sectoral and National Channels in the Making of a New Order," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 102-124, March.
    2. Hubert Buch‐Hansen, 2012. "The political economy of regulatory change: The case of British merger control," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 101-118, March.
    3. Baul Lee & Seung-Kook Park, 2022. "A Study on the Competitiveness for the Diffusion of Smart Technology of Construction Industry in the Era of 4th Industrial Revolution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Youlang Zhang & Hongshan Yang, 2023. "Bureaucratic politics, innovation compatibility, and the dynamic diffusion of subnational decentralization reforms in China," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(4), pages 553-572, July.
    5. Evan M. Mistur & John Wagner Givens & Daniel C. Matisoff, 2023. "Contagious COVID‐19 policies: Policy diffusion during times of crisis," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(1), pages 36-62, January.
    6. Zachary Elkins & Beth Simmons, 2005. "On Waves, Clusters, and Diffusion: A Conceptual Framework," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 33-51, March.
    7. Tim Legrand & Diane Stone, 2021. "Governing global policy: what IPE can learn from public policy? [Review article: What is policy convergence and what causes it?]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(4), pages 484-501.

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