By David López García
The policy feedback theory represents a shift in policy analysis. It shifts from considering the policy as the dependent variable to be explained, to think of it as the independent variable, constituting itself as a cause, rather than as effect. In discussing the policy feedback theory, Mettler and Sorelle (2014) argue that policies have feedback effects in four streams: shaping the meaning of citizenship; affecting the form of governance; influencing the power of groups; and affecting political agendas and the definition of policy problems. Then, the authors point out two specific mechanisms through which policy feedback occurs. Resource effects, as many public policies offer payments, goods and services to citizens that in turn may help overcome the cost of participation; and interpretive effects, as many public policies may shape norms, values, and attitudes, which in turn shape public engagement (Mettler & Sorelle, 2014). However, I don’t think that these are the only mechanisms through which policy feedback can occur; more mechanisms are to be researched and identified.
Building in the discussion posted by Amanda on climate change adaptation, I will argue the existence of a third mechanism through which policy feedback could be at work – namely material effects. I’m referring to the policy feedbacks that the materiality of public policies can potentially have on the streams of inquiry posed by Mettler and Sorelle (2014). Infrastructures provide a setting to observe the material effect mechanism. Once infrastructures are built, they exert influence in the ways in which futures infrastructures will be deployed. It is so because infrastructures are usually built layer-by-layer, with a great deal of path-dependence and reliance upon what is already built (Mattern, 2015). Take, for instance, the case of the Internet optic fiber, which runs through tubes at the bottom of the ocean where the telephone cables and the first telegram lines used to ran.
The same logic operates at energy infrastructures. Howe and Boyer’s (2015) study of aeolian energy infrastructure in southern Mexico portrait the material effect mechanism that I am trying to draw in this précis. According to the authors, despite the fact that Mexico has established some of the most far-reaching and comprehensive climate legislation in the world, which includes mandates for renewable energy production, the transition towards aeolian energy has been unable to take place. Howe and Boyer point out that a key factor impeding the transition to wind energy has to do with the way in which the current electrical grid is governed and managed. They found that administrators and engineers of the Mexican Federal Commission on Electricity (CFE) showed widespread ambivalence regarding the merits of wind energy. That is because the nature of wind energy does not correspond well to the needs and logic of the electric grid. The grid cannot store energy. In the same rate that electricity is generated, it needs to be sent to consumers. Therefore, the production of electricity has to be very stable and constant. The wind in southern Mexico can be too strong and produce a surplus of energy that the grid is unable to channel. Therefore, CFE continues to produce the most part of its energy through gas combustion, which is what better meets the needs and logic of the grid. We see a case in which the electricity infrastructure has a material effect on the way the grid is governed, which in turn hampers the shift towards sustainable energy. This is also a case of policy feedback on the definition of policy problems. Instead of discussing how to adapt the electric grid to the needs of wind energy, Mexican CFE is concentrated in how to adapt wind energy to the needs of the grid, reinforcing the patterns of path dependence currently at work.
The material effect mechanism observed in infrastructure is at the heart of the increasing returns logic proposed by Pierson (2000). Using the case of technology, Pierson argues that each technology generates higher payoffs for each user as it becomes more prevalent. Because of increasing returns, once initial steps are taken in a technological direction, actors have strong incentives to focus on a single alternative. He argues that “once an initial advantage is gained, positive feedback effects may lock in this technology” (p. 254). To Pierson, sequencing is critical, as he points out that “earlier events matter much more than later ones, and hence different sequences may produce different outcomes” (p. 253). The impossibility to shift towards sustainable energy in the case of Mexico brings evidence to support Pierson’s claim on increasing returns and the importance of sequence. It also allows observing the material effect of policy feedback at work.
References
Howe, C. & Boyer, D. (2015) Aeolian politics. Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 16(1), pp. 31-48.
Mattern, S. (2014) Deep mapping the media city. Forerunners Ideas First, University of Minessota Press.
Mettler, S. & Sorelle, M. (2014) Policy feedback theory. In Paul A. Sabatier and Christopher M. Weible (Eds.) Theories of the Policy Process, third edition, Westview Press.
Pierson, P. (2000) Increasing returns, path dependence, and the study of politics. The American Political Science Review, 94(2), pp. 251-267.
