Is Breaking Up Still Hard to Do? – Policy Retrenchment and Housing Policy Change in a Path Dependent Context

Abstract

Current research on Nordic housing policy shows how a path‐dependent approach can explain differences in housing regimes across the Nordic countries. The aim of this article is to present an argument of how housing policy change can be grasped within this path‐dependent approach to housing policy. The claim is that the argument behind “everyday retrenchment” made by Jacob Hacker can be elaborated further and then used as a framework to analyse path‐dependent housing policy change. Three hypotheses on housing policy change are presented in this paper; these should be further tested in future research. The main emphasis is placed on the theoretical level; however empirical examples from the present retrenchment phase in third‐sector housing in Denmark are also included in the article.