The dual dynamics of policy advisory systems: The impact of externalization and politicization on policy advice

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Craft ◽  
Michael Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Policy Advice ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Polycentric governance and policy advice: lessons from Whitehall policy advisory systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-581
Author(s):  
Patrick Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Polycentric Governance ◽  
Advisory System ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Government Bureaucracy ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
Policy Advisory System ◽  
The Impact

In countries worldwide, the provision of policy advice to central governments has been transformed by the deinstitutionalisation of policymaking, which has engaged a diverse range of actors in the policy process. Scholarship should therefore address the impact of deinstitutionalisation in terms of the scope and scale of policy advisory systems, as well as in terms of the influence of policy advisors. This article addresses this gap, presenting a programme of research on policy advice in Whitehall. Building on Craft and Halligan’s conceptualisation of a ‘policy advisory system’, it argues that in an era of polycentric governance, policy advice is shaped by ‘interlocking actors’ beyond government bureaucracy, and that the pluralisation of advisory bodies marginalises the civil service. The implications of such alterations are considered against the backdrop of governance changes, particularly the hybridisation of institutions, which has made policymaking processes complex, prone to unpredictability and at risk of policy blunders.

scholarly journals Academic policy advice in consensus-seeking countries: the cases of Belgium and Germany

2019 ◽  
pp. 002085231987878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Pattyn ◽  
Sonja Blum ◽  
Ellen Fobé ◽  
Mirjam Pekar-Milicevic ◽  
Marleen Brans
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Common Trends ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Academic Policy ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
The Government ◽  
Special Case

Research on policy-advisory systems worldwide has shown that historically dominant sources of advice traditionally located in-house to the government have been increasingly supplemented by other actors and outside knowledge. However, the vast majority of research has concentrated on the anglophone context. Yet, countries with a consensus-seeking, neo-corporatist tradition provide a special case in terms of policy advice and merit more scholarly attention. What counts as evidence in these countries is the expert rationality of institutional representatives. The position and role of academic research in consensus-based systems is unclear, and is the focus of this article. Can we observe commonalities across consensus-style countries, or do differences prevail? We investigate two typical consensus-seeking countries: Belgium and Germany. To examine the supply side of policy advice, the article reviews current evidence regarding their policy-advisory systems. For the demand side, we present insights from a survey among federal ministerial officials. We find common trends between the two cases but their nature and extent are idiosyncratic. In Belgium, the supply of and demand for academic policy advice is comparatively lower, while the German case exhibits more change in the advisory landscape and institutionalisation of the supply of and demand for academic research. Points for practitioners   • Countries with a consensus-seeking, neo-corporatist tradition provide a special case in terms of policy advice.   • The findings suggest that there are common trends but their nature and extent are idiosyncratic.   • In Belgium, the supply of and demand for academic advice is comparatively lower.   • Germany’s policy-advisory landscape exhibits more change and institutionalisation of the supply of and demand for academic research.

Policy analytical capacity and Canadian business associations

2018 ◽  
pp. 297-317
Author(s):  
Andrew Stritch
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Business Associations ◽  
New Era ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems

Since the 1980s, policy advisory systems in Canada have become more open and accessible to inputs from civil society groups. However, the capacity to exploit this new openness is not evenly distributed within civil society. Based on survey data from Canadian business associations, this chapter argues that business groups have generally endowed themselves with impressive capacities for policy analysis and advice, and that these capacities have increased over the last decade or so. Business associations have commonly made a significant and sustained commitment to this endeavour, whether using in-house personnel or external resources, and have developed strong analytical means for providing governments with policy advice. To the extent that this capacity is unmatched by other sections of civil society, the greater openness of policy advisory systems may not reflect a new era of genuine pluralism, but reinforce existing biases in civil society.

scholarly journals Behavioural Insights Teams (BITs) and Policy Change: An Exploration of Impact, Location, and Temporality of Policy Advice

