Status Quo, Minor or Major Policy Alterations? Explaining Policy Change After Crisis in the Adversarial Child Rights Protection Subsystem in Lithuania

ABSTRACT This paper examines the dynamics of policy change following crises within adversarial policy subsystems. Building on the Advocacy Coalitions Framework (ACF), the study empirically tests two mechanisms of policy change (or lack thereof), focusing on cases from the Lithuanian child rights protection domain (2016–2020). Analyzing three crises, ranging from no policy change to minor and major alterations, the research contributes to understanding crisis‐driven policy dynamics. This study highlights the importance of pre‐existing policy solutions, which can be advanced by coalitions following a crisis if the balance of resources shifts in their favor. It also suggests that negotiated agreements may arise between coalitions with similar resources. Finally, the research underscores the role of “strategic inaction” when no policy change occurs despite shifts in resources, due to the perceived costs of action outweighing the benefits. Additionally, the paper expands ACF application to the underrepresented Central and Eastern Europe region, shedding light on sustainability challenges in cases of major policy change after the crisis.