Explaining Implementation Politics

The Case of Pennsylvania's Seasonal Farm Labor Act

Abstract

An implementation politics model is proposed to explain how the extent and direction of policy implementation is determined by the impact of politics and the changing political and economic environments on implementation activities. The model is used to analyze the delay in implementation of the 1978 Pennsylvania Seasonal Farm Labor Act. The primary methodology employed in the research is the interviewing of key participants in the implementation of this law. The model suggests why policy implementation does not unfold in neat progressive stages but instead moves forward and backward according to some dis-cernible patterns based on the opportunities and constraints presented by the changing political and economic environments.