Critical junctures and the Department of Finance: from DPS to DPER?

Critical junctures are an enduring and important concept in the study of institutions and institutional change. Despite this, the literature on the concept prompts a certain amount of definitive ambiguity around what a critical juncture is, what it relates to, and how best we should approach describing and explaining these rare instances of significant institutional change. With a view to generating greater clarity around the concept, this paper presents and utilises a renewed critical juncture framework, which incorporates Historical Institutionalist and Discursive Institutionalist concepts. The framework helps to explore the role of context, openings, institutions, ideas, agents and discourse in these significant change events. The framework is then utilised in relation to the Irish Department of Finance (DoF), which is, and has always been, a pivotal institution at the heart of the Irish system of government and public policy. But the Department’s position and influence in government has arguably been impacted to an extent by institutional tinkering over the last number of decades. One example of this relates to its Public Service Management function, which was carved away in 1973 with the establishment of the Department of the Public Service (DPS). It returned in 1987 following the disbandment of the DPS, but the function and personnel never fully re-integrated back into the DoF, leaving a less than cohesive policy actor. This, alongside other factors, led to the most recent change in 2011 with the establishment of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). Given the dearth of scholarly attention on the Department of Finance, the paper places some much needed focus on this key governing actor, these key junctures, and the changing Irish core executive.