Showing papers by "M. Ramesh published in 2015"
TL;DR: Although policy capacity is among the most fundamental concepts in public policy, there is considerable disagreement over its definition and very few systematic efforts try to operationalize and define policy capacity as mentioned in this paper.
320 citations
TL;DR: The persistence of policy failures is a recognized but not well-understood phenomenon in the literature of the policy sciences as mentioned in this paper, which can be better understood by examining a wide range of factors both within and beyond a policy subsystem, especially the nature of the political system and its influence on decision making, governance capacity and the impact of its limitations on the chances for policy success.
Abstract: The persistence of policy failures is a recognized but not well-understood phenomenon in the literature of the policy sciences. Existing studies offer only limited insights into the persistence of policy failures as much of the literature on the subject to date has focused on conceptualizing the topic and differentiating between different types of failures. Much less attention has been paid to systematically examining the sources of the problems which lead to recurrent failures. Collectively, the articles in this issue move this discussion forward and show the persistence of policy failures can be better understood by examining a wide range of factors both within and beyond a policy subsystem, especially the nature of the political system and its influence on decision making, governance capacity and the impact of its limitations on the chances for policy success, and levels of uncertainty in policy knowledge and practice, which continue to plague decision making and decision makers.
83 citations
TL;DR: In many visions of governance, governments are portrayed as playing a "steering" rather than "rowing" role as discussed by the authors, and the widespread use of privatization, deregulation, decentralization and third-party governments are often mentioned as concrete manifestations of the broad transformation which has led to new forms of governance.
Abstract: In many visions of governance, governments are portrayed as playing a “steering”, rather than “rowing”, role. The widespread use of privatization, deregulation, decentralization and third-party governments are often mentioned as concrete manifestations of the broad transformation which has led to new forms of governance. Examined more closely, however, the large and growing body of literature on governance has done little to clarify what is “new” about “new governance”. Does it indicate a clean break from institutions and processes of the past, or is it merely chronicling an assortment of instrument changes necessary for governments to adapt to changing socio-economic conditions? Do the changes really indicate the emergence of a new system in which the government is merely another player on a par with societal and international counterparts? More fundamentally, is governance a normative framework reflecting the hopes and desires of those who prefer smaller governments, or an empirical description ...
78 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualize political competences at the system level of capabilities to function as "legitimation capacity" in a policy context, and identify trust in the political, social, economic, and economic institutions.
34 citations
TL;DR: This article assesses India’s health policy reforms and argues that at each juncture the policy instruments it utilised were inconsistent with the goals it was trying to achieve and the health care sector required more intervention than the central and state governments offered.
Abstract: India’s first health policy document in 1946 envisaged an ambitious health system comprising delivery of public health programs by the national governments and primary and secondary care by the state governments. Nearly seven decades later, neither of the ambitions have been realised. The delivery of public health programs is limited and uncoordinated, whilst primary and especially secondary care is of poor quality and unaffordable to the bulk of the population. This article assesses India’s health policy reforms and argues that at each juncture the policy instruments it utilised were inconsistent with the goals it was trying to achieve. The health care sector required more intervention than the central and state governments offered. The meagre funds allocated to public health programs and the unwillingness and inability of state governments to shoulder responsibility for primary and secondary care led to the dominance of the private sector in delivery, out-of-pocket financing, and fee-for-service payment to providers. Recent reforms have made some progress in addressing the lacunae but are handicapped by the pervasive dominance of the private sector which severely limits the choice of policy tools available to the government.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the usefulness of different modes of governance for understanding policy outcomes by studying the experience with hierarchical and non-hierarchical governance modes in the health care sector in China, India, and Thailand.
Abstract: The objective of the paper is to assess the usefulness of conceptions of different modes of governance for understanding policy outcomes by studying the experience with hierarchical and non-hierarchical governance modes in the health care sector in China, India, and Thailand. The paper shows their experience with non-hierarchical modes to have been largely disappointing and that all three, but especially Thailand, are in the process of reverting to a more hierarchical mode of service delivery. The conclusion from this study is that non-hierarchical governance is not a substitute for or an improvement upon hierarchical governance in health care due to the many market and government failures that afflict the sector and affect the ability of different governance modes to function effectively. The hierarchical mode of government is also imperfect but less so than the alternatives in delivering health care.
14 citations
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The concept of governance is not a fashion, but a firmly established lens through which to analyse the complexity of contemporary policy-making, that is the way in which a society and its political processes are organized and steered as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Governance is not a fashion, but a firmly established lens through which to analyse the complexity of contemporary policy-making, that is the way in which a society and its political processes are organized and steered. Thus, governance needs to be seen as a general concept within political analysis that represents a necessary, heuristic tool with which to describe some of the complexity of political processes. Governance is not only a fashionable term, but one destined to remain with us for some time yet.
