Bread-and-Butter Agreement and High Politics Disagreement Some Reflections on the Contextual Impact on Agricultural Interests in EC Policy-Making*

In public policy literature a classical argument is that the scope and content of decisions shape both the structure of the policy-making process and the configuration of actors involved. Recent studies have strongly emphasized that the patterns of segmentation and specialization found in national policy-making are also found in EC policy-making. Against this background, the present article discusses the conditions and impact of agricultural interests in EC policy-making in light of the economic crisis of recent years and the increasing budgetary problems faced by the EC. The article illustrates, especially with reference to the Danish case, the special importance of the national interest organization-government relationship for the strategies pursued by national agricultural interest organizations in influencing EC/CAP policy-making. Furthermore, the article indicates how policy-making concerning the CAP has become more complicated as a consequence of the general economic crisis and recent sharp fall in farmers' incomes. National governments are the central actors in the Community policy-making process, and their impulse to promote exclusive national interests in the Community policy-making process has increased. In addition, agriculture has been integrated in the overall Community ‘crisis’ policy, and this development has weakened the segmentation in relation to the CAP. However, because of the general problems of the EC, the national agricultural organizations of the various member states have a growing interest in emphasizing joint activities and mutual agreement with regard to fundamental agricultural issues on Community level. This may affect the role of COPA leaving it primarily as a coordinator and mediator among the various national agricultural organizations, because pressures are more likely to succeed at the national level than at the EC level. This is where ‘bread-and-butter’ agreement really counts in the future. The alternative is that COPA will lose its credibility in EC policy-making.     

Leadership in collaborative policy-making: An analysis of agency roles in regulatory negotiations

Regulatory negotiation is a process by which representatives of affected interests, along with the regulatory agency, attempt to negotiate a consensus agreement on the content of a regulation. This study represents an empirical effort to begin to identify and sort out the roles that an agency plays in a collaborative policy-making process such as regulatory negotiation. Three regulatory negotiation cases were examined to determine the perceived roles of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and other participants, and the study suggests a number of findings. First, that EPA fulfills a number of different roles (Expert, Analyst, Stakeholder, Facilitator and Leader) in a negotiation process; second, that EPA is expected to be an active participant in the negotiations, not simply an overseer or facilitator of interests; and finally, EPA interprets its primary role much more narrowly – as that of an expert – than do other participants. Non-agency participants view EPA's primary role as a leader, which combines technical and substantive components as well as process components. Where previously and in the theoretical literature, agencies exercise leadership through statutory authority or technical expertise, this study suggests that there are additional dimensions to that leadership role. In a collaborative process such as regulatory negotiation, the agency finds itself in a realm that demands that they effectively merge the roles of expert, analyst, and stakeholder into a more complex leadership role than has been suggested in the past.     

Neglected challenges to evidence-based policy-making: the problem of policy accumulation

Claims for evidence-based policy-making are motivated by the assumption that if practitioners and scholars want to learn about effective policy design, they also can. This paper argues that this is becoming more and more challenging with the conventional approaches due to the accumulation of national policy portfolios, characterized by (a) a growing number of different policy targets and instruments, that (b) are often interdependent and (c) reformed in an uncontrolled way. These factors undermine our ability to accurately relate outcome changes to individual components within the respective policy mix. Therefore, policy accumulation becomes an additional source of the well-known ‘attribution problem’ in evaluation research. We argue that policy accumulation poses fundamental challenges to existing approaches of evidence-based policy-making. Moreover, these challenges are very likely to create a trade-off between the need for increasing methodological sophistication on one side, and the decreasing political impact of more fine-grained and conditional findings of evaluation results on the other.     

Understanding the historical turn in the policy sciences: A critique of stochastic, narrative, path dependency and process-sequencing models of policy-making over time

This article evaluates four general models of historical change processes which have emerged in various fields in the social sciences – namely stochastic, historical narrative, path dependency and process sequencing – and their application to the study of public policy-making. The article sets out and assesses the merits and evidence for each, both in general social research and in the policy sciences. The article suggests that more work needs to be done examining the assumptions and presuppositions of each model before it can be concluded that any represents the general case in policy processes. However, since neither the irreversible linear reality assumed by narrative models, nor the random and chaotic world assumed by stochastic models, nor the contingent turning points and irreversible trajectories required of the path dependency model are found very often in policy-making, these models are likely to remain less significant than process-sequencing models in describing the overall general pattern of policy dynamics.     

