Policies persist even when their original justifications change

Evidence

Linked to this characteristic is the tendency for a policy to continue even as the rationales for it shift. In the case of nations, many explanations for inertia stem from bureaucratic, domestic, and international politics; vested internal interests often support continuity, and their policies constitute commitments that are hard to break. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2585

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Stigler argued the public rationally under-informs itself about policies with diffuse costs — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1908; Regime legacies persist independently of the conditions that created them; Co-optive indirect rule survives only while center support and local insulation both hold — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1239 (+5 more)