Implementing Transition Management as Policy Reforms: a Case Study of the Dutch Energy Sector. Kern, F. & Howlett, M. Policy Sciences, 42(4):391--408, November, 2009.
Implementing Transition Management as Policy Reforms: a Case Study of the Dutch Energy Sector [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Abstract Proposals to alter large-scale socio-technical systems through government actions in order to promote goals such as sustainability are highly uncertain policy projects. What is being proposed is the replacement of specific elements of existing policy ‘mixes’—the goals and means—by others, in the expectation of avoiding counterproductive or sub-optimal policy outcomes. While laudable, such efforts are fraught with risks; including the possibility of the creation of sub-optimal policy mixes or of failed reform efforts with resulting poor outcomes. This article develops a model and typology of policy regime change processes and outcomes following Thelen and others in arguing that complex policy mixes typically emerge through one or more of four processes, ‘drift’, ‘conversion’, ‘layering’ and ‘replacement’, and that the expected outcomes of these different processes in terms of their ability to meet initial expectations are linked to the manner in which policy goals and means are (or are not) combined in a consistent, coherent and congruent fashion. This propensity is illustrated through examination of the case of energy transition management as practiced in the Netherlands.
@article{kern_implementing_2009,
	title = {Implementing {Transition} {Management} as {Policy} {Reforms}: a {Case} {Study} of the {Dutch} {Energy} {Sector}},
	volume = {42},
	shorttitle = {Implementing transition management as policy reforms},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11077-009-9099-x},
	doi = {10.1007/s11077-009-9099-x},
	abstract = {Abstract  Proposals to alter large-scale socio-technical systems through government actions in order to promote goals such as sustainability
are highly uncertain policy projects. What is being proposed is the replacement of specific elements of existing policy ‘mixes’—the
goals and means—by others, in the expectation of avoiding counterproductive or sub-optimal policy outcomes. While laudable,
such efforts are fraught with risks; including the possibility of the creation of sub-optimal policy mixes or of failed reform
efforts with resulting poor outcomes. This article develops a model and typology of policy regime change processes and outcomes
following Thelen and others in arguing that complex policy mixes typically emerge through one or more of four processes, ‘drift’,
‘conversion’, ‘layering’ and ‘replacement’, and that the expected outcomes of these different processes in terms of their
ability to meet initial expectations are linked to the manner in which policy goals and means are (or are not) combined in
a consistent, coherent and congruent fashion. This propensity is illustrated through examination of the case of energy transition
management as practiced in the Netherlands.},
	number = {4},
	urldate = {2010-01-22},
	journal = {Policy Sciences},
	author = {Kern, Florian and Howlett, Michael},
	month = nov,
	year = {2009},
	pages = {391--408},
	file = {SpringerLink Snapshot:files/55554/bj823l4q47446432.html:text/html}
}

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