LAUSR

ABSTRACT Critical junctures are an enduring concept in the study of institutional change, but the literature prompts a certain amount of definitional ambiguity around what a critical juncture is, and how best we should approach describing and explaining these rare instances of change. This paper presents and utilises a revised critical juncture framework, which helps to explore the role of context, openings, institutions, ideas, agents and discourse in these significant change events. The framework is then utilised in relation to the Irish Department of Finance (DoF), which is a pivotal institution at the heart of the Irish system of government. It is argued that the DoF’s position and influence in government have been impacted by three institutional change events, involving the establishment of the Department of the Public Service (DPS) in 1973; its disbandment in 1987; and the establishment of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) in 2011. The available evidence supports a linkage between DPS’ establishment and DPER’s establishment almost 40 years later.