Program drift: the rational road to policy perversity

Most explanations of program implementation gone awry tend to focus on error on the part of the administrative structures, the policy process or the individuals involved. This paper offers another explanation of cases in which no error is made but, nevertheless, policy perversity results. It describes the process of program drift as a means by which government programs can be transformed into the very opposite of what was originally intended. Program drift can occur in any program or policy that evolves over time. The program used to illustrate the process of drift is the Canadian non-profit housing program from 1975 to 1990. The first section of this paper discusses why and how program drift occurs. The second section illustrates how program drift occurred in one program - the-federal non-profit housing program. The final section suggests means by which programs can be designed so as to minimize the tendency towards drift. -from Author