By Liz Richardson, Catherine Durose, Paul Cairney, John Boswell. This post introduces our new article in Policy Sciences.
Many policy buzzwords seem to catch fire then fizzle out before their value is clear in practice.
For example, we often hear that prevention is better than cure, that wicked policy problems require systems leadership or systems change, that we need to focus on place-based appro...
This analysis offers a nuanced perspective on the lifecycle of policy buzzwords, highlighting how their ambiguity serves both as a unifying force and a persistent challenge. The strongest version of this narrative acknowledges that buzzwords are not merely empty rhetoric but tools that evolve through iterative, political processes. By framing ambiguity as an inherent and unresolved tension—rather than a problem to be "solved"—the authors avoid the trap of false binaries (e.g., "buzzwords are eit...