New Labour's Policy Style: A Mix of Policy Approaches

2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
TRINE P. LARSEN ◽  
PETER TAYLOR-GOOBY ◽  
JOHANNES KANANEN

This article reviews the policy process behind recent welfare reforms and considers the policy styles used in a broad range of social policy areas on the basis of interviews with leading policy actors. It argues that a mix of policy-making methods is currently being used, ranging from the classic top-down approach, through the use of external commissions to a more bottom-up approach, where policy is to a large degree designed by external groups. The type of policy and the power relations between key actors and the government determine the approach. Indeed, this shows a different perception of British policy-making, as the inclusive approach contrasts sharply with the traditional directive Westminster model.

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Lin

In April 2009, the Chinese government announced comprehensive reforms to the health system following more than a decade of piecemeal reform efforts. Popular complaints about high healthcare costs and access difficulties eventually received political attention following the government administration change of 2002 and the SARS outbreak of 2003. However, policy differences between ministries resulted in several years of vigorous and open policy debates involving domestic and international stakeholders as well as citizens who are active in expressing opinions virtually (netizens). The 2009 reforms signalled not only policy recognition of the need for a comprehensive and systemic approach if healthcare was to be transformed, but also charted new approaches to policy-making. While the current reforms are being rapidly implemented, the question arises as to whether the shifts in the policy-making process will continue into the future. Further evaluation of the policy process will require cooperation if not collaboration from the policy actors themselves.


Author(s):  
Gerry Stoker

Joined-up government seems to be able to present itself in various forms of being understood in several ways. It is therefore subject to various interpretations and divergent views. Some contend that joined-up government is inherently centralizing hence it is disadvantageous for the devolved units of the government, some on the other hand argue that joined-up government is not essentially centralizing. This chapter evaluates New Labour's initial efforts at stimulating joining-up at the local level by detailing the rise of the multitude partnership bodies since New Labour rose into power. The chapter also discusses the top-down-driven policy style that New Labour adopted in their efforts for partnerships. This style caused chaotic repercussions in the local and regional governance. Discussed as well in the chapter are the ways in which New Labour tried to localize joined-up government. The first method was the premise of adopting autonomy for the local government to pursue community leadership at the local level while the second method proposed earned autonomy or constrained discretion wherein the local government can lead and yet be under the guidance of the central government. Both of these models of governance are considered here to determine whether they can be institutionalized. The last section of the chapter presents a discussion on the seemingly centralizing nature of joined-up government.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Wimmy Haliim

People's needs are often considered trivial by bureaucrats who sit in the government of a country. They tend to carry out and make programs or policies with top-down development, but the compatibility between what is needed by the people and what is done by the government is often different. Therefore, a more bottom-up approach must be present in the policy making process that is within the body of government. One of the goals of writing this article is the desire to strengthen the role of the community in the policy-making process that is considered important. The writing of this article uses the use of normative writing models. So that it uses a conceptual approach to explain to readers the importance of the concept of participatory leadership in development policy. Participatory leadership is leadership that bases its policy makers on a mature process of deliberation (deliberation process) by involving the public, so that development policies that are born can answer the needs and improve the socio-economic capabilities of the public. The concept of participatory leadership can be applied to every public official in the central to regional government environment, the government's goal to carry out comprehensive bureaucratic reform can be achieved. Also, the community will be far more independent and strong. The independence and strength of the community, in addition to being used to participate in the planning process, are also very much needed as an external party in monitoring and evaluating development policies. Keywords: Participation, Development Policy, Participatory Leadership Abstrak Kebutuhan rakyat seringkali dianggap hal yang sepele oleh birokrat yang duduk didalam pemerintahan sebuah negara. Mereka memiliki kecenderungan melakukan dan membuat program atau kebijakan dengan pembangunan yang bersifat top-down, namun kesesuaian antara apa yang dibutuhkan rakyat dengan yang dikerjakan oleh pemerintah sering kali berbeda. Maka dari itu, pendekatan yang lebih bottom-up harus hadir didalam proses pembuatan kebijakan yang ada didalam tubuh pemerintah. Salah satu tujuan penulisan artikel ini adalah keinginan untuk memperkuat peran masyarakat dalam proses pembuat kebijakan yang dinilai penting. Penulisan artikel ini menggunakan penggunaan model penulisan normatif. Sehingga didalamnya menggunakan pendekatan konseptual untuk menjelaskan kepada pembaca pentingan konsep kepemimpinan partisipatif dalam kebijakan pembangunan. Kepemimpinan partisipatif adalah kepemimpinan yang mendasarkan pembuat kebijakannya pada proses pertimbangan yang matang (proses deliberasi) dengan mengikutsertakan publik, sehingga kebijakan pembangunan yang lahir bisa menjawab kebutuhan dan meningkatkan kemampuan sosial-ekonomi publik. Konsep kepemimpinan partisipatif ini bisa diaplikasikan pada setiap pejabat publik yang ada dilingkungan pemerintahan pusat hingga daerah, tujuan pemerintah untuk melakukan reformasi birokrasi secara menyeluruh bisa tercapai. Selain itu, masyarakat akan jauh lebih mandiri dan kuat. Kemandirian dan kekuatan masyarakat, selain bisa digunakan untuk ikutserta dalam proses perencanaan, juga sangat dibutuhkan sebagai pihak eksternal dalam pengawasan hingga evaluasi kebijakan pembangunan. Kata Kunci: Partisipasi, Kebijakan Pembangunan, Kepemimpinan Partisipatif.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN-ULRICH ROTHACHER

