Learning in the Bath-tub: The Micro and Macro Dimensions of the Causal Relationship between Learning and Policy Change

Abstract

Whilst the literature classifies policy learning in terms of types or ontological approaches (reflexive and social constructivist learning versus rational up-dating of priors), we offer a three-dimensional approach to explore the relationships between individual learning, learning in groups, and the macro-dimension. Our contribution maps most (although not all) lively debates in the field on a multi-dimensional space and explores the logic of causality from micro to macro. To achieve our two aims, we draw on Coleman’s ‘bath-tub’. We map learning in the bath-tub by considering prominent studies on learning but also, in some cases, by exploring and drawing lessons from political science and behavioral sciences. By integrating findings in an eclectic way, we explain the logic of learning using a single template and suggest methods for empirical analysis. This is not a literature review but an original attempt to capture the causal architecture of the field, contributing to learning theory with findings from mainstream political and behavioral sciences.