Policy Transfer and Policy Learning: A Study of the 1991 NewZealand Health Services Taskforce

Research into policy transfer and lesson drawing has been criticized asfew authors have convincingly shown how cross-national policy learning actually influences policy formation in a particular jurisdiction. This article addresses this gap by presenting a study of the development of the 1991 health policy in New Zealand. By studying the process of policy development, rather than just a policy document, it was possible to disaggregate different aspects of the policy and to identify sources and influences. This article finds that the 'conspiracy' model of policy formation does not fit this case as it presents an overly simplistic view, which allows little space for policy learning. This case illustrates the subtle and multifaceted influence of different jurisdictions, different institutions, and different individuals on a given policy.     

Resource Tangibility and the Evolution of a Publicly Funded Health and Human Services Network

This article is a longitudinal examination of a publicly funded network of health and human services organizations that provide services to mentally ill adults. Data were collected at two points in time from a single network in a large U.S. metropolitan area: when the network was completely reorganized, and again when it had matured, four years later. Analysis focuses on changes in the patterns of interaction within and across five resource‐based subnetworks. The authors argue that the structure of network relationships depends on the type of resources involved—whether tangible or intangible, the stage of network evolution, and whether macro‐ or micro‐level interactions are considered. Implications for theory and for network management, governance, and policy are discussed.     

Policy Development, Planning, and Resource Allocation in the Department of Defense

The U.S. Department of Defense develops policies, plans, and allocates resources using PPBS—the Planning, Programming, Budgeting System. The system is used to formulate both long-range policies and resource allocation plans. The scope of DoD's activities make this an enormous undertaking. It is also politically charged because of the role of Congress in determining the department's budget and activities. Therefore, complexity and plurality characterize these processes.     

Examining Policy Implementation in Health Care: Rule Abidance and Deviation in Emergency Medical Services

Passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has served to refocus attention on the complexity of health care delivery in the United States, with particular attention to concepts of quality, access, and outcomes. This article argues that our understanding of the ACA must be informed by an examination of policy implementation in health care, including the core public function of emergency medical services (EMS). Key concepts of implementation in frontline service—notably, rule abidance and deviation—are examined from the perspective of street‐level EMS workers. Results indicate that the intersection of rules, patient needs, and professional culture creates instances of both rule abidance and deviation, both of which contribute substantively to concepts of quality in a health care setting.     

Testing the Discourse of Declining Policy Capacity: Rail Policy and the Department of Transport

It has been observed that countries that implemented new public management (NPM) reforms are currently witnessing growing complaints about a decline in the policy capacity of their public services. Australia is a part of this trend with public sector leaders increasingly voicing concern about policy capacity decline within the Australian Public Service (APS). This article sets out to examine whether there is an empirical basis for this discourse and to assess allegations that NPM reforms have contributed to any related shifts. It draws on rail policy and the Department of Transport as its case study. It finds that the reforms transformed role of the department in a way that enhanced strategic policy capacity. However, the reforms also introduced a number of structural impediments that make it difficult for the new role to be effectively executed .     

A place at the table: Policy analysis,its postpositive critics,and future of practice

Postpositivist critics have brought a new stridency to the ongoing discourse about the nature, applications, and usefulness of policy analysis. Regrettably, their critique is based on a decontextualized caricature, virtually a parody, of policy analysis training and practice. Their assertions are chilling but false, ideological rather than analytical, and detached from the inconvenient realities of policy making and management. Far from being narrowly technocratic and scientistic, policy analysis is dedicated to improving the craft of governance. It is fueled by intuition, argument, and ethical promptings; clearly engaged with the world of political action; and often identified with interests and values otherwise unrepresented at the table. Q‐methodology and other approaches to values identification and analysis can be important contributors to policy analysis practice, but postpositivists have a very long way to go if they are to be relevant to the practical challenges of democratic governance that arise in the many roles that working policy analysts perform. © 1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Policy analysis,welfare economics,and the greenhouse effect

Welfare economics is evaluated as a framework for setting policy with respect to the greenhouse effect. It is found to be unpromising for three reasons: (1) The concept of discounting leads to the view that events in the further future have no value, (2) the baselines necessary to use welfare-economic decision rules cannot be established, and (3) no nonparadoxical answer can be given to the question: How should we value the welfare of future persons? As analysts begin the task of formulating policy with respect to the greenhouse effect they will need tools other than thoser provided by welfare economics.     