The policy feedback theory represents a shift in policy analysis. It shifts from considering the policy as the dependent variable to be explained, to think of it as the independent variable, constituting itself as a cause, rather than as effect. In discussing the policy feedback theory, Mettler and Sorelle (2014) argue that policies have feedback effects in four streams: shaping the meaning of citizenship; affecting the form of governance; influencing the power of groups; and affecting political agendas and the definition of policy problems. Then, the authors point out two specific mechanisms through which policy feedback occurs. Resource effects, as many public policies offer payments, goods and services to citizens that in turn may help overcome the cost of participation; and interpretive effects, as many public policies may shape norms, values, and attitudes, which in turn shape public engagement (Mettler & Sorelle, 2014). However, I don’t think that these are the only mechanisms through which policy feedback can occur; more mechanisms are to be researched and identified.
Building in the discussion posted by Amanda on climate change adaptation, I will argue the existence of a third mechanism through which policy feedback could be at work – namely material effects. I’m referring to the policy feedbacks that the materiality of public policies can potentially have on the streams of inquiry posed by Mettler and Sorelle (2014). Infrastructures provide a setting to observe the material effect mechanism. Once infrastructures are built, they exert influence in the ways in which futures infrastructures will be deployed. It is so because infrastructures are usually built layer-by-layer, with a great deal of path-dependence and reliance upon what is already built (Mattern, 2015). Take, for instance, the case of the Internet optic fiber, which runs through tubes at the bottom of the ocean where the telephone cables and the first telegram lines used to ran.
The same logic operates at energy infrastructures. Howe and Boyer’s (2015) study of aeolian energy infrastructure in southern Mexico portrait the material effect mechanism that I am trying to draw in this précis. According to the authors, despite the fact that Mexico has established some of the most far-reaching and comprehensive climate legislation in the world, which includes mandates for renewable energy production, the transition towards aeolian energy has been unable to take place. Howe and Boyer point out that a key factor impeding the transition to wind energy has to do with the way in which the current electrical grid is governed and managed. They found that administrators and engineers of the Mexican Federal Commission on Electricity (CFE) showed widespread ambivalence regarding the merits of wind energy. That is because the nature of wind energy does not correspond well to the needs and logic of the electric grid. The grid cannot store energy. In the same rate that electricity is generated, it needs to be sent to consumers. Therefore, the production of electricity has to be very stable and constant. The wind in southern Mexico can be too strong and produce a surplus of energy that the grid is unable to channel. Therefore, CFE continues to produce the most part of its energy through gas combustion, which is what better meets the needs and logic of the grid. We see a case in which the electricity infrastructure has a material effect on the way the grid is governed, which in turn hampers the shift towards sustainable energy. This is also a case of policy feedback on the definition of policy problems. Instead of discussing how to adapt the electric grid to the needs of wind energy, Mexican CFE is concentrated in how to adapt wind energy to the needs of the grid, reinforcing the patterns of path dependence currently at work.
The material effect mechanism observed in infrastructure is at the heart of the increasing returns logic proposed by Pierson (2000). Using the case of technology, Pierson argues that each technology generates higher payoffs for each user as it becomes more prevalent. Because of increasing returns, once initial steps are taken in a technological direction, actors have strong incentives to focus on a single alternative. He argues that “once an initial advantage is gained, positive feedback effects may lock in this technology” (p. 254). To Pierson, sequencing is critical, as he points out that “earlier events matter much more than later ones, and hence different sequences may produce different outcomes” (p. 253). The impossibility to shift towards sustainable energy in the case of Mexico brings evidence to support Pierson’s claim on increasing returns and the importance of sequence. It also allows observing the material effect of policy feedback at work.
References
Howe, C. & Boyer, D. (2015) Aeolian politics. Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 16(1), pp. 31-48.
Mattern, S. (2014) Deep mapping the media city. Forerunners Ideas First, University of Minessota Press.
Mettler, S. & Sorelle, M. (2014) Policy feedback theory. In Paul A. Sabatier and Christopher M. Weible (Eds.) Theories of the Policy Process, third edition, Westview Press.
Pierson, P. (2000) Increasing returns, path dependence, and the study of politics. The American Political Science Review, 94(2), pp. 251-267.