ABSTRACT: The Brazilian government has over the past years promulgated a mix of orthodox and heterodox policies for Brazil's economic development. This paper seeks to test whether the existing economic ideas have been prescriptive in formulating the policies, or whether they have been the outcome of the "infusion of private interests" (Katzenstein, 1978) in the policy making process. To this end, the paper charts the origins of the unilateral opening for trade in the agribusiness and contrasts them with the policy process in the car industry, where trade barriers have been erected. The article will identify the channels through which private actors informed the government's interventions and show that the industry bodies have largely prodded the government. The resulting policy maze has left both the representatives of the orthodox as well those of the heterodox approach unsatisfied and has failed to halt Brazil's dwindling manufacturing capabilities.


1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina van den Berg

The protracted history of Aboriginal governance policy is ripe with frustrations among First Nations peoples and Canadian governments, the most pronounced aggravation being the federal government. Substantial resistance from Aboriginals often marks each new policy the government introduces. New policies often maintain the paternalistic attitude inherent in government initiatives, which has been very difficult for Aboriginal organizations to eradicate. Although Aboriginal governance policy is currently progressing towards a quasi-cooperative form of policy-making on both sides, this particular policy area continues to encounter significant disparities between policy actors within the Canadian government and Aboriginal organizations. Differences throughout the entire policy process hinder effective policy-making from agenda-setting/problem definition to the outcome/evaluation


Author(s):  
Moses Mukuru ◽  
Suzanne N. Kiwanuka ◽  
Lucy Gilson ◽  
Maylene Shung-King ◽  
Freddie Ssengooba

Background: The persistence of high maternal mortality and consistent failure in low- and middle-income countries to achieve global targets such as Millennium Development Goal five (MDG 5) is usually explained from epidemiological, interventional and health systems perspectives. The role of policy elites and their interests remains inadequately explored in this debate. This study examined elites and how their interests drove maternal health policies and actions in ways that could explain policy failure for MDG 5 in Uganda. Methods: We conducted a retrospective qualitative study of Uganda’s maternal health policies from 2000 to 2015 (MDG period). Thirty key informant interviews and 2 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with national policy-makers, who directly participated in the formulation of Uganda’s maternal health policies during the MDG period. We reviewed 9 National Maternal Health Policy documents. Data were analysed inductively using elite theory. Results: Maternal health policies were mainly driven by a small elite group comprised of Senior Ministry of Health (MoH) officials, some members of cabinet and health development partners (HDPs) who wielded more power than other actors. The resulting policies often appeared to be skewed towards elites’ personal political and economic interests, rather than maternal mortality reduction. For a few, however, interests aligned with reducing maternal mortality. Since complying with the government policy-making processes would have exposed elites’ personal interests, they mainly drafted policies as service standards and programme documents to bypass the formal policy process. Conclusion: Uganda’s maternal health policies were mainly influenced by the elites’ personal interests rather than by the goal of reducing maternal mortality. This was enabled by the formal guidance for policy-making which gives elites control over the policy process. Accelerating maternal mortality reduction will require re-engineering the policy process to prevent public officials from infusing policies with their interests, and enable percolation of ideas from the public and frontline.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Marie Gray ◽  
Derek Birrell

