Showing papers in "Policy Studies in 2014"
TL;DR: The Troubled Families Programme as mentioned in this paper aims to turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in England by 2015 by characterising families as those who "have" problems and causing problems to those around them.
Abstract: This article outlines and critiques a key area of contemporary social policy in England: the Troubled Families Programme, launched in 2011. This is a national programme which aims to ‘turn around’ the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in England by 2015. Troubled families are characterised as those who ‘have’ problems and ‘cause’ problems to those around them. Troubled Families can be viewed as a ‘wicked problem’ in the sense that the issues surrounding these families tend to be reconceptualised regularly and re-solved differently, depending on changes in government. The article critically reviews the evidence base for the overall approach of the programme and the way the scale and nature of the issue is understood. It debates whether this is a case of evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence. Early indications are that behavioural change is likely to be achieved in some families (increased school attendance, reductions in anti-social behaviour and crime), but that addressing worklessness ...
54 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply Kingdon's "multiple streams" heuristic to a case study examining the emergence of methamphetamine (an illicit, synthetic psychostimulant drug) as a policy issue in Australia from the late 1990s to the late 2000s.
Abstract: Drug policy is a complex and controversial policy domain and traditional models of the policy process which present policy making as a process of authoritative problem solving by governments deny the complexity of the policy process in the real-world. An alternative perspective is to engage with the idea of policy-making as an ongoing process of managing the problematic, with multiple participants and competing perspectives. Kingdon's ‘multiple streams’ is a heuristic for understanding policy-making in this way. This article critically considers to what extent Kingdon's heuristic is a useful tool for drug policy analysis, in so far as it may offer an approach to better understanding the complexity of the drug policy process, which extends beyond authoritative problem solving. We apply Kingdon's ‘multiple streams’ to a case study examining the emergence of methamphetamine (an illicit, synthetic psychostimulant drug) as a policy issue in Australia from the late-1990s to the late-2000s. We find strengths in ...
46 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a framework of 10 questions to guide both the development and evaluation of composite indicators or indexes of governance and their use in research and policy-making, arguing that less attention should be paid to other issues more commonly highlighted in the literature on governance measurement, that is, descriptive complexity, theoretical fit, the precision of estimates, and "correct weighting".
Abstract: Recent years have seen a proliferation of composite indicators or indexes of governance and their use in research and policy-making. This article proposes a framework of 10 questions to guide both the development and evaluation of such indexes. In reviewing these 10 questions – only six of which, it argues, are critical – the paper advances two broad arguments: First, more attention should be paid to the fundamentals of social science methodology, that is, concept formation, content validity, reliability, replicability, robustness, and the relevance of particular measures to underlying research questions. Second, less attention should be paid to other issues more commonly highlighted in the literature on governance measurement, that is, descriptive complexity, theoretical fit, the precision of estimates, and ‘correct’ weighting. The paper builds on review of the literature and on three years of research in practice in developing a well-known governance index.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of the Swedish climate change policy process from 1975 to 2007, based on interviews and an extensive review of official publications and documents, explores how policy-makers are managing scientific uncertainty in policy-making.
Abstract: This article explores how policy-makers are managing scientific uncertainty in policy-making. This is done through a case study of the Swedish climate change policy process from 1975 to 2007, based on interviews and an extensive review of official publications and documents. The study shows that scientific uncertainty played a very marginal role in the development of Swedish climate politics. When faced with scientific uncertainty, policy-makers came to rely more on knowledge of what was politically possible to do, than on what was desirable from a scientific perspective. Thereby, policy-making became incremental in character. The article argues that in order to understand the dynamics involved, we need to pay attention to how scientific knowledge and uncertainty are translated from a scientific context into a political one. These framings, done by knowledge brokers, are crucial for the use of scientific knowledge in politics. Scientific uncertainty negatively impacts scientists' willingness to act as kno...
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the relevance of networks and linkages between academics and public servants in Australian federal and state departments to investigate their experiences around the availability and use of academic social research.
Abstract: Evidence-based policy has become rhetoric for many western governments across a broad range of health and social policy areas. However, the transfer and uptake of academic research in policy contexts has often been problematic. Academics frequently argue that policy makers ignore the research they produce, while policy makers argue that academic research is seldom relevant to their needs. Research relationships and collaborations have long been regarded as key strategies to create pathways for research into policy contexts. They are also understood to better support the application of research in understanding policy issues, and in designing and implementing policy initiatives. This paper reports on findings from a large scale project, which targeted public servants undertaking policy work in Australian federal and state departments to investigate their experiences around the availability and use of academic social research. The paper explores the relevance of networks and linkages between academics and p...
