Policy Drift through Crisis Formation and Attention Shift: The Case of Assistance to Immigrant Scientists in Israel

Attending to an issue is the first step in the decision-making process. Systematic inattention to important signals due to disproportional information processing may lead to policy underreaction. This paper focuses on one mode of underreaction: no action, specifically policy drift. Drift is more than just inaction, since policy makers are aware of changes in reality; however, they fail to update the policy. This failure is a result of policy opponents’ efforts to block change, either by exploiting veto points or by keeping the issue off the agenda. While exploiting veto points receives much attention, the mechanism through which agenda setting leads to drift is neglected by both agenda setting and historical institutional scholars. This paper aims to expand our understanding of drift as policy underreaction by examining the role of crisis formation, attention shift and policy image. Using the case study of assistance to immigrant scientists in Israel, and drawing on the literature on crisis exploitation, the paper demonstrates that when there is strong status quo bias policy opponents can bring about policy drift by fomenting crisis. Due to the crisis, the existing policy image is reinforced, thus turning decision makers’ attention towards maintaining the status quo and away from the need to adjust the policy to the changing reality. Consequently, the gap between the policy and reality does not close and eventually the policy decays. Paying attention to disproportionate information processing in policy drift not only expands our understanding of this sophisticated change strategy , but also enables us to bridge the punctuated equilibrium and gradual transformative change frameworks, demonstrating once more that significant changes can take place during periods of relative stability.