Incrementalism

In Kyle’s notes on Romney: A Reckoning, incrementalism is the implicit political philosophy he pulls out of Mitt Romney’s legislative temperament — and one of his explicit takeaways: “Incrementalism > stagnation or decline.” The book illustrates it through Romney’s reaction to losing Senate battles, which happened more often than not. Joe Manchin recalls Romney’s stance: “That’s stupid, we shouldn’t be doing that… But if it’s better than what we have, I’ll vote for it” — his governing instinct being “take what you can get and build off it.” Manchin notes that this comfort with incrementalism was once the prevailing Senate sentiment and is now “a rare quality.” Kyle’s gloss in the margin is blunt: “Incrementalism is FAR superior to stagnation or decline” — small forward steps beating both the maximalist revolution and the resigned drift.

Context: Incrementalism is a recognized model of policymaking (associated with Charles Lindblom’s “muddling through”) in which change proceeds through small, marginal adjustments rather than sweeping reform.

Where this appears

• Romney: A Reckoning — Romney’s “take what you can get and build off it” approach to losing legislative fights; Kyle marks incrementalism as far superior to stagnation or decline.