Punctuating the equilibrium: an application of policy theory to COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has taught us that, when inadequately addressed, preexisting policy problems (e.g. weak coordination of healthcare and gaps in income supports) exacerbate the cost of crises (including deaths) and make policy responses more difficult. On a more hopeful note, the pandemic has also revealed that policymakers and bureaucrats, reputed as defenders of the status quo and glacially paced, are capable of moving nimbly when seized with necessity. This manuscript draws on Baumgartner and Jones’ punctuated-equilibrium theory to analyze and demonstrate how policy responses to the pandemic, largely in Canada but also globally, were shaped by preexisting problems (periods of equilibrium). It then raises the question: Will future policy reflect lessons learned through COVID-19, to not only mitigate risks from further crises, but also tackle many other policy challenges? It would seem we can no longer accept the excuse that problems are too complex or time-consuming to tackle.