In analysing governance and social policy in Northern Ireland in the period of devolution 1999–2002 Eithne McLaughlin described and predicted the dominance of a lowest common denominator approach to the formulation of social policies. This paper examines the period of restored devolution 2007–11 using this thesis. It identifies the trends in the development of social policies after 2007 and examines social policy-making by the government under five categories. Having established the reasons for this complex approach to social policy formulation, consideration is also given to the outcomes of the policy process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Catur Wulandari ◽  
Arif Budy Pratama ◽  
Hartuti Purnaweni ◽  
Kismartini Kismartini

                This paper aims to investigate the dynamic of environmental policy making in the effort of attaining sustainable development. Using Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as a framework of analysis, our study was conducted in the Kendeng environmental conflict, Rembang Regency. Utilised both primary and secondary data on conflict properties from cement industry’s proponents and opponents, researchers obtained vigorous data and evidence through which the ACF may offer a comprehensive explanation on policy process and change.                 Finding shows that the coalition of actor has a pivotal role to influence value and behaviour among policy actors in the Kendeng environmental conflict. The result of this study fills the lacuna of research which focuses the main discussion on advocacy coalition actor-based policy analysis. It also offers a policy agenda focusing on the belief system actor-based policy analysis in which Government of Indonesia worth to consider in the policy making process.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Hoberg ◽  
Jeffrey Phillips

Abstract. This article examines how powerful policy actors defend themselves against opponents' strategies of conflict expansion through a case study on the oil sands of Alberta. In response to an escalation of criticism of its performance on environmental regulation and related issues, the government of Alberta has pursued a strategy of engaging in several multi-stakeholder consultations. We argue that in examining subsystem change, it is essential to go beyond an examination of formal institutional mechanisms to examine policy impacts. Thus far, despite a significant pluralisation of consultative mechanisms on the oil sands, there is little or no evidence of a shift in power away from pro-oil sands interests. This strategy of selective opening is designed to bolster the legitimacy of the policy process while maintaining control over decision rules and venues.Résumé. Cet article étudie le rapport de force et la stratégie de défense des acteurs politiques lorsqu'un conflit dégénère, comme cela s'est produit dans le dossier des sables bitumineux de l'Alberta. Devant une recrudescence des critiques à l'égard de sa performance au chapitre de la réglementation environnementale, le gouvernement de l'Alberta a adopté une stratégie qui consiste à effectuer des consultations avec plusieurs intervenants. Nous soutenons qu'en examinant les changements du sous-système, il est vital d'aller au delà de la simple étude des mécanismes institutionnels pour évaluer l'impact des politiques. En dépit de la pluralité des mécanismes de consultation mis en place, rien ne semble indiquer qu'une partie quelconque du pouvoir ait échappé aux acteurs de l'exploitation des sables bitumineux. Cette stratégie d'ouverture sélective est conçue pour renforcer la légitimité du processus politique tout en gardant le contrôle sur les prises de décision et les centres décisionnels.


Author(s):  
Ralph Henham

This chapter sets out the case for adopting a normative approach to conceptualizing the social reality of sentencing. It argues that policy-makers need to comprehend how sentencing is implicated in realizing state values and take greater account of the social forces that diminish the moral credibility of state sponsored punishment. The chapter reflects on the problems of relating social values to legal processes such as sentencing and argues that crude notions of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches to policy-making should be replaced by a process of contextualized policy-making. Finally, the chapter stresses the need for sentencing policy to reflect those moral attachments that bind citizens together in a relational or communitarian sense. It concludes by exploring these assertions in the light of the sentencing approach taken by the courts following the English riots of 2011.


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