Governing through Governance: Education Policy Control under New Labour

Central to the debates on governance is the extent to which this process erodes state power. This article looks at the control of education policy since 1997. Education has not been immune from the developing process of governance. Moreover, Labour government education policies have accelerated this process: there has been greater fragmentation of policy-making, with a proliferation of cross-sectoral and multi-level participation. However, in this case, central government has not only retained control over policy-making but has been able to achieve its policy goals more effectively. Two case studies: 'New Labour and the Local Education Authorities' and 'New Labour and the Funding of Education', demonstrate the advantages for the centre in voluntarily governing through governance.     

The Policy Cycle: Democratic Process or Rational Paradigm Revisited?

Discussion on policy-making and of effective policy-making mechanisms is once again emerging in the policy literature. Much of the debate in the past focused on whether the method applied in the physical sciences was appropriate for policy and policy-making. Current debate appears to be reverting to some form of rationalism in so far as good policy processes are seen to yield the most effective results. This article discusses what appears to be a revival of rationalism — the process-oriented policy cycle. The article argues that there is little doubt that effective policy-making requires good process but it is erroneous to suggest that the content of policy, particularly in the case of contentious decisions, is derived from the policy cycle itself. It is argued further that the policy cycle is not a substitute for the actual making of decisions but an administrative and bureaucratic mechanism for effectively setting in place a process once the difficult decisions have been made.     

公共政策研究的新进展

近年来,公共政策研究正变得越来越多样化,出现了大量方法和理论,也表现为这些研究分散在各种特定领域的政策中。国家概念是政策理论的中心,但要将国家理论应用于政策研究却不容易“。阶段”方法是政策研究中长期以来占主导地位的研究方法之一,但它只是一种初级方法。新制度主义方法将政策制定过程推向了一种重要的比较分析方式,为解释政策的异同提供了制度解释维度,但它太笼统,考虑范围过于宽泛。而新制度主义者经常选择特定政策领域或部门进行分析,这是一个重要进展,因为政策制定是在特定部门或领域中进行的,仅仅集中关注国家及其行政、立法、司法机构是不够的。政策网络方法体现了研究者对于政策制定中国家与社会组织之间更普遍、更早的兴趣,但它除了描述外并不能帮助我们在理论发展中走得更远。理性方法是一个很有用的方法,当然它不能把理性选择作为对决策的惟一解释。在合作模式中,国家及其各个层次不再被看作合作的惟一机制,它表明市场和网络作为合作的另一种机制或原则正越来越受到重视。而时下十分流行的治理理论并没有形成真正行之有效的手段和方法,它可能仅仅是一个时髦词汇。如果把治理的要点放在使国家、市民社会、市场、网络这些不同工具和机制的互相协作上,治理就会成为一个有创造性的和深刻的分析方法。     

Governance through civil society? An Anglo-Italian comparison of democratic renewal and local regeneration

Abstract

The UK has become a prime case for the implementation of the ‘new governance’ of partnership between central government and civil society. This perspective has become central to New Labour policies for both local socio-economic regeneration and democratic renewal in the United Kingdom. However, limitations in its redistribution of power, its transparency in the policy-making process, including the representativeness of civil society participants, and, in the effectiveness of its outcomes have all been alleged by academic critics. These issues are explored by contrasting a robust, British case of local, participatory governance in Bristol with a quite different, and more conventional approach to democratic renewal in the Italian city of Naples. Despite similar problems of socio-economic dereliction and similar schemes of regeneration in the two cases, the Italian approach emphasized the exclusive role of a renewed constitutional democracy, while in Bristol central government agencies promoted an accentuation of local trends to participation by local civil society organizations. Applying an analytical framework composed of national policies and regulations, institutional rules and norms, and the collective ‘identity’ factors identified by social capital theory, governance changes are here treated as ‘exogenous shocks’ and/or as opportunities for choice. However, over and above differences in these institutional frameworks the key factors are shown to be the longer-standing political cultures influencing local actors and their own repertoires of action; with repertoires influenced by objective validations of previous policy choices, or economic or electoral successes. The study finds that the achievements of the ‘inclusive’, participative governance approach do not significantly exceed those of an exclusivist, ‘neo-constitutionalism’, as practised by a more autonomous local government in Naples. Thus, on this evidence, enhanced civil society engagement still requires greater freedom from central government direction.     

Policy-making in a Restructured State: The Case of the 1991 Health Reform Policy in New Zealand

The pressure for efficiency and accountability that led to reform of public institutions worldwide has had implications for public policy-making as well as the management of public services. The difficulties of providing a coordinated and efficient policy process that can respond to the requirements of a more managerialist style of government were evident in New Zealand in the 1980s and early 1990s. The policy process in 1990–91 leading to the introduction of health reform proposals provides an illuminating case study of the tension between participation and speed, and between traditional pluralist and managerialist approaches to policy development. The implications of this for subsequent implementation are discussed.     

