The Social Psychology of Policy Analysis

This article illustrates how some of the core concepts of social psychology can increase understanding of the practice of policy analysis. Policy analysis is shown to be a form of rhetoric subject to social psychological principles of attitude change. The article argues that policy analysts are primarily concerned with changing policymakers' beliefs about the consequences of alternative policies, but that preferences for alternative policies are largely the result of values. Values are formed and modified primarily by social comparison processes, conformity pressures, and the dynamics of group decision making rather than by rational argument. As a result, policy analysts could become more effective by addressing issues of values in their analyses or by mediating the social processes that might interfere with good policy choices.     

Policy analysis as discourse

The field of policy analysis encompasses a greater diversity of practices than is commonly appreciated. Many recent revisions agree with the postmodern dictum that analytic studies are socially constructed and propose some form of discourse for formulating policy. This article compares three theoretical perspectives on discourse: analytic discourse, which draws on multiple theories and data sources; critical discourse, which emphasizes critical reflection and links evidence to value discussions; and persuasive discourse, which focuses on the role of ideas and persuasion by policy entrepreneurs. Analytic discourse has had the most impact on the practice of analysis, but the other two literatures have had some influence and address important issues. Critical discourse is sensitive to the structural biases in policy research, and persuasive discourse links the practice of analysis to opportunities in the policy arena. The author seeks to make us more conscious of alternative theories, while emphasizing the role of discourse in all three models and the linkages between policy design and the policy process.     

政府口号中的创新发展

提出和运用口号是中国国情的一个特色,通过这一角度观察认为,政府口号在改革开放期间,基本上有四种主要的经历方式,整体表现出了一定的规律性与特色,即以口号之小见国家之大,是政府口号的规律性;以口号实质内容的创新促国家健康的大发展,是其显著的特色。结论表明,国家的大发展主要动力来源于深刻的思想理论体系的不断创新发展。     

As Good as Policy Gets

In June 2014, the think tank IPPR published a report, The Condition of Britain, widely seen as important source material for Labour as the party geared up for the 2015 General Election. This is an echo of another report—that of the Commission on Social Justice, published in 1994—which also made an important contribution to the thinking of Labour in opposition. A comparison between the two documents provides insights into the evolution of mainstream progressive thought over the past twenty years.     

Policy termination as a political process

The problem of how to terminate ineffective or outdated public policies, programs, or organizations is increasingly important. This paper argues that it is helpful to conceive of termination as a special case of the policy adoption process: there is a struggle to adopt a policy A, the substance of which is to eliminate or curtail policy B. The main distinguishing feature of this class of policy contests is the activity of vested interests who are able to advance a peculiarly powerful moral claim concerning the inequity or unfairness of change.     

Policy analysis as a hermeneutic activity

Any piece of policy analysis must be appropriate to the context of its intended use. Social science often fails as policy analysis due to insensitivity to context. This paper explores a number of different modes of policy analysis to determine the circumstances in which the application of each is appropriate. It is argued that each mode is appropriate only under a fairly limited set of conditions; many of the problems policy analysis encounters are a result of attempts to apply a mode outside its niche. Greater use should be made of what is developed here as a hermeneutic model of policy analysis, appropriate in a residual set of conditions which none of the traditional models of policy analysis copes with adequately.     

Environmental Policy as a Political Problem

The politics of the environment may not be unique, but they present some distinctive characteristics. In undertaking policy analyses and administrative strategies an appreciation of concepts, assumptions and circumstances, and underlying environmental policy issues is needed. To ignore these fundamentals is to risk superficiality in analysis, and error in findings and conclusions. Yet getting down to basics is often rejected as diversion from the goal of analysis. It deviates from a "straight to the point" approach, adds cost and time to investigation, and seldom interests practical-minded analysts. Even so, this paper will be prefaced by a concise reminder of some basic factors that make environmental policy problematic. Among these are: (1) incompatible concepts of man-nature relationships—notably conflict between perceived facts and values, (2) inadequate comprehension of the complexities of nature, (3) sectoral subdivisions of knowledge, (4) assumptions, situations and motivations in environmental politics, (5) fractionated structure of laws and administration, and (6) short-range perception of time. In addition to these conceptual factors the widely varied subject-matter of environmental politics narrows the scope of generalization for policy purposes.     

An Antipodean History of Interpretation

In this paper, we explore the connections between intepretivism's core and its peripheries in both geographical and epistemological terms, by tracing the relationship between interpretivism and Australian political scholarship. In this task, we draw on some of the most celebrated and influential work on Australian politics—by political scientists but before them historians and anthropologists—to show how the approach typically undertaken by these researchers echoes key tenets of interpretivism, especially through an interest in subjective beliefs and experiences, a desire to uncover and bring to life richly contextualised detail, and a commitment to the abductive linking of theory and practice. As such, we suggest that the spread of this counter identity to interpretive researchers in Australia risks manufacturing a sense of methodological antipathy, marginalising the work of interpretivists from mainstream political scholarship.     

对广告语中人称指示代词“您”的语用阐释

本文试图从礼貌原则和面子理论的角度来阐释广告语中人称代词,同时在汉语中被称为礼貌用用语的您的使用,选取了商业广告和公益广告,以及不同行业广告中的您的使用作为数据。作者认为,您在广告中的使用除了体现中国传统的礼貌原则外,从面子理论的角度来看,既作为积极的也作为消极的礼貌策略对威胁消费者面子的行为进行弥补。而现今广告中您的使用逐渐减少,你的使用逐渐普及的趋势也说明了社会对于您和你的接受度的变化,从标示差距的标记性称呼到平等性标记称呼之间的过渡也表明社会的逐步的开放化和平等化。     

Ethics as an Enabler of Public Policy

Ethics constrains us. But ethics can also act as an ‘enabler’, helping to secure compliance with public policies. Basing policies on ethical principles helps the public know what is required of them by public policies. Framing policies in those ways also primes people to think in terms of their own ethically based reasons for action. Basing policies on ethical principles can assist in securing the cooperation of potential veto players by creating cooperative norms and a culture of trust.     

Defining Indecency as an Artifact of Cultural Policy

This article examines the United States’ enforcement of indecency norms in the broadcast arena to discern how it illuminates cultural policy. The article looks at several examples of how enforcement of indecency norms has contributed to the development of an indecency policy that is in tension with other aspects of cultural policy including diversity of voices and localism.     

Design Thinking in Policymaking Processes: Opportunities and Challenges

Design thinking has the potential to improve problem definition and mechanism design in policymaking processes. By promoting greater understanding of how citizens experience government services, design thinking can support public managers who desire to enhance public value. In Australia, as elsewhere, design thinking currently remains separated from mainstream policymaking efforts. This article clarifies the essence of design thinking and its applicability to policy development. Five design thinking strategies are discussed, all of which have lengthy histories as social science methodologies. They are (1) environmental scanning, (2) participant observation, (3) open‐to‐learning conversations, (4) mapping, and (5) sensemaking. Recent examples from Australia and New Zealand are used to illustrate how these strategies have been incorporated into policymaking efforts. The article concludes by considering how design thinking might be more broadly applied in policymaking, and the training and resourcing requirements that would entail.