Managing the Policy Process: from