39 citations
TL;DR: In this article, public relations theory is used to develop four modes of translation in the transfer of policy, and the modes are utilized as a means of illustrating how two-way communication between both borrowers and lenders, and borrowers and policy stakeholders is most likely to increase the chances of policy success.
Abstract: In recent years, translation has begun to be employed in multidisciplinary policy studies as a more constructivist alternative to the established policy transfer literature. While both transfer and translation acknowledge the complex nature of communication in the adaptation of policies to new contexts, they are yet to investigate the impact of communication types on the modification of policies. This study draws upon public relations theory in order to develop four modes of translation in the transfer of policy. The modes are utilized as a means of illustrating how two-way communication between both borrowers and lenders, and borrowers and policy stakeholders is most likely to increase the chances of policy success. The practicality of the theoretical model is illustrated through examples of congestion charge translation in Stockholm and Greater Manchester.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the impact of the Bologna Process on the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] and (parts of) Africa.
Abstract: The Bologna Process (BP) presents the largest ongoing reform initiative in higher education (HE). Although it has triggered large-scale changes in HE structures in Europe, comparative analysis about its impact on other regions of the world is scarce. Using transnational communication and sociological institutionalism as a theoretical framework, this article investigates the impact of the BP on the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] and (parts of) Africa. Our results demonstrate that not only the policies promoted in the realm of the BP, especially in the field of study structures, have been copied by non-European HE institutions, but also its governance modes for managing transnational HE reform initiatives. Thus, the BP can be regarded as a template for transnational HE harmonization processes in the absence of legal obligation.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors determine whether the proximity to elections impacts on the financial health of local governments and find that the use of public resources with the opportunistic aim of being re-elected damages the local solvency, the capacity to provide public services, and the capacity of preserving social welfare.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to determine whether the proximity to elections impacts on the financial health of local governments. This constitutes an original approach to understand the importance of monitoring politicians' actions, especially when elections are coming. Using a sample of 153 Spanish local governments for the period 1988–2008, we find the existence of an electoral cycle, since electoral proximity damages the financial health of local governments. Concretely, the use of public resources with the opportunistic aim of being re-elected damages the local solvency, the capacity to provide public services, and the capacity of preserving social welfare, since municipalities becoming more dependent on resources from other levels of government. Furthermore, we find a partisan cycle too, since municipalities governed by left-wing parties are usually under worse financial health than other municipalities because they lose capacity to adapt to economic and financial changes.
33 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose an alternative conceptual framework that could help policy studies to better capture the complexity and multifaceted character of contemporary policy processes by combining science and technology studies with critical policy studies.
Abstract: This paper looks to propose an alternative conceptual framework that could help policy studies to better capture the complexity and multifaceted character of contemporary policy processes. Mixing science and technology studies with critical policy studies, it sees policies as assemblages formed by an ample array of heterogeneous elements, from technical standards to everyday practices. Three major configurations of policy assemblages are explored: problematization (when an issue is turned into a matter of policy), infrastructuration (when a new infrastructure is organized trying to transform the issue at hand), and regime (when the infrastructure is put to work). In order to explore the empirical applicability of this conceptualization, the second half of the paper analyses one particular case: the introduction of ramps for wheelchair access in public transport buses in the city of Santiago, Chile. This case study will show how policies are never the pure application of rational guidelines or the result o...
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on two such western European countries which demonstrate highly similar educational traditions, institutions and guiding principles, namely Sweden and France, focusing on secondary education governance in both countries.
Abstract: Why do western welfare states differ so starkly when it comes to educational governance and, in particular, the degree of (de-)centralization? This article focuses on two such western European countries which demonstrate highly similar educational traditions, institutions and guiding principles – France and Sweden. The Swedish education system has evolved into one of the most decentralized in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), while France has preserved the main components of its centralized education system amid a broader international trend towards decentralization. Looking at secondary education governance in both countries, the author theorizes different forms of ‘educational corporatism’ and the resulting patterns of interactions of teacher unions as key educational actors. Characterized by ‘competitive corporatism’ within the centralized bureaucracy, the French education policy framework has enabled teachers unions to capture the policy-making apparatus and exploit th...
27 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that, even allowing for benevolent policy-makers, informational asymmetries can lead to a misallocation of public support for R&D, hence government policy failure, with the potential to exacerbate preexisting market failures.
