incrementalista

Incrementalista is a term used to describe adherents of incrementalism in politics and policy-making. An incrementalista favors gradual, stepwise changes rather than sweeping, comprehensive reforms. The approach emphasizes making small, manageable adjustments that can be tested and revised, rather than pursuing large reforms with uncertain outcomes.

In origin, the concept is closely associated with public administration and political science discussions of how policy evolves. It is often linked to the idea of "muddling through," as described by Charles E. Lindblom, which posits that decisions emerge from successive, negotiated compromises among stakeholders.

Characteristics: Incrementalistas prioritize feasibility, bargaining, and learning; they support policy experiments, pilot programs, and milestones. They prefer reversible changes and advocate building coalitions across interests to implement gradual improvements.

Advantages include lower political and financial risk, increased legitimacy through stakeholder buy-in, and the ability to adapt to new information. Critics argue that incrementalism can preserve the status quo, slow or suppress bold reform, and fail to address systemic problems. Some worry it can be exploited by entrenched interests to block meaningful change, or lead to policy drift.

Examples: incremental steps in areas such as tax reform, education policy, or environmental regulation—where reforms are implemented in staged increments, evaluated, and adjusted based on results.

Related concepts include incrementalism in policy-making, phased implementation, pilot programs, and the broader debate between incremental and systematic reform.