Parallel Systems and Human Resource Management in India's Public Health Services: A View from the Front Lines

There is building evidence in India that the delivery of health services suffers both from an actual shortfall in trained health professionals and from unsatisfactory results of existing service providers working in the public and private sectors. This study focuses on the public sector and examines de facto institutional and governance arrangements that may give rise to well‐documented provider behaviors such as absenteeism that can adversely affect service delivery processes and outcomes. We analyze four human resource management (HRM) subsystems: postings, transfers, promotions and disciplinary practices from the perspective of front‐line workers—physicians working in rural healthcare facilities operated by two state governments. We sampled physicians in one “post‐reform” state that has instituted HRM reforms and one “pre‐reform” state that has not. The findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative measurements. The results show that formal rules are undermined by a parallel modus operandi in which desirable posts are often determined by political connections and side payments. The evidence suggests an institutional environment in which formal rules of accountability are trumped by a parallel set of accountabilities. These systems appear so entrenched that reforms have borne no significant effect. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional Council Program Priorities for the 1990s: Two Emerging Program Clusters, Leading to a Policy Question About Human Services

This research demonstrates that regional councils across the nation are developing a clearer program focus for the 1990s. Two clusters of program priorities are emerging for the future: (1) a transportation planning and environmental preservation cluster and (2) an economic and human resources development cluster. Regional growth is useful as a predictor of the future priorities council executive directors expect to place on these clusters. It is positively associated with future priorities for transportation planning and environmental preservation programs, and negatively associated with future priorities for economic and human resources development programs. However, human services programs do not fall in either program cluster. They receive the lowest future priorities of any major subgroup of programs, leading to a policy question about the role of regional councils in human services delivery in the 1990s and beyond.     

Healthy Country, Healthy People: Policy Implications of Links between Indigenous Human Health and Environmental Condition in Tropical Australia

Investment in programs that help Indigenous people undertake work maintaining the environmental health of their country has benefits for the environment as well as the physical, mental and cultural health of the Indigenous people involved. For health these findings have direct implications for some national health policies, service provision to homelands, health promotion and Indigenous health research. There are also direct implications for environmental investment in northern Australia and the design and regulation of markets in resource entitlements. Indirectly the findings should be important for economic, employment and education policies as well as those promoting social harmony. Given the range of benefits there is a strong argument for cross-agency investment in working on country by Indigenous people.     

Knowledge Sharing in a Third‐Party‐Governed Health and Human Services Network

The rapid growth of knowledge in disease diagnosis and treatment requires health service provider organizations to continuously learn and update their practices. However, little is known about knowledge sharing in service implementation networks governed by a network administrative organization (NAO). The author suggests that strong ties enhance knowledge sharing and that there is a contingent effect of third‐party ties. Two provider agencies’ common ties with the NAO may undermine knowledge sharing because of resource competition. In contrast, a dyad's common ties with a peer agency may boost knowledge sharing as a result of social cohesion. Finally, the author posits that third‐party ties moderate the relationship between strong ties and knowledge sharing. These hypotheses are examined in a mental health network. Quantitative network analysis confirms the strong tie and third‐party tie hypotheses and provides partial support for the moderating effect of third‐party ties. The implications for public management, including the implementation of HealthCare.gov , are discussed.     

Symposium: Policy analysis for congress. Policy analysis for congress: Lengthening the time horizon

Policy analysis for the Congress is a timely subject. Several policy initiatives have emerged recently from the “first branch.” Others have demonstrated an independent capacity for analysis that is impressive by historical standards. This article introduces a practitioner symposium of three related works on policy analysis for Congress, with appropriate commentary by a distinguished veteran. It argues that because timing is crucial in the congressional policy process, anticipation and advance preparation are central to the effective use of analysis. The other articles illustrate the stages of advance preparation—of the policy analyst, the congressional environment, and the Member for voting—in the form of case studies.