The Legal Infrastructure for Hybrid Organizations: The Case of Portugal, 1990-2019

Abstract

In this study we present, measure, and test a theoretical model of how the legal infrastructure for hybrid organizations emerged from the parliamentary system of Portugal over three decades. To develop this model, we begin with an organized anarchy representation, describing the policy process as the confluence of four distinct streams: choice situations, participants, problems, and solutions. We suggest a theoretical distinction between anarchic policy processes, along the lines of the garbage can, where the streams remain relatively independent, and more structured policy processes, where institutional and political orders create more interdependence among the streams. We develop hypotheses that link the observed outcomes of legal deliberations, categorized as oversight, flight, or resolution, with a characterization of the policy process as more anarchic or more structured. Our findings suggest that the process is more structured than anarchic and show that mechanisms related to a dynamic mix of temporal, institutional, and political orders significantly affect legal outcomes. We close with a review of the findings and some implications for institutional theories of regulation and managers and advocates of hybrid organizations.