Abstract: Promoting Research and Development (R&D) and innovative activity is a key element of the EU Lisbon Agenda and is seen as playing a central part in stimulating economic development. In this paper we argue that, even allowing for benevolent policy-makers, informational asymmetries can lead to a misallocation of public support for R&D, hence government policy failure, with the potential to exacerbate preexisting market failures. Initially, we explore alternative allocation mechanisms for public support, which can help to minimize the scale of these government policy failures. Of these mechanisms (grants, tax credits, or allocation rules based on past performance), our results suggest that none is universally most efficient. Rather, the effectiveness of each allocation rule depends on the severity of financial constraints and on the level of innovative capabilities of the firms themselves.
TL;DR: The authors examines the relationship between public sector social marketing and the political agenda of "libertarian paternalism" and argues that careful attention needs to be paid to the strategic governance issues raised by the use of social marketing tools in public policy, with a particular focus on the ethics of behavioral segmentation, context shaping and choice.
Abstract: Social marketing is an increasingly popular method by which governments and public bodies deploy marketing principles and techniques in order to achieve ‘social goods’. This paper examines the close relationship between public sector social marketing, a policy mantra focused on ‘behaviour change’ and the political agenda of ‘libertarian paternalism’. Drawing on interview data with policy strategists, think tank professionals, social marketing advisors and civil servants, the paper argues that careful attention needs to be paid to the strategic governance issues raised by the use of social marketing tools in public policy, with a particular focus on the ethics of behavioural segmentation, context shaping and choice. We argue that there are serious ethical consequences to a public policy culture, which has become preoccupied with cultivating the arts of choosing within a methodological and theoretical framework dominated by the language, tools and techniques of behaviourism, marketisation and consumerism.
TL;DR: A critical evaluation of recent active labour market policy (ALMP) initiatives in the UK can be found in this article, focusing on the coalition government's Work Programme and its immediate antecedents.
Abstract: This article offers a critical evaluation of recent ‘active labour market policy’ (ALMP) initiatives in the UK, focusing on the coalition government's Work Programme and its immediate antecedents ALMP exemplifies a supply-side employment strategy, reorienting the state away from supporting labour demand and towards promoting the ‘employability’ of individuals within existing labour market structures The article locates the rationale for this policy agenda within the wider politics of economic growth Belying its status as a pioneer of ALMP, the UK spends very little on supply-side labour market interventions relative to other European countries This can be explained with reference to the type of ALMP interventions prioritised in the UK, which in turn is explained by the growth model that ALMP is designed to sustain The UK's growth model requires an abundance of low-paid jobs in the labour-intense and volatile services sector Ostensibly, ALMP fulfils this requirement by ensuring that individuals are i
TL;DR: In this paper, a multinomial logit model of 1334 cases of business advice to small firms collected in England was used to evaluate whether changes to delivery mechanisms affect the type of advice received.
Abstract: Improving the performance of private sector small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in a cost effective manner is a major concern for government. Governments have saved costs by moving information online rather than through more expensive face-to-face exchanges between advisers and clients. Building on previous work that distinguished between types of advice, this article evaluates whether these changes to delivery mechanisms affect the type of advice received. Using a multinomial logit model of 1334 cases of business advice to small firms collected in England, the study found that advice to improve capabilities was taken by smaller firms who were less likely to have limited liability or undertake business planning. SMEs sought word-of-mouth referrals before taking internal, capability-enhancing advice. This is also the case when that advice was part of a wider package of assistance involving both internal and external aspects. Only when firms took advice that used extant capabilities did they rely on t...
TL;DR: This paper found that both agency effects and structural opportunities of policy adoption in the case of Tokyo's cap-and-trade are too specific to result in a more coherent diffusion of ideas, policies, and practices in other urban areas.
Abstract: The process of adopting policy ideas is extremely complex and requires a close examination of the political context in which the idea is learned, articulated, contested, adapted, and accepted by agents, both individual and collective. Why and how was the world's first urban scheme of mandatory reduction of total emissions adopted in Tokyo and not elsewhere? What might cause diffusion of this idea in other urban areas? One key explanation behind the idea adoption is a policy evolution of trial-and-error lessons about effective policy design, desirable policy goals, and politically feasible judgments. This study finds that both agency effects and structural opportunities of policy adoption in the case of Tokyo's cap-and-trade are too specific to result in a more coherent diffusion of ideas, policies, and practices in other urban areas. Although there is a sign of diffusion of Tokyo's cap-and-trade throughout Japan, it is more likely to derive from mimicking behaviors than from learning. The policy transfer ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the observation that there has not only been an intensive exchange between these two countries in their family policy reform processes, additionally, there has been a growing interest in "learning from abroad" in general, with the Nordic countries often serving as examples.
