Policy Success, Policy Failure and Grey Areas In-Between

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALLAN McCONNELL
Keyword(s):  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Multiple Dimensions

AbstractPolicy protagonists are keen to claim that policy is successful while opponents are more likely to frame policies as failures. The reality is that policy outcomes are often somewhere in between these extremes. An added difficulty is that policy has multiple dimensions, often succeeding in some respects but not in others, according to facts and their interpretation. This paper sets out a framework designed to capture the bundles of outcomes that indicate how successful or unsuccessful a policy has been. It reviews existing literature on policy evaluation and improvement, public value, good practice, political strategy and policy failure and success in order to identify what can be built on and gaps that need to be filled. It conceives policy as having three realms: processes, programs and politics. Policies may succeed and/or fail in each of these and along a spectrum of success, resilient success, conflicted success, precarious success and failure. It concludes by examining contradictions between different forms of success, including what is known colloquially as good politics but bad policy.

Policy Learning, Policy Failure, and the Mitigation of Policy Risks: Re-Thinking the Lessons of Policy Success and Failure

2021 ◽  
pp. 009539972110653
Author(s):  
Ching Leong ◽  
Michael Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Comparative Case Studies ◽  
Policy Problems ◽  
Policy Failures ◽  
Lesson Drawing

Policy failures are often assumed to be unintentional and anomalous events about which well-intentioned governments can learn why they occurred and how they can be corrected. These assumptions color many of the results from contemporary studies of policy learning which remain optimistic that ongoing policy problems can be resolved through technical learning and lesson drawing from comparative case studies. Government intentions may not be solely oriented toward the creation of public value and publics may not abide by government wishes, however, and studies of policy learning need to take these “darksides” of policy-making more seriously if the risks of policy failure are to be mitigated.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in dentistry- Ethical considerations

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 396-399
Author(s):  
Ronel Maart ◽  
Riaan Mulder ◽  
Saadika Khan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Worker ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Aerosol Generation ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Care Worker

The reach of Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) has even reached the ethical guidelines for good practice from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).The health care worker should carefully consider the guidance outlined in several of the booklets as patient treatment has multiple dimensions where COVID-19 had impacted on clinical practice. Due to the nature of dentistry and aerosol generation, special care must be taken when treating healthy patients and patients that are carriers but do not realise that they are COVID-19 positive.COVID-19 transmission and aerosol dissemination may expose the practice team to hazards of infection. The risk is elevated when implementing aerosol generating procedures without any protective equipment. The oral health care worker (OHCW) and staff thus require the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as suggested by country-specific guidelines, for example, The South African Dental Association (SADA).To this extent, practicing dentistry in the 21st century is complex and amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic the OHCW is presented with more pitfalls. As the pandemic is showing no sign of abating in SA, this has presented the OHCW with a range of additional ethical considerations.These dilemmas may be resolved in a variety of ways following an understanding of the basic knowledge of core ethical values and standards for good practice outlined by the HPCSA guidelines.

Providing Rational and Normative Policy Evaluation with Hedonic Estimation in Developing and Emerging Market Economies

2014 ◽  
pp. 53-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Erakovich ◽  
Gerald Poppe ◽  
John F. Shampton ◽  
Kalpana Pai
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Normative Considerations

Market economy and democratic evolution in public policy requires a shift from a comprehensive rational and positivism approach to including normative considerations through a social participatory thesis. The key question of this chapter’s examination is: Do the fundamental ideas of econometric evaluation of land value as a basis for public policy contribute worth for the society as a whole? Policy that exploits market mechanisms cannot be developed in isolation of the larger societal needs that are required to enrich democracy. To do this, the authors provide an econometric model of valuation of land to test and predict policy outcomes to enhance democratic transition. Establishing market value is a tool that supports policy economic development goals and normative outcomes desired through political transparency in the emergence to democratic processes. The authors conclude with recommendations for implementation to support stakeholders in the policymaking process.

Providing Rational and Normative Policy Evaluation with Hedonic Estimation in Developing and Emerging Market Economies

2015 ◽  
pp. 367-385
Author(s):  
Rodney Erakovich ◽  
Gerald Poppe ◽  
John F. Shampton ◽  
Kalpana Pai
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Normative Considerations

Market economy and democratic evolution in public policy requires a shift from a comprehensive rational and positivism approach to including normative considerations through a social participatory thesis. The key question of this chapter's examination is: Do the fundamental ideas of econometric evaluation of land value as a basis for public policy contribute worth for the society as a whole? Policy that exploits market mechanisms cannot be developed in isolation of the larger societal needs that are required to enrich democracy. To do this, the authors provide an econometric model of valuation of land to test and predict policy outcomes to enhance democratic transition. Establishing market value is a tool that supports policy economic development goals and normative outcomes desired through political transparency in the emergence to democratic processes. The authors conclude with recommendations for implementation to support stakeholders in the policymaking process.

