Suchergebnisse

The article describes policy analysis as regards complex policy making processes in multi-level governance systems & how the principal-agent model typifies governance problems between federal & canton levels. The limit on federal intrusion on the cantons is known as principal-agent problem, & it assumes that every agent tries to use information from the principal to their own advantage. However, the cantons do not only carry out policy recommendations from the federal level but also play a role in governance by initiating public policy. Even though the question of how the existence of different principals impacts the behavior of the executive branch on cantonal level is relevant, it is not an essential factor in the policy formulations of the cantons. In addition, empirical analysis has shown that federal policy initiatives occasionally have unintended results, as described concerning health policy. Thus, the lacking analysis of such unintended consequences, as well as the emphasis on problems of control in the principal-agent model, does not result in such an analytical advantage as to justify neglecting alternative theoretical approaches in multi-level governance, the author contends. 11 References. A. Kallioinen

"How to do Public Policy offers a guide to students and practitioners as to how to improve problem-solving with policies in a political world. It integrates insights from applied policy analysis and studies of the policy process to develop a framework that conceives policy-making as structured by two spheres of action - the 'engine room' of specialists and experts in government agencies, NGOs, research organisations etc., on the one hand, and the political 'superstructure' of politicians, key public stakeholders and the public, on the other hand. Understanding the different logics of the engine room and the superstructure is key for successful policy-making. The dual structure of policy-making provides a perspective on policy-analysis (interactive policy analysis) and policy-making (actor-centred policy-making) that moves from the focus on individual and specific measures, towards understanding and shaping the relation and interaction between policy interventions, the institutional context and the stakeholders involved or affected. Part I of the book presents the basic analytical concepts needed to understand the policy process and the structures and dynamics involved in it, as well as to understand how and why actors behave the way they do-and how to engage with different types of actors. Part II moves further into the nuts and bolts of policy-making, including policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Part III introduces and explores three key aspects of the capacity to make good policies: engagement with stakeholders, the process of policy coordination in a context of interdependence, and the role of institutions"--

How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book makes that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or 'not seeing the not seeing', and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book's theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective. Tobias Bach is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway. Kai Wegrich is Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany.--

Governance Challenges and Innovations examines the capacity of contemporary governments to act upon and address the pressing problems of our time. It highlights four basic administrative capacities that matter for governance and considers the way in which states have addressed particular governance challenges.

What are the key trends and challenges facing contemporary executive politics? How do systems of executive politics respond to different types of crisis? How can we define the contemporary setting of executive politics? Executive Politics in Times of Crisis explores these questions. It brings together leading international scholars and showcases key conceptual and substantive arguments, thereby contributing to our understanding of key debates involving the 'executive factor' in political life. The contributors to the volume consider key concepts and developments which challenge existing stereotypes about the way in which the executive and the execution of policies operate. This includes debates about politicization, internationalization, managerialism, policy instruments and blame with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the lesser developed world. The contributors consider how executive politics has responded to and is challenged by contemporary crises, setting the international agenda for the study of executive politics.

This major new text assesses the main theoretical approaches to regulation and applies them to understanding real-world regulatory problems, encouraging students and practitioners in public management to think critically and creatively about the different tools available to them.

AbstractAlthough scholarly interest in populism has increased as populist parties have risen across Europe, the subnational level has been largely overlooked. This article adopts an original subnational focus and explores an unlikely but increasingly prevalent political agenda: the combination of technocracy and populism. We focus on technocratic populism as a political and governance strategy at the municipal level and assess how the interaction of populism and technocracy plays out empirically in relation to administration and public policies and how the tensions and synergies between technocracy and populism are solved at the local level. The article argues that the local level is especially prone to this kind of intersection between technocratic and populist ideology. While the article is mainly an exercise in concept development, two illustrative cases at the city level, namely the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S, Five Star Movement) in Rome and the Akce nespokojených občanů (ANO, Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) in Prague are used to support the argument.

AbstractThe article analyses the public attribution of blame and the use of presentational strategies of blame avoidance in complex delegation structures. We theorize and empirically demonstrate that complex delegation structures result in the diffusion of blame to multiple actors so that a clear allocation of responsibility becomes more difficult. The article shows that public attribution of blame follows a distinct temporal pattern in which politicians only gradually move into the centre of the blame storm. We also find that blame-takers deploy sequential patterns of presentational management and use blame shifting to other actors as a dominant strategy. However, the analysis suggests that complex delegation structures impose limitations on blame-takers' use of blame avoidance strategies, and that sequential presentational management becomes less useful over time. The article uses media content analysis to study blame games during a major crisis of the public transport system in Berlin, Germany.