Abstract: Family policies have recently been raised high on the political agendas for action in many welfare states and have constituted a major reform area. This is especially the case in Germany and in Austria, where the literature has identified surprisingly far-reaching reforms, particularly in the fields of parental leave and childcare services. This article addresses the observation that there has not only been an intensive exchange between these two countries in their family policy reform processes, additionally, there has been a growing interest in ‘learning from abroad’ in general, with the Nordic countries often serving as examples. Partly, this is connected to an increased activity of the European Union in the field, particularly through soft law methods like the open method of coordination (OMC). This article asks to what extent family policy reforms in Germany and Austria were influenced by vertical and horizontal policy transfers. Presenting findings from comparative case studies of reforms in parenta...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors delineate an emerging model of Russia's PPP policy paradigm, whose structure includes the shared understanding of the need for long-term collaboration between the public sector and business, a changing set of government responsibilities that imply an increasing private provision of public services, and new institutional capacities.
Abstract: Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are new in Russia and represent project implementation in progress. The government is actively pursuing PPP deployment in sectors such as transportation and urban infrastructure, and at all levels including federal, regional and especially local. Despite the lack of pertinent laws and regulations, the PPP public policy quickly transforms into a policy paradigm that provides simplified concepts and solutions and intensifies partnership development. The article delineates an emerging model of Russia's PPP policy paradigm, whose structure includes the shared understanding of the need for long-term collaboration between the public sector and business, a changing set of government responsibilities that imply an increasing private provision of public services, and new institutional capacities. This article critically appraises the principal dynamics that contribute to an emerging PPP policy paradigm, namely the broad government treatment of the meaning of a partnership and of ...
TL;DR: In this article, a participatory cluster policy evaluation experience was designed to integrate fundamental and ongoing concern with context and how it interacts with the policy, finding that participatory evaluation itself can directly support the aims of the policy (cluster cooperation) and contribute to policy learning.
Abstract: Insufficient attention is often given to the underlying context in which policies that seek to facilitate cooperation between firms are implemented, inhibiting their expected outcomes. This article analyses the processes involved in a participatory cluster policy evaluation experience that was designed to integrate fundamental and ongoing concern with context and how it interacts with the policy. The premise of the argument is that participatory evaluation itself can directly support the aims of the policy (cluster cooperation) and contribute to policy learning. Nevertheless, we find that success is not guaranteed; several obstacles have to be overcome to obtain learning outcomes that strengthen policy-making. While the contribution is primarily methodological, the article also contributes to conceptual debates on the significance of cluster context in policy design, implementation and evaluation. The participatory evaluation process explored in the article, alongside the findings around key practical con...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the structure of the SME sector through the pre- and post-crisis period, highlighting the central contribution of SMEs to employment and job creation, with an emphasis on the role of indigenous, non-exporting firms.
Abstract: The small and medium enterprise (SME) segment is regarded as an important contributor to sustainable economic and employment recovery due to their largely indigenous, employment-intensive nature. The recent economic, financial and employment crisis has been particularly sharply felt in this segment of the Irish economy. Taking a wide range of indicators from firm production and bank lending data, this article examines the structure of the SME sector through the pre- and post-crisis period. This highlights the central contribution of SMEs to employment and job creation, with an emphasis on the role of indigenous, non-exporting firms. Descriptive evidence on the misallocation of credit in the run-up to the 2008 crisis, along with a reallocation of lending away from those sectors with highest pre-2008 credit accumulation is also presented.
TL;DR: The authors examined the case for industrial policy using bilateral trade patterns over a 12-year period to measure changes in British industrial competitiveness and found that Germany strengthened its leading position as an industrial European power whereas UK is slowly falling behind because it lacks an active industrial policy.
Abstract: Although industrial policy is promoted as a means of achieving and preserving international competitiveness, the patterns of trade between countries are often ignored in both justifying industrial policies and measuring their impact. This paper examines the case for industrial policy using bilateral trade patterns over a 12-year period to measure changes in British industrial competitiveness. As Germany is widely portrayed as a model of industrial competitiveness, the research addresses the common view that Germany strengthened its leading position as an industrial European power, whereas UK is slowly falling behind because it lacks an active industrial policy. By studying competitiveness using various metrics related to export data, a more subtle and nuanced picture arises of what has happened to the UK vis-a-vis Germany with implications for policy-making. We analyse changes in the structural composition of British and German manufactured exports based on specific trade indices, including the revealed c...
