Policyberoende

Policyberoende, or policy dependence, is a concept in political science and public administration that refers to how policy outcomes, institutions, and political actors are shaped by the existing policy regime and its history. It captures the idea that policy choices today are constrained and guided by prior decisions, legal frameworks, and implemented programs, creating path dependence and feedback effects.

Mechanisms include path dependence, where institutions and rules create self-reinforcing structures; budgetary rules and statutory constraints that limit reform; information and legitimacy effects, where policy programs generate data, expertise, and expectations that influence future preferences; and interest-group dynamics that mobilize around established policies. Policyberoende helps explain why reform can be slow or incremental even when there is broad political support for change.

Examples include pension systems with entrenched benefits that create rising costs and political resistance to reform; environmental regulation where existing standards create investments and infrastructures that influence future policy choices; and social welfare programs whose administrative apparatus shapes beneficiary behavior and political support.

Critics note that the concept can be vague, vulnerable to determinism, and difficult to measure cross-nationally. Proponents argue it helps explain inertia, reform prospects, and the distributional consequences of policy choices. Comparative studies often combine historical analysis with quantitative indicators of regime rigidity and reform sequences.

Related concepts include path dependence, policy feedback, and institutionalism, which together help explain how policies create durable structures that influence future policy choices and political behavior.