The Policy SET Model - Wind Power: Politics and Policy - page 77

policy strategies that the government has successfully applied in the past.
However, when one digs deeper to understand the nature of past successes,
it becomes apparent that policies stand greater chance of succeeding if they
simultaneously garner acceptance from the most powerful stakeholders and
avoid alienating other stakeholders that can obstruct policy implementa-
tion. his explains why policies tend to be path dependent and why revo-
lutionary change only occurs when policies are signiicantly disconnected
from stakeholder expectations. 29
he path dependent nature of the policy process also ties in with the
notion of incrementalism. Lindblom has described policymaking as a pro-
cess of “continually building out from the current situation, step-by-step
and by small degrees.” 30 In other words, although the policymaking process
is path-dependent in that it tends to draw from the success of previous poli-
cies, the process is also dynamic in that the formative evaluation of policies to
enhance efectiveness promotes incremental change. In short, policymaking is
a dynamic process, but it is bounded by historical and stakeholder inluences.
In summary, the Political SET model incorporates many prominent ten-
ants stemming from policy theory. It recognizes the importance of under-
standing stakeholder inluences, yet it also recognizes that power within
policy networks vary. It recognizes that policy regimes tend to embrace cer-
tain approaches to policy design, implementation, and evaluation, yet these
approaches are subject to subtle evolutionary change. Lastly, it recognizes
that technology policy takes place within complex adaptive markets; con-
sequently, as the needs and aspirations of stakeholders evolve, the nature
of public policy will undoubtedly evolve in response. Failure to anticipate
change in the Political SET environment results in stakeholder dissonance
and inefective public policy.
NOTES
1. Hughes, homas P. 1983. Networks of Power: Electriication in Western Society 1880-
1930 . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
2. Valentine, Scott Victor. 2013. “Wind Power Policy in Complex Adaptive Markets.”
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 19 (1): 1-10.
3. his is the essence of chaos theory as described in Brown, Shona L., and Kathleen
M. Eisenhardt. 1998. Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos .
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
4. Axelrod, Robert, and Michael D. Cohen. 1990. Harnessing Complexity: Organizational
Implications of a Scientiic Frontier . New York: he Free Press.
5. Tsai, Stephen D., Hong-quei Chiang, and Scott Valentine. 2003. “An Integrated
Model for Strategic Management in Dynamic Industries: Qualitative Research
from Taiwan's Passive-Component Industry.” Emergence 5 (4): 34-56.