TL;DR: This paper propose a typology that captures how the different intellectual perspectives in this debate see the role of politicians, identifying six in particular: procedural, legitimacy, values, authority, persuasion and dissimulation.
Abstract: In response to growing popular dissatisfaction with politics and politicians there has been a marked increase in academic work about anti-politics and depoliticization with numerous scholars seeking to defend politics by restating why it matters. However, these efforts have largely glossed over the related question of why politicians also matter. To fill this gap I propose a typology that captures how the different intellectual perspectives in this debate see the role of politicians – identifying six in particular: procedural, legitimacy, values, authority, persuasion and dissimulation. In doing so I review each contribution and highlight synergies and disagreements between them that in-turn reveal important insights and new lines of inquiry.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a study of the European Parliament's modus operandi and found that there are considerable variations between them and that some Intergroups are targeted by interest groups to such an extent that a fusion nearly happens, whereas others do not receive any attention at all.
Abstract: Intergroups are key components in the European Parliament's modus operandi, allowing members from different political groups to focus on specific political topics. Hitherto, the defining characteristics of Intergroups have not received much attention in academic literature. This article remedies this lack by conducting a study of Intergroups coached by network theory. It is shown that there are considerable variations between them. Though it is only parliamentarians who can be formal members, Intergroups may comprise a variety of different actors, and interaction is characterised by interests, non-hierarchical negotiations, easy communication lines and trust. Some Intergroups are targeted by interest groups to such an extent that a fusion nearly happens, whereas others do not receive any attention at all. Intergroups can have considerable impact by moulding ideas for new ‘wise’ policies. Finally, the analysis compares the function of Intergroups to that of the US Congress Caucuses and demonstrates that In...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the challenges and risks that such an approach to formulating public policy poses and conclude that the privatizing of far-reaching policies should be done with caution and within parameters outlined by law in order to prevent the potential damage that such privatization efforts might have on democratic governments.
Abstract: Since the 1970s, the literature on privatization has tried to find the right balance between the public interest and the neoliberal spirit of modern economies. This article examines the implications of one such process – the privatizing of policy formation. Using examples from Israel, we maintain that allowing private interests to formulate public policy is unique among other types of privatization strategies. We seek to identify the challenges and risks that such an approach to formulating public policy poses. We conclude that the privatizing of far-reaching policies should be done with caution and within parameters outlined by law in order to prevent the potential damage that such privatization efforts might have on democratic governments.
TL;DR: The Midwifery Act of 1991 as mentioned in this paper was arguably the most progressive legislation in the world, establishing midwives as a self-regulating profession, fully integrated into the province's public health insurance system.
Abstract: The social construction of target populations (SCTP) approach assumes that policies are constructed to benefit (or punish) specific groups of citizens based on their relative power and social construction. This contribution tackles one of the most sustained critiques of the SCTP literature, namely, how a group can alter its social construction and power. Stated differently, how does a group move from being constructed as dependent or deviant to contenders or advantaged? In 1991, the government in Ontario, Canada, proclaimed what is arguably the most progressive midwifery legislation in the world. The Midwifery Act established midwifery as a self-regulating profession, fully integrated into the province's public health insurance system, and enables midwives to catch babies in hospitals, homes and birthing centres. What is striking about the legislation is the contentious debate preceding it, in which midwives were constructed as ‘quacks’, incompetent and unclean, compared to professional physicians. In thi...
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-trait-multi-method (MTMM) model was proposed to determine the validity of subjective performance measures and generate estimates of the potential biases in both method (e.g. respondent type) and trait (e) of these subjective performance measure.
Abstract: Organisational performance is notoriously difficult to measure in the public sector. More often than not, objective performance measures are difficult to construct. Subjective performance is a popular alternative to, as well as, complement of objective performance measures. However, such subjective perception measures are likely to be biased. The bias tends to depend upon the specific stakeholder's position vis-a-vis the focal organisation. We show how a multi-trait–multi-method (MTMM) model cannot only determine the validity of performance measures, but is also valuable in generating estimates the potential biases in both method (e.g. respondent type) and trait (e.g. performance measure) of these subjective performance measures. To demonstrate the benefits of this methodology in public management, we apply this method to the subjective performance of Police Forces in 26 European countries. Our policing example demonstrates that single-handedly the available subjective performance measures are not reliabl...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare three policy implementation processes in which knowledge played an authoritative role and draw some conclusions regarding the conditions under which knowledge becomes authoritative in policy implementation practices, and they conclude that knowledge is being wasted or used strategically.