County Compliance with North Carolina's Solid-Waste Mandate: A Conflict-Based Model

This article presents the findings of research on the implementationof intergovernmental mandates. A framework is developed fromempirical and theoretical work in conflict management to assessthe response of government actors in the implementation of aspecific mandate—North Carolina's Solid Waste ManagementAct of 1989. Our expectation is that the imposition of a mandateby the state on local governments would produce conflict andcontention, especially if the mandate is not accompanied byfunding. However, this study indicates that state and localgovernments may be able to overcome a single-minded concernfor their own interests and take on a problem-solving attitudeduring the implementation process. In addition, evidence indicatesthat county governments that take a problem solving approachare more likely to achieve the intended policy outcomes, producingthe potential for win-win results for the state and its counties.     

Sanction Power, Jurisdiction, and Economic Policy-making: Explaining Contemporary Telecommunications Policy in Japan

Variation in policy-making is an important analytical issue in public policy analysis, but it has not been extensively discussed in the literature on Japanese politics and political economy. Focusing on the interaction between state and societal actors, this article presents a causal argument to account for variation in Japanese economic policy-making. It is argued that variation in policy-making patterns is determined by the strength of a bureaucracy's sanction power and the exclusivity of its jurisdiction. This argument is elaborated through analysis of four related cases of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) policy-making: the privatization process of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), the regulation of telecommunications after NTT privatization, the promotion of advanced telecommunications, and the reorganization of NTT. The causal framework is also applied to contemporary Ministry of International Trade and Industry economic policy-making to highlight the argument's preliminary applicability to Japanese policy-making. This analysis of Japanese policy-making lays a base for further analysis of variation in policy-making in general.     

Policy making in political memoirs — the case of the poll tax

As a contemporary means of political communication, those memoirs of participants that offer insights into the formulation of public policy are significant resources for researchers. This is even more so when a range of accounts can be examined together and their assertions tested against each other. The development, implementation and ultimate failure of the Poll Tax is a key element of recent British political history. While historians will eventually have access to the official record, and journalists provided daily coverage at the time, politicians' memoirs can be used by political scientists to describe and then evaluate the operation of the policy‐making process. The Poll Tax is a highly instructive example of the chaos that can result if any political system produces a policy which is under‐researched and not subjected to searching evaluation in parallel with its development. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Two hypotheses about the emergence of a post-national European model of citizenship

Citizenship is not just a status (defined by a set of rights and obligations), it is also an identity that expresses membership in a political community. It also has a substantive political dimension of active participation in the public sphere. Traditionally, collective identity and the membership dimensions of citizenship have been seen as intrinsic to the nation-state. The processes of globalization that have undermined the sovereignty of the nation-state make it necessary to reconceptualize citizenship in light of a ‘post-national’ framework. At the same time, however, the ‘culturalization’ of the social and the ‘multiculturalization’ of societies are putting into question the homogeneity of a collective identity. According to a recent hypothesis, a new post-national model of citizenship is emerging, one of European construction. In seeking to explore this position, the paper advances two additional hypotheses: (i) EU policy-making and governance are likely to foster a post-national European civil society with multi-level citizenship participation; and (ii) European anti-discrimination regulations are likely to accelerate the emergence of an alternative model to multiculturalism that can address differences within a universal framework of rights.     

There is no “point” in decision-making: a model of transactive rationality for public policy and administration

The hope that policy-making is a rational process lies at the heart of policy science and democratic practice. However, what constitutes rationality is not clear. In policy deliberations, scientific, democratic, moral, and ecological concerns are often at odds. Harold Lasswell, in instituting the contemporary policy sciences, found that John Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy provided an integrative foundation that took into account all these considerations. As the policy sciences developed with a predominantly empirical focus on discrete aspects of policy-making, this holistic perspective was lost for a while. Contemporary theorists are reclaiming pragmatist philosophy as a framework for public policy and administration. In this article, key postulates of pragmatist philosophy are transposed to policy science by developing a new theoretical model of transactive rationality. This model is developed in light of current policy analyses, and against the backdrop of three classical policy science theories of rationality: linear and bounded rationalism; incrementalism; and mixed-scanning. Transactive rationality is a “fourth approach” that, by integrating scientific, democratic, moral, and ecological considerations, serves as a more holistic, explanatory, and normative guide for public policy and democratic practice.     

The Pivot to Asia,Air-Sea Battle and contested commons in the Asia Pacific region

Abstract

The Pivot towards the Asia Pacific has been a key component of the grand strategy of the Obama administration. Militarily, the main challenge is represented by the Chinese capacity to erode the American ‘command of the commons’.

