(3) Garbage Cans and Windows : Another Theory of Policy Change?
Heclo and Hamm's research has suggested that the policy process is indeed fragmented. Policies can originate from numerous sources, allowing for multiple sources of change in the policy process. Baumgartner and Jones's analyses take this a step further, demonstrating that the policy process is dynamic and subject to rapid change. However, whereas Baumgartner and Jones have provided an explanatory framework for suggesting the policy process is subject to stability as well as change, they have readily admitted that the punctuated equilibrium framework put forth is not predictivel. Thus, we are still left with the question: Why do policies change? Why are some policies more successful than others in terms of garnering public support? And, similarly, why does the government pay attention to some policies but not others?