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Remoulding the Critical Junctures Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2006

John Hogan
John Hogan
Affiliation:
Dublin City University
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Abstract

Abstract. This paper improves our understanding of critical junctures, a concept employed in historical institutionalism for exploring change. However, the concept lacks rigour, weakening our ability to define critical junctures. Of late, academics have utilized other mechanisms to identify change in historical institutionalism. Thus, it is within this context that the critical junctures approach is remoulded through the specification of standards, hence reducing uncertainty as to what constitutes a critical juncture. The remoulded approach is employed here in examining change in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions' (ICTU) influence over public policy in 1987.

Résumé. Cet article permet de mieux comprendre le concept de conjoncture critique, qui est utilisé en institutionnalisme historique pour explorer le changement. Ce concept, en effet, manque de rigueur, si bien qu'il est difficile de définir les conjonctures critiques. Récemment, les théoriciens de l'institutionnalisme historique ont eu recours à d'autres mécanismes pour cerner le changement. C'est dans ce contexte que nous remanions la méthode des conjonctures critiques en établissant des normes de manière à pouvoir déterminer avec plus de certitude ce qui constitue une conjoncture critique. Nous employons cette méthode remaniée pour examiner l'évolution de l'influence de l'Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) sur les politiques publiques en 1987.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 657 - 679
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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