The United States have been developing a new operational concept, labelled ‘Air-Sea Battle’ (ASB) aimed at maintaining the capacity to project military power even if adversaries are able to deploy a sophisticated anti-access area denial strategy.

The implementation of ASB is likely induce Beijing to respond with a further acceleration of the process ofmodernisation of its armed forces.     

Who Gets What, When, and How? The Contested Conceptual and Disciplinary Nature of Governance and Policy-Making in the European Union

The present essay seeks to review state of the art literature in the field of European Union (EU) policy-making and governance. In studying the nature of governance in the contemporary Union disciplinary parsimony is of limited utility. Increasingly, disparate disciplines employ different models in order to describe, explain, and hopefully understand the nature of governance and policy-making in the EU. To arrive at 'one' model for studying the EU implies both disciplinary formalism and the fruition of an intellectual 'endgame'. Alternative 'views' of EU governance – in the form of disparate models – are presented and critiqued. The essay begins with an assessment of policy networks, garbage can models, advocacy coalitions and epistemic communities. It sets out the main components of each model; then goes on to critique each model, and finally, makes a considered conclusion on the utility of each model as a tool for understanding the EU's policy process.     

Path-Dependent Institutions and Strategic Veto Players: National Parliaments in the European Union

According to the prevailing concept of 'dual legitimacy', national parliaments constitute an important source of democratic legitimacy in the EU. Reinforced parliamentary scrutiny and control of the national representatives in the Council of Ministers seem to contribute to a more democratic Europe. However, if parliaments tie the hands of their governments when they negotiate at the European level, effectiveness of policy-making is jeopardised and national interests may be defeated. Realising this dilemma, members of national parliaments develop strategies to deal with conflicting requirements of national party politics and European policy-making. These strategies and their implications for democracy are influenced by the path-dependent institutional changes in national parliamentary systems. They therefore vary considerably between member states.     

The state of training in public policy management in Ghana

This paper discusses the relevance and state of training in public policy management in Ghana. The author argues that the lack of an institutional base for policy analysis is evident in the abdication and paralysis of policy-making, as well as the inability of the management development institutions to institutionalize training programmes in public policy management. Recognizing politicians and bureaucrats as complementary actors in the policy process, it is argued that organizing training programmes for them could contribute to improved policy-making. The content, methodology, duration, target group and impact of current training programmes in public policy management are analysed. Although the dearth of relevant local reading material on policy issue is identified as a problem in the teaching of public policy in Ghana, reference is made to some available publications on local public policy issues which could supplement Western-biased reading materials. Other problems discussed are the heterogeneous background of course participants and the non-involvement of faculty members in policy making. The paper concludes with recommendations on policy preview workshops; seminars for politicians and senior bureaucrats; development of policy analysts; and complementarity among the local management development institutions.     

Does Training Matter? Evidence from Performance Management Reforms

Training is much discussed but rarely studied in public management. Using multiple waves of survey data, the authors examine the effects of training on the implementation of performance management reforms in the U.S. federal government, asking whether those exposed to training are more likely to use performance data and strategic goals when making decisions. Training is positively associated with reform implementation, but there is little evidence that this association can be explained by the development of specific capacities to overcome performance management challenges. The findings offer two implications for the practice and study of training. The authors propose that training is likely to succeed if it is designed and funded to close specific capacity gaps needed for successful reform implementation. However, it is also necessary to better understand alternative causal mechanisms by which training facilitates reform implementation, such as explaining and justifying reforms.

Practitioner Points

• Training can facilitate the implementation of new policies by providing information about the policies, justifying why they are needed, and giving employees the capacity to put the new policies in place.
• Using training to build specific employee capacities is more complex, resource intensive, and rare than using training to provide information and justify reforms.
• Effective training in government requires not just more resources but also better understanding of the specific capacities needed and how to create them—research can help by identifying the most significant capacity gaps in policy implementation.

     

Crowdsourcing: a new tool for policy-making?

Crowdsourcing is rapidly evolving and applied in situations where ideas, labour, opinion or expertise of large groups of people is used. Crowdsourcing is now used in various policy-making initiatives; however, this use has usually focused on open collaboration platforms and specific stages of the policy process, such as agenda-setting and policy evaluations. Other forms of crowdsourcing have been neglected in policy-making, with a few exceptions. This article examines crowdsourcing as a tool for policy-making and explores the nuances of the technology and its use and implications for different stages of the policy process. The article addresses questions surrounding the role of crowdsourcing and whether it can be considered as a policy tool or as a technological enabler and investigates the current trends and future directions of crowdsourcing.