Rocco Philip
a Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science , Marquette University , Milwaukee , Wisconsin , USA.
J Aging Soc Policy. 2017 Oct-Dec;29(5):413-432. doi: 10.1080/08959420.2017.1280748. Epub 2017 Jan 13.
Informal caregivers play an increasingly important role in caring for aging Americans. Yet existing social policies that could support informal caregiving have experienced "policy drift," a failure to adapt to social risks that develop after policies are initially enacted. This article examines policy makers' success at updating seven major policies to address caregiver needs. It draws on an original data set of legislation in this area introduced between 1991 and 2006 (n = 96). Findings indicate that drift is more likely when policy updates are costly, lack support from members of majority parties in the House and Senate, and fail to generate bipartisan support.
非正式照料者在照顾美国老年人方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。然而，本可支持非正式照料的现有社会政策却出现了“政策漂移”，即在政策最初颁布后未能适应新出现的社会风险。本文考察了政策制定者在更新七项主要政策以满足照料者需求方面的成效。研究使用了1991年至2006年间该领域提出的96项立法的原始数据集。研究结果表明，当政策更新成本高昂、得不到众议院和参议院多数党成员的支持且无法获得两党支持时，政策漂移的可能性更大。
