The impact of ideas and time on policy solutions: Maintaining institutional autonomy and the second runway at Manchester Airport

The important interrelationships between problems, ideas and time mean that there can be several facets to institutional vulnerability. Thus conditions at a moment in time can make an institution open to the introduction of new ideas, but these ideas may compete over time. In this context, a policy problem may demand a solution that satisfies the immediate situation, but can find itself overtaken by the effects of time. The case study examines an environmental mitigation package signed in association with construction of the second runway at Manchester Airport. The instrument attempted to deal with two competing ideas in the form of economic growth and sustainable development. However, economic growth was firmly grounded in the institutional strength of the Airport, while the demands of sustainable development required careful management over time. The article concludes that time emerges as a powerful variable in shifting the terms of the policy debate. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005