Introduction: The Politics of Change

The introduction sets a framework for subsequent chapters by considering theories of change and the extent to which there was consequential change during the Obama years. It draws upon earlier scholarship to suggest that although there certainly was no “transformation” (when new interests secure power, institutional relationships are rearranged, governmental priorities are recast on a long-run basis and when there is an accompanying paradigm shift), more limited, incremental forms of change were enacted through, for example, the Affordable Care Act or some of executive actions used to bypass Congress. Nonetheless, although recent literature within historical institutionalism has stressed the importance of incrementalism, it is vulnerable to rollback. Against this background, the introduction sets questions about the character of change that are addressed in the case studies included in this volume.