scholarly journals Transforming Rehabilitation as ‘policy disaster’: Unbalanced policy-making and probation reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Annison
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Policy Dynamics ◽  
Internal Component ◽  
Departmental Budget

This paper utilizes the notion of ‘policy disasters’ to examine the policy developments that led to the part-privatization and marketization of probation services in England and Wales – Transforming Rehabilitation. Specifically, it examines the ‘internal’ component of policy disasters, drawing on semi-structured interviews with senior policymakers and other relevant sources. The findings presented demonstrate that the policy dynamics relating to Transforming Rehabilitation specifically, and the departmental budget as an important underlying component, were both distinctly ‘unbalanced’. This is argued to be an important explanatory factor in its damagingly swift implementation and operationalization. In closing, the paper reflects on the policy studies notion of ‘policy equilibrium’ to consider whether the policy landscape relating to probation in England and Wales has reached a ‘steady state’, or whether the ongoing apparent failings of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms may result in a further round of considerable policy change.

scholarly journals Energy Policy: Concepts, Actors, Instruments and Recent Developments

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Prontera
Keyword(s):  
Energy Policy ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Internal Policy

The article analyses the specific features of energy policy-making, by exploring the relevant dimensions of the matters and the interdependence between energy policy and other sectors. A recognition of the evolution of energy policy – and of the policy change which occurred in recent years – is provided, as a starting point for applying the tools of policy studies to the analysis of energy policy-making. Two different types are then identified: the external policy-making concerning security matters; and the internal policy-making concerning organizational and market-related issues. It will be seen that each type of policy-making is characterized by a particular policy sub-system with its own actors, instruments, arenas and dynamics.

scholarly journals The role of storylines in penal policy change

2021 ◽  
pp. 146247452198953
Author(s):  
Harry Annison
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Reform ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Penal Policy ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Reform Project

Bringing policy reform to fruition is an enterprise fraught with difficulty; penal policy is no different. This paper argues that the concept of ‘storylines’, developed within policy studies, is capable of generating valuable insights into the internal dynamics of penal policy change and particularly the ‘commmunicative miracle’ whereby policy participants sufficiently align to achieve reform. I utilize the part-privatization and part-marketization of probation services in England and Wales (‘Transforming Rehabilitation’) as a pertinent case study: a policy disaster foretold, but nonetheless inaugurated at breakneck speed. Drawing on interviews with policy makers, I demonstrate the means by which the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ storyline resolved (at least temporarily) the tensions and problems inherent in the reform project; without which it would have struggled to succeed. We see that storylines play at least three important roles for policy makers: they enable specific policies to ‘make sense’, to ‘fit’ in line with their pre-existing beliefs. They provide a sense of meaning, moral mission and self-legitimacy. And they deflect contestation. In closing, I consider the implications for scholars of penal policy change.

Do Networks Matter? Linking Policy Network Structure to Policy Outcomes: Evidence from Four Canadian Policy Sectors 1990-2000

2002 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Policy Sector ◽  
Policy Dynamics ◽  
Policy Subsystems ◽  
The Impact

Relatively recent contributions to the policy literature have called into question the utility of the "network" approach to the study of public policy making, including a challenge to long-held views concerning the impact of the structure of policy subsystems on policy change. This article uses empirical evidence accumulated from case studies of four prominent Canadian federal policy sectors over the period 1990-2000 to address this issue. It sets out a model that explains policy change as dependent upon the effects of the articulation of ideas and interests in public policy processes, and generates several hypotheses relating different subsystem configurations to propensities for paradigmatic and intra-paradigmatic policy dynamics. It suggests that the identification of the nature of the policy subsystem in a given policy sector reveals a great deal about its propensity to respond to changes in ideas and interests.

