See also passive conseunsus
Competitive Consensus occurs when, for whatever reason (a scandal, the mother of all focusing events, etc), (almost) everyone agrees that Something Must Be Done, and more or less on what that something is. One example would be the agreement by both main political parties in 2007-8 in the UK that climate change needed a climate change Act. (Hat-tip to Friends of the Earth, who ably led the charge on that).
Carter, N. and Jacobs, M. 2014. Explaining Radical Policy Change: The Case of Climate Change and Energy Policy under the British Labour Government 2006-10. Public Administration, Vol. 92, (1), pp.125-141.
Walgrave S. and Varone, F. 2008. Punctuated Equilibrium and Agenda-Setting: Bringing Parties Back in: Policy Change after the Dutroux Crisis in Belgium. Governance, Vol. 21, (3), pp.365-395.
marchudson.net 