Punctuated Policy Innovation: The Transformation of US Gendered Pay Inequity Policy Alternatives, 1945–2019

Abstract

Given that there is a diverse universe of policy ideas, this article investigates the patterned way in which legislators incorporate policy ideas into proposals. Focusing on federal gendered pay inequity policy proposals in the United States beginning in 1945, I find that gendered pay inequity policy content is characterized by relatively long periods of ideational stability punctuated by moments of sudden change in policy ideas. These moments of sudden change I refer to as policy innovation junctures. Since 1945, there have been four policy innovation junctures: Equal Pay Inception , the 79th Congress (1945–1946); Married Mothers’ Benefits , the 90th Congress (1967–1968); Professional Women and Training Programs , the 101st Congress (1989–1990); and Policy Synthesis , the 105th Congress (1997–1998). The policy ideas generated during these junctures come to dominate policy efforts pursued during the long periods of stability, very often comprising any legislation that is ultimately passed years, if not decades, down the road.