Juhyun Nam
Many attribute the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. But the legislation had been drafted and debated for more than a decade—public pressure simply shifted theory into execution. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US government passed 32 security-related laws in rapid succession. Almost none were new ideas, though. They drew upon existing frameworks that had been sitting in committee, waiting for the political moment to arrive.
These are textbook examples of what American political scientist John W. Kingdon, in an influential 1984 book, coined a “policy window”—a brief, unflinching moment after a crisis when political will, public attention, and existing proposals converge. But what happens when there is no framework ready to go?
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