Comparative Public Policy at the Crossroads

1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold J. Heidenheimer
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Comparative Public Policy ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Single Discipline ◽  
Comparative Policy

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to acquaint the reader with the intellectual landscape of comparative policy studies, and to raise the level of self-consciousness of scholars active in the field. To this end it discusses why comparative policy studies emerged when and where it did in the 1970s. Then it grapples with the reasons and possible effects of the fact that the very term ‘comparative policy’ is so difficult to translate into non-English languages, and links this to a discussion of problems of conceptual cohesion. The last part assesses the prospects of a field which is seeking to gain and retain intellectual coherence and respect, though not nestled comfortably within a single discipline, and is subject to contending pulls from national and international academic, political and bureaucratic forces.

Reconsidering the state

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Kate Crowley ◽  
Jenny Stewart ◽  
Adrian Kay ◽  
Brian W. Head
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The State ◽  
Binary Choice ◽  
Policy Effectiveness ◽  
Comparative Public Policy ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
The Core ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Public Policy Analysis

State-centred and society-centred explanations in comparative public policy analysis disagree markedly on the extent to which the state has autonomy or is essentially a clearing-house for outside forces. In this chapter, we reconsider the position of the state in policy studies by investigating the interactions and inter-dependency between the state and society rather than making a binary choice between state-centred and society-centred perspectives on governance. The core argument is that policy studies can improve its ability to apprehend the position of the state in dilemmas of contemporary policy-making by acknowledging that the state is, at once, both critical to collective action and reliant on crucial elements of societal support for its policy effectiveness. In such terms, governance is a useful label for the variety of ways in which society is not simply acted upon by the state, but actively shapes the actions of and outcomes of state activity.

scholarly journals Has Simeon's Vision Prevailed among Canadian Policy Scholars?

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éric Montpetit ◽  
Christine Rothmayr Allison ◽  
Isabelle Engeli
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Knowledge Accumulation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Comparative Policy

AbstractConcerned by the proliferation of idiosyncratic prescriptive case studies in the nascent subfield of policy studies, Richard Simeon, in his seminal 1976 article, asked scholars to produce more comparative policy research that aimed at explaining general events and contributing to theory building. The extent to which Simeon's vision materialized remains debated. With a view to informing this debate, we conducted a systematic content analysis of the articles published in five major generalist public policy journals from 1980 to 2015. The analysis reveals that Canadian policy scholars took a comparative turn, publishing more territorial, sector and time comparisons than in the past. We also found evidence that theoretical knowledge accumulation is more important today for Canadian authors than it was when Simeon wrote his article.

Global Competitiveness, Privatization, Dignified Spaces, and Curricular Reform in Indian Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanti Bajpai
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Curricular Reform ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Ranking System ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Indian Higher Education

Every ranking system rates Indian universities poorly against their Asian counterparts in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, and in some cases, even universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The question then is why, given that in 1947 it could fairly be said that at least a dozen Indian universities were leaders in Asia and were of international repute, Indian universities are in an egregious condition. This chapter essays some answers. It also argues for curricular reform, in particular for the introduction of public policy studies at the major Indian universities.

Using Community Resources to Teach Public Policy

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Keith J. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Community Resources ◽  
Alternative Instruction ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Energy Environment ◽  
Science Departments ◽  
Specific Health

The recent growth in policy studies curricula in political science departments affords increased opportunities for experimentation with alternative instruction modes. This article describes one innovation found to be appropriate for courses for which the instructor has access to experts in the policy being studied. In this example, community experts in health policy issues were used as resource persons to assist in discussion of specific health policy concerns. Other policy courses should be amenable to this format, including energy, environment, and economic development courses. Even without using community experts, the general format of weekly colloquiums could be replicated for other policy courses.The courses described herein is an upper division/graduate level course in American Health Policy. It is taught for one semester every other year as one of several topical courses in the public policy track within political science.

The Governance of the European Union: A New Institutionalist Approach

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Bulmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Community ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
System Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Comparative Public Policy ◽  
Policy Perspective

ABSTRACTThe analysis of European integration has tended to use a toolkit drawn from international relations. But since the revival of integration in the mid-1980s, the governance of the European Community and European Union has increasingly come to resemble that of a multi-tiered state. Accordingly, this article analyzes the governance of the European Union from a comparative public policy perspective. Using new or historical institutionalism, three levels are considered. In the first part, attention is focused on the EU's institutions and the available instruments of governance. The second part examines the analysis of governance at the policy-specific or sub-system level, and puts forward an approach based on governance regimes. The final part considers the institutional roots of the persistent, regulatory character of governance in the European Union.

Comparing Comparative Policy Studies — A Path Towards Integration?

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Feick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Policy Style ◽  
Comparative Policy

ABSTRACTThis paper tries to integrate and generalise research results from selected comparative policy studies in the fields of economic, social, educational, environmental and health and safety policies. The countries included are Britain, Sweden and the United States. The concepts of institutional and organisational structure, culture orientation and policy style are applied in order to develop descriptive taxonomies to suggest how these factors might influence ultimate policy outputs.

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