14 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: Capano et al. as mentioned in this paper re-thinks the notion of GOVERNANCE in public policy dynamics, strategy and Capacities in the context of cross-border capital flows.
Abstract: PART I: VARIETIES OF GOVERNANCE AS A CONCEPT AND EMPIRICAL REALITY 1 Re-Thinking Governance In Public Policy Dynamics, Strategy And Capacities Giliberto Capano, Michael Howlett And M Ramesh PART II: GOVERNANCE DYNAMICS 2 Governing Cross-Border Capital Flows: The Dynamics Of Capital Account Policies Manuela Moschella 3 Similar Regulatory Challenges But Contrasting Governance Modes? The Puzzle Of Governing Human Biotechnology Across Western Europe Isabel Engeli And Christine Allison Rothmayr 4 Environmental Policy And Governance: Bringing The State Back In (Again)? Anthony Zito PART III: GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES 5 Federal Strategies For Changing The Governance Of Higher Education: Australia, Canada And Germany Compared Giliberto Capano 6 Research Policy As 'Carrots And Sticks': Governance Strategies In Australia, The United Kingdom And New Zealand Jenny M Lewis 7 Changing Multi-Level Governance: The Re-Gained Centrality Of National Policymakers In Recasting Pensions In Central Eastern Europe David Natali PART IV: THE CAPACITIES OF GOVERNANCE MODES: EXPLAINING VARIATION IN MODES OF GOVERNANCE 8 Varieties Of Governmental Capacity And Autonomy: An Exploration Of Fukuyama's Hypothesis Eduardo Araral, Riccardo Pelizzo, Aziz Burkhanov, Yu-Wen Chen, Saltanat Janenova And Neil Collins 9 Governing Health Care In An Imperfect World: Hierarchy, Markets, And Networks In China And Thailand M Ramesh, Wu Xun And Michael Howlett 10 Governance Capacities In The European Union:Normative Goals And Empirical Evidence Eva G Heidbreder PART V: CONCLUSION: MOVING FORWARD IN STUDIES OF GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS 11 The Past And Future Of Governance Studies: From Governance To Meta-Governance? Jeremy Rayner
13 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that building health care governance, strengthening regulatory architecture, and stewardship over the system, in conjunction with increased public spending, are essential if the health care system is to provide affordable care to the entire population.
Abstract: This article evaluates the efforts underway in India to achieve universal health care coverage and the conditions that fostered its contemporary evolution. It finds that India's health system is characterized by private provision and financing, horizontal and vertical fragmentation, and weak governance arrangements. The article argues that these defining characteristics, which have solidified over time, account for poor health outcomes and make the system impervious to reforms as they deny the government levers to intervene and shape outcomes in the sector. While the government's recent efforts of increased public funding of national programmes have helped to reduce out of pocket spending, these are unlikely to work in the long run unless the government addresses the sources of the problems. The article argues that building health care governance, strengthening regulatory architecture, and stewardship over the system, in conjunction with increased public spending, are essential if the health care system is to provide affordable care to the entire population.
11 citations
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: However, it is entirely possible that network governance combines and indeed compounds the ill-effects of both governments and markets rather than improves upon them and this is a subject area requiring further empirical examination.
Abstract: “Anything but the government” has been a popular sentiment in public policy circles for at least two decades. Initially, the sentiment favoured transitions from governments to market-based governance regimes but the tilt has shifted towards transition from governments to network governance in recent years (for discussion of the key relevant concepts, see Lowndes and Skelcher 1998). Much discussion on the subject suggests that such shifts from hierarchical to non-hierarchical governance are both unavoidable and desirable for addressing contemporary complex multi-actor problems which more traditional government-based arrangements find difficult to “steer” (Weber et al. 2011; Lange et al. 2013). Many proponents, for example, claim “network governance” or “collaborative governance” combines the best of both government-and market-based arrangements by bringing together key public and private actors in a policy sector in a constructive and inexpensive way (Rhodes 1997). This claim is no more than an article of faith, however, as there is little evidence supporting it and a lot of evidence contradicting this thesis (see Kj-r 2004; van Kersbergen and van Waarden 2004; Adger and Jordan 2009; Howlett et al. 2009, Hysing 2009). It is entirely possible that network governance combines and indeed compounds the ill-effects of both governments and markets rather than improves upon them and this is a subject area requiring further empirical examination.