Practical Lessons from Policy Theories

✍ Scribed by Christopher Weible (editor); Paul Cairney (editor)

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 230
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this critical and practical volume challenges policy theory scholars to change the way they produce and communicate research. Leading academics propose eight ways to synthesise and translate state of the art knowledge to equip scholars to communicate their insights with each other and a wider audience. Chapters consider topics such as narratives as tools for influencing policy change, essential habits of successful policy entrepreneurs, and applying cultural theory to navigate the policy process. Providing theoretical clarity and accumulated knowledge, this text highlights the vital importance of translating policy research in practical and understandable ways. The articles on which Chapters 2, 3 and 5 are based are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Cover
Practical Lessons from Policy Theories
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of figures and tables
Notes on contributors
Chapter One Purposes and paths in drawing practical lessons from policy theories
Introduction
Policy process research has mostly continued in its theory-focused tradition
Most of the strains between theoretical and practical orientations are in the past
Our ability to describe practical relevance from policy process theories remains elusive
Three habits of successful policy entrepreneurs
Narratives as tools for influencing policy change
The lessons of policy learning
Practical prescriptions for governing fragmented governments
Drawing practical lessons from punctuated equilibrium theory
Policy design and the added-value of the institutional analysis development framework
Why advocacy coalitions matter and practical insights about them
Concluding thoughts on advancing policy theory translations
References
Chapter Two Three habits of successful policy entrepreneurs1
Introduction: how to improve the multiple streams narrative
How does the multiple streams story begin?
Entrepreneurs know why it is important to tell a good story about a policy problem
Entrepreneurs have a solution ready to chase a problem
Entrepreneurs know when to ‘surf the waves’ or try to move the sea
Venue shop and frame issues to promote venue shift
Learn how to short-cut the softening process by importing pre-softened solutions
Identify the conditions under which entrepreneurs emulate Poseidon
Identify the times when the usual rules of MSA seem not to apply
Be realistic about the frequency and cause of windows of opportunity
Note the difference between a window of opportunity for a broad idea or specific solution
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Note
References
Chapter Three Narratives as tools for influencing policy change1
Introduction
Policy narrative pitfalls
The knowledge fallacy
The empathy fallacy
The Narrative Policy Framework
Good storytelling in public policy: understanding it and constructing it
Step 1: Tell a story
Step 2: Set the stage
Determine the staging materials
Arrange the props on the stage
Step 3: Establish the plot
Step 4: Cast the characters
Step 5: Clearly specify the moral of the story
Public policy narrative intervention points
Policymakers and policy advocates
Policy experts
Citizens and voters
Public policy intervention points explored
Problem definition
Public policies
Media outreach and construction
Policy briefings and statements
Policy evaluation
Expert testimony
Public comment
Good Faith Actor Assessments
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter Four Using cultural theory to navigate the policy process
Introduction
Understanding cultural theory
Overcoming challenges of measurement
Using the ‘map’ and the ‘compass’ for policy analysis and policy navigation
Conclusions
References
Chapter Five The lessons of policy learning: types, triggers, hindrances and pathologies1
Introduction
Lesson 1: Learning has different qualities
Learning epistemically
Learning from reflection
Learning as by-product of bargaining
Learning in hierarchies
Lesson 2: Triggers and hindrances
Triggering and hindering epistemic learning
Enabling and disabling reflection
Triggers and barriers to learning from bargaining
Triggering and hindering hierarchy
Lesson 3: Watch out for learning pathologies
Dysfunctions of epistemic learning
When reflexivity goes wrong
Dysfunctional bargaining
Pathologies of hierarchy
Conclusions
Note
References
Chapter Six Practical prescriptions for governing fragmented governments
Introduction
Core assumptions and theoretical foundations
Collective action
Local public economies
Organisational economics
Social networks and embeddedness
Policy tools and political markets
Empirical investigations: what we know about overcoming ICA dilemmas
Embeddedness and networks
Contracts and agreements
Delegated and imposed authority
Practical lessons and theoretical propositions
Increase face-to-face networking and foster reciprocal relations
Craft collaborative strategies around service characteristics
Exploit commonalities with partners
Increase transparency, accountability, and equity through inclusiveness
Develop collaborative capacity through incrementalism
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
Chapter Seven Drawing practical lessons from punctuated equilibrium theory
Introduction
Information processing in public policy research
A unified theory of information processing and policy change
Decision-making and attention in punctuated equilibrium theory
Subgovernment politics
Parallel and serial information processing
Issue expansion and feedback
Drawing practical lessons from information processing scholarship: two cautions and three suggestions
Caution 1: Centralised institutions create information processing bottlenecks
Caution 2: Fragmented institutions create coordination problems
Suggestion 1: Design institutions not just to attend to new problems, but to be intentionally information-seeking
Suggestion 3: Taking signals seriously and learning from the messengers
Concluding thoughts
References
Chapter Eight Policy design and the added-value of the institutional analysis development framework
Introduction
The state of the IAD art and science
Self-governance as a way to solve collective action problems
The framework as an analytical lens
IAD applications: learning about how institutions work in context
Key insights for policy analysis and design
Self-governance is possible, under certain conditions, across a diversity of policy venues
Use the framework as a diagnostic approach for public policy
Stop looking for panaceas: identify, and experiment with contextually appropriate policies
Boundaries of the IAD’s practical insights and final reflections
Notes
References
Chapter Nine Why advocacy coalitions matter and practical insights about them
Introduction
Background
Advocacy coalitions and other forms of political associations
The context of coalitions via policy subsystems and political systems
Typology of actors in advocacy coalitions
Beliefs and coordination
Practical lessons
How should we think about the formation and maintenance of advocacy coalitions?
How to form and maintain coalitions?
Applied axioms about advocacy coalitions
Applied Axiom 1. People relate to their government; and advocacy coalitions are one form of such relations around policy issues
Applied Axiom 3. People become involved in advocacy coalitions in different ways, as auxiliary, principal, brokers, and entrepr
Applied Axiom 4. Coalitions form and are maintained from threats to beliefs
Applied Axiom 5. Coalitions can be identified through multiple approaches and empirical strategies
Conclusion
References
Chapter Ten Reflections and resolutions in drawing practical lessons from policy theories
Introduction
Contributions
Contribution 1: Clearer summaries of policy theories
Contribution 2: Synthesised lessons from this special issue
Contribution 3: Learning about the challenges in translating practical lessons from theories
Next steps: addressing three key challenges
1. Clarifying three audiences of policy process research
2. Clarifying three purposes of policy process research
3. Using science to assess policy process research impacts
4. Highlighting dilemmas in theory and practice
Concluding thoughts on advancing policy theory translations
References
Index
Back Cover