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 1538-1561
Author(s):  
Ishani Mukherjee ◽  
Sarah Giest
Keyword(s):  
Science Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Impact Location ◽  
Behavioural Insights ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
Knowledge Brokers

Behavioural Insights Teams (BITs) have gained prominence in government as policy advisors and are increasingly linked to the way policy instruments are designed. Despite the rise of BITs as unique knowledge brokers mediating the use of behavioral insights for policymaking, they remain underexplored in the growing literature on policy advice and advisory systems. The article emphasizes that the visible impact that BITs have on the content of policy instruments, the level of political support they garner and their structural diversity in different political departments, all set them apart from typical policy brokers in policy advisory systems connecting the science–policy divide.

Reconsidering advice and advisory systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-118
Author(s):  
Kate Crowley ◽  
Jenny Stewart ◽  
Adrian Kay ◽  
Brian W. Head
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
The State ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Complex Problems ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
Policy Systems

Policy advice and policy advisory systems tend to be underplayed or neglected in policymaking literature despite robust policy advisory research efforts, and concerns with the character and dynamics of domain specific advisory systems within and beyond the state. In this chapter we reconsider policy advice in several key senses. We revisit the significance of the role of policy advising, and depictions of the transformation of the practice of policy advising; we draw upon governance and policy systems frames in our reconsideration of advisory systems; and we reflect upon the place of expert advice in PASs in problem solving today. We explore the role of advice and advisory systems in addressing complex problems in the governance era, and ask whether a more diverse advisory landscape helps or hinders the generation and transmission of policy relevant knowledge.

Trends and directions in Canadian policy analysis and policy advice

2018 ◽  
pp. 449-466
Author(s):  
Michael J. Prince
Keyword(s):  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Politics And Government ◽  
Advice Giving ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
Sector Work

As public sector work, policy analysis and policy advising is the soft craft of hard choices. Changes in the context and content of Canadian politics and government in recent decades have shifted the nature of public service policy advice giving. This chapter presents these changes and their implications in relation to two approaches to policy advising. One model, the traditional approach in Canadian parliamentary governments, involves public servants speaking truth to those in power, namely cabinet ministers. The second model, reflecting contemporary trends in governance, can be described as many actors sharing many truths to decision makers. In short, there has been a shift in policy advisory systems engaged in policy analysis and matters of giving policy advice. The chapter examines each of these models, describing them and offering some criticisms, as well as noting trends in Canada that relate to this altered context of advising and policy development.

Communicating about Climate Change with Policymakers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishani Mukherjee ◽  
Michael Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Policy Advisory Systems ◽  
Advisory Systems ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Policy Problems

Policy communication and the resulting influence that information has on policy decision-makers is an especially pertinent topic when it comes to problems of climate change. Notorious for its complexity, uncertainty, and divergence of viewpoints, climate change has earned the title of being the major “wicked” or “super-wicked” problem of our times. A proliferation of expertise, interests, and capacities mark the climate change policymaking landscape and this density of players warrants an advanced framework to understand the ways in which the variety of climate-pertinent knowledge is communicated to policymakers. Moving beyond undifferentiated “two-communities” models of knowledge utilization in policymaking which limit the discussion to the bilateral interactions between knowledge experts or “producers” and information “consumers” of the public sector, this article explores the concept of a policy advisory system, which embodies the different sets of influence that various policy actors can have during policy decision-making and how communication between and among actors is a significant aspect of climate change policymaking. The concept of policy advisory systems is an important new development in the policy studies literature and one that is analytically very applicable to climate policy contexts. Suitably generalizable across representative policy settings, policy advisory systems are comprised of distinct groups of actors who are engaged in the definition of policy problems, the articulation of policy solutions, or the matching of policy problems to solutions. We explore how individual members of these separate sets of actors—namely the epistemic community, which is occupied in discourses about policy problems; the instrument constituencies which define policy instruments; and the advocacy coalitions which compete to have their choice of policy alternatives adopted—interact and communicate with policymakers across climate change policy activities.

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