Between policy failure and policy success: bricolage, experimentalism and translation in policy transfer

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-92
Author(s):  
Diane Stone
Keyword(s):  
Policy Diffusion ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Policy Adoption ◽  
Meso Level ◽  
Selective Learning ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Lesson Drawing

This chapter re-assesses some of the literature on policy transfer and policy diffusion, in light of ideas as to what constitutes failure, partial failure, or limited success. Rather than frame a policy transfer as a failure or success, scholars must recognise transfer (and so failure) as a messy process involving an array of meso-level actors. Two aspects are of particular note. First, the treatment of imperfect transfer as underscored by flawed lesson-drawing is useful as it takes one back to questions about the depth of learning. Second, the chapter highlights two aspects of learning that are often overlooked in mainstream accounts: ‘negative lesson-drawing’ and selective learning. Negative lesson-drawing is a quest to avoid policy failure where policy learning is not synonymous with policy adoption. Instead, policy lessons can help crystallise what ideas and policy paths decision-makers do not wish to follow.

scholarly journals Institutionalising participatory health governance: lessons from nine years of the National Health Assembly model in Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 7) ◽  
pp. e001769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dheepa Rajan ◽  
Nanoot Mathurapote ◽  
Weerasak Putthasri ◽  
Tipicha Posayanonda ◽  
Poldej Pinprateep ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Health ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Policy Dialogue ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Deliberative Process ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Governance Model

Improving health governance is increasingly recognised as a key pillar for achieving universal health coverage (UHC). One good practice example of a participatory health governance platform is the National Health Assembly (NHA) in Thailand. This review of 9 years of the Thai NHA process attempted to understand how it works, given the paucity of such mechanisms worldwide. In addition, an in-depth look at its strengths and weaknesses allowed for reflection on whether the lessons learnt from this participatory governance model can be relevant for other settings.Overall, the power of stakeholder groups coming together has been impressively harnessed in the NHA process. The NHA has helped foster dialogue through understanding and respect for very differing takes on the same issue. The way in which different stakeholders discuss with each other in a real attempt at consensus thus represents a qualitatively improved policy dialogue.Nevertheless, the biggest challenge facing the NHA is ensuring a sustainable link to decision-making and the highest political circles. Modalities are needed to make NHA resolutions high priorities for the health sector.The NHA embodies many core features of a well-prepared deliberative process as defined in the literature (information provision, diverse views, opportunity to discuss freely) as well as key ingredients to enable the public to effectively participate (credibility, legitimacy and power). This offers important lessons for other countries for conducting similar processes. However, more research is necessary to understand how improvements in the deliberative process lead to concrete policy outcomes.

scholarly journals Climate Policy Outcomes in Germany: Environmental Performance and Environmental Damage in Eleven Policy Areas

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Karapin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Policy ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Government Interventions ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Industrialized Democracies ◽  
Car Travel

Germany has reduced its emissions of greenhouse gases more than almost any other industrialized democracy and is exceeding its ambitious Kyoto commitment. Hence, it is commonly portrayed as a climate-policy success story, but the situation is actually much more complex. Generalizing Germany's per-capita emissions to all countries or its emissions reductions to all industrialized democracies would still very likely produce more than a two-degree rise in global temperature. Moreover, analyzing the German country-case into eleven subcases shows that it is a mixture of relative successes and failures. This analysis leads to three main conclusions. First, high relative performance and high environmental damage can coexist. Second, we should see national cases in a differentiated way and not only in terms of their aggregate performances. Third, researchers on climate policies should more often begin with outcomes, work backward to policies, and be prepared for some surprises. Ironically, the most effective government interventions may not be explicit climate policies, such as the economic transformation of eastern Germany. Moreover, the lack of policy-making in certain areas may undercut progress made elsewhere, including unregulated increases in car travel, road freight, and electricity consumption. Research on climate and environmental policies should focus on somewhat different areas of government intervention and ask different questions.

Policy Success and Failure

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan McConnell
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Gaining Insight

How can we know if policies succeed or fail, and what are the causes of such outcomes? Understanding the nature of these phenomena is riddled with complex methodological challenges, including differing political perspectives, persistent mixed results, ambiguous outcomes, and the issue of success/failure “for whom”? Ironically, the key to understanding policy success and failure lies not in downplaying or ignoring such challenges, but in accepting politicization and complexity as reflective of the messy world of public policy. Gaining insight from such messiness allows a better understanding of phenomena like “good politics but bad policy,” the persistence of some failures over time, and widely differing perspectives on who or what should claim credit for policy success and who or what should be blamed for policy failure.

Chouftouhonna Festival: Feminist and Queer Artivism as Transformative Agency for a New Politics of Recognition in Post-revolutionary Tunisia

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-230
Author(s):  
Sara Borrillo
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Sexual Rights ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Sexual Diversity ◽  
Politics Of Recognition ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Multiple Dimensions

Abstract In Tunisia, like in other MENA countries, feminism has opened the door to activism advocating for individual liberties and sexual rights. After the 2010-2011 revolution, a new wave of political activism has relied on new forms of cultural and creative practice to reconfigure the public space. This paper utilises ethnographic fieldwork to investigate the experience of the Chouftouhonna Feminist International Art Festival in Tunis as an example of ‘artivism’ – i.e. artistic activism – grounded in secular feminism and advancing LGBTQ+ claims. The first section of this paper explores the multiple ‘dimensions of subversion’ of the Festival. The second section aims to demonstrate why Chouftouhonna’s experience can be analysed as part of a political strategy contributing to a new imagination for a substantive egalitarian citizenship, through both ‘affirmative and transformative remedies to social injustice’. Because the Festival is meant as an expression of ‘transformative agency’, its founders and organizers strive for a new politics of recognition for women and sexual diversity in post-revolutionary Tunisia.

Public Value Mapping and Science Policy Evaluation

Minerva ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Bozeman ◽  
Daniel Sarewitz
Keyword(s):  
Science Policy ◽  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Public Value Mapping
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