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Rural and Regional Policy: A Case of Punctuated Incrementalism?
Author(s) -
Cockfield Geoff,
Botterill Linda Courtenay
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8500.12016
Subject(s) - incrementalism , punctuated equilibrium , politics , power (physics) , economics , commonwealth , rural society , state (computer science) , space (punctuation) , political economy , rural area , political science , law , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , biology
The rural policy environment has many of the conditions that might suggest a tendency towards punctuated equilibrium. The Commonwealth has little direct power over rural space and industries, there has been a long tradition of state support for agriculture and decision‐making has generally been kept within a tight policy community, dominated by rural interests. In our review of the PAP data and policy history, we find instead an underlying movement across time and governments towards an expectation of self‐reliance for rural businesses and communities. On top of the long‐term incremental movement towards this expectation, issue attention has shifted according to political, climatological and market conditions, rather than necessarily in line with changes in policy content .