Legislation and Allocation: How administrative resources are linked to policy growth

Policy accumulation — thus the constant increase of a country’s policy stock — puts enormous burdens on implementing organization. In order to avoid increasing implementation deficits with every newly added task, organizations require additional budget allocations and staff. Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting a delay in the alignment of task allocation with resource provision, the intricate dynamics of how policy tasks and administrative resources interact remain underexplored. This study aims to illuminate the interplay between the burgeoning number of policy-driven implementation tasks and the corresponding fluctuations in administrative resources. Focusing on the environmental agencies of England and Ireland, I analyze how changes in policy tasks correlate with fluctuations in administrative capacities. Furthermore, the paper delves into identifying the specific factors that contribute to variations in resource availability, particularly in instances where policy expansion did or did not result in corresponding resource adjustments. By dissecting these dynamics, the study seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between policy growth and resource allocation within public administrations.