Abstract: Policy scientists and public policymakers are continuously struggling with the troublesome relationship between knowledge and policy. On the one hand, policy and policy processes are generally recognized as having a political nature because they prioritize the generation of will rather than knowledge. On the other hand, it is difficult to accept that knowledge is being wasted or used strategically. One of the main challenges for public policymakers is to reconcile the political rationality of policy processes with the scientific rationality of knowledge and research, for instance by intelligent organization of knowledge generation and knowledge use. This article aims to contribute to the debate on this topic by comparing three policy implementation processes in which knowledge played an authoritative role. On the basis of this analysis of these three ‘white ravens,’ lessons are drawn regarding the conditions under which knowledge becomes authoritative in policy implementation practices.
TL;DR: Using a case study on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding hazardous waste disposal and the Superfund, the current study contends that the EPA's collaborative efforts to resolve interest conflict expansion have led to legislative standstill.
Abstract: In spite of growing environmental problems in the USA, an environmental legislative standstill has been prevalent in US politics for about 20 years. Several studies on lawmaking have argued that this legislative standstill has been caused by conflicts among elected officials, such as legislators and the president (institutional gridlock). This paper suggests a different view on the environmental legislative standstill in terms of bureaucratic politics. Using a case study on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding hazardous waste disposal and the Superfund, the current study contends that the EPA's collaborative efforts to resolve interest conflict expansion have led to legislative standstill.
TL;DR: In this article, an adjusted theoretical framework of convergence mechanisms and a brief systemized overview of local factors are proposed to analyze and explain to what extent international factors influenced the development process of new fiscal instruments in practice in CEE countries with the example of the establishment of the environmental taxes and charges system in Estonia.
Abstract: It is often claimed that the development of new policy areas (e.g. environmental policy, innovation policy) in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries was initiated and influenced by international events and organizations (e.g. the European Union, International Monetary Fund, and United Nations) in the 1990s when these countries became independent and opened up to the Western world. This article seeks to clarify the importance and role of exogenous and endogenous explanatory factors in the adoption and development of new policy instruments (NPIs). This article proposes an adjusted theoretical framework of convergence mechanisms and a brief systemized overview of local factors to analyze and explain to what extent international factors influenced the development process of new fiscal instruments in practice in CEE countries with the example of the establishment of the environmental taxes and charges system in Estonia. Based on qualitative interviews with Estonian environmental policy experts as well a...
TL;DR: This paper examined three levels of policies, programs, and philosophies in the policy discourse around the formation of the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), using discursive institutionalism.
Abstract: This article examines three levels – policies, programs, and philosophies – and two types – cognitive and normative – of ideas in the policy discourse around the formation of the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), using discursive institutionalism. This study of ideas helped explain this important global policy change and identify causal factors behind it. Underlying the policy ideas for the PBC and several antecedents, failed peacebuilding proposals were programmatic ideas about what peacebuilding was, whether it was relief, development, or security, and whether it should include prevention. A major questioning of ideas at the philosophical level, sparked by the 9/11 attacks and the 2002–2003 Iraq crisis, created the conditions under which the PBC policy idea could be brought forward. Tracing normative as well as cognitive ideas also helped explain policy change, by identifying policy actors’ motivations behind the policy proposals. Normative ideas were about what was wrong in post-confl...
TL;DR: The authors conducted a focus-group study in London to find out what people think of financial capability and do not think they are turned into financial subjects, but some of their views overlap with a weaker version of financialisation, particularly on home ownership.
Abstract: Financial capability is a controversial area of public policy. Critics allege that it is part of a ‘financialisation’ agenda to turn people from citizens into subjects while supporters say that financial capability is important to lead an independent life. But what do people think of financial capability? This matters because public support is important for the success of financial capability policies. This paper reports evidence of public attitudes from a focus-group study in London which asked two questions. What do people think of financial capability? Do people think policy should target financial institutions rather than individuals? The results show that people support financial capability and do not think they are turned into financial subjects. However, some of their views overlap with a weaker version of financialisation, particularly on home ownership. Participants also suggest that the priority now is to target institutions rather than individuals.