Process Sequencing Policy Dynamics: Beyond Homeostasis and Path Dependency

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Process Sequencing ◽  
Equilibrium Processes ◽  
Policy Dynamics ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
Positive Return ◽  
Over Time

AbstractStudies of policy change have advanced to the point where the basic contours and factors driving policy sequences are now reasonably well identified and understood with a great deal of empirical evidence pointing to the prevalence of punctuated equilibrium processes in many policy fields. However the reasons why such processes occur is less well understood. Most attention to date has focused upon homeostatic models in which exogenously-driven shocks undermine institutionally entrenched policy equilibria. This article addresses the difficulties this account faces and the conceptual challenges which must be overcome to provide a solid grounding for the understanding and analysis of long-term policy dynamics. It focuses on the merits and demerits of alternative explanations featuring either random junctures and ‘positive-return’ sequences – path dependency – or embedded junctures and ‘reactive’ sequences – process sequencing. Models of policy-making over time using the latter two concepts, it is argued, are more likely to account for the large majority of policy dynamic than the former.

scholarly journals Why We Should Use the Gini Coefficient to Assess Punctuated Equilibrium Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Constantin Kaplaner ◽  
Yves Steinebach
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Gini Coefficient ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Punctuated Equilibrium ◽  
Equilibrium Theory ◽  
Punctuated Equilibrium Theory ◽  
The Gini Coefficient ◽  
Precise Measure

Abstract Punctuated Equilibrium Theory posits that policy-making is generally characterized by long periods of stability that are interrupted by short periods of fundamental policy change. The literature converged on the measure of kurtosis and L-kurtosis to assess these change patterns. In this letter, we critically discuss these measures and propose the Gini coefficient as a (1) comparable, but (2) more intuitive, and (3) more precise measure of “punctuated” change patterns.

scholarly journals History Matters? History's Role in Health Policy Making

2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Berridge
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
English Heritage

“History matters—pass it on” was the slogan of a campaign launched in England in the summer of 2006 to raise public awareness of the huge contribution that history, heritage and the built environment make to our qualify of life. A resumé commented,It unites the whole heritage sector, led by the National Trust, English Heritage, the Historic Houses Association and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and events will be held over the next six months at hundreds of historic locations across England and Wales. Supporters include David Starkey, Tristram Hunt, Simon Thurley, Stephen Fry, Bill Bryson, Shami Chakrabarti, Tony Benn and Boris Johnson.

scholarly journals Playing the policy game: a review of the barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 2643-2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Timothy Donnet ◽  
Amanda Lee ◽  
Danielle Gallegos
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
State And Local

AbstractObjectiveTo progress nutrition policy change and develop more effective advocates, it is useful to consider real-world factors and practical experiences of past advocacy efforts to determine the key barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change. The present review aimed to identify and synthesize the enablers of and barriers to public policy change within the field of nutrition.DesignElectronic databases were searched systematically for studies examining policy making in public health nutrition. An interpretive synthesis was undertaken.SettingInternational, national, state and local government jurisdictions within high-income, democratic countries.ResultsSixty-three studies were selected for inclusion. Numerous themes were identified explaining the barriers to and enablers of policy change, all of which fell under the overarching category of ‘political will’, underpinned by a second major category, ‘public will’. Sub-themes, including pressure from industry, neoliberal ideology, use of emotions and values, and being visible, were prevalent in describing links between public will, political will and policy change.ConclusionsThe frustration around lack of public policy change in nutrition frequently stems from a belief that policy making is a rational process in which evidence is used to assess the relative costs and benefits of options. The findings from the present review confirm that evidence is only one component of influencing policy change. For policy change to occur there needs to be the political will, and often the public will, for the proposed policy problem and solution. The review presents a suite of enablers which can assist health professionals to influence political and public will in future advocacy efforts.

Reconsidering borders

2020 ◽  
pp. 75-96
Author(s):  
Kate Crowley ◽  
Jenny Stewart ◽  
Adrian Kay ◽  
Brian W. Head
Keyword(s):  
Open Economy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Diffuse Sources ◽  
Development Outcomes ◽  
Globalising World ◽  
Porous Boundaries

This chapter considers policy-making beyond the ‘shadow’ of a powerful state. Cross-border policy-making presents a unique dilemma. From the practice perspective, borders open or close to encourage or prevent transnational flows. They can be reshaped to enhance economic growth, social development outcomes, and/or security. From the analytic perspective, the challenge of framing transnational policy-making in open economy sectors, where actors and ideas operate across and beyond borders to shape agendas, policy content, and modes of governing, is a work in progress. Some see policy studies as a ‘methodological prisoner of the state,’ unable to adapt analysis of state capacity to a globalising world. This chapter separates national policy processes from those at the international and global levels. In the context of multiple and diffuse sources of sovereignty at the global level, where porous boundaries between public and private spheres of governance, the conventional dilemmas of policy studies remain but often look importantly different.

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