Punctuated Equilibrium and Agenda‐Setting: Bringing Parties Back in: Policy Change after the Dutroux Crisis in Belgium

摘要: The article analyzes how focusing events affect the public and political agenda translate into policy change. Empirically, study focuses on changes initiated by paedophile Marc Dutroux’s arrest in 1996 Belgium. Theoretically, tests whether Baumgartner Jones’s (1993) U.S. punctuated equilibrium approach applies to a most different system case, Belgium being consociational democracy partitocracy. Their turns out be useful explain this “critical case”: Policy change happens when “policy images” venues” shift. Yet, Dutroux case shows also that parties, as key actors Belgian process, should integrated more explicitly theory. Finally, argues quanti- tative analysis of longitudinal data sets several agendas supplemented with qualitative evidence (e.g., interviews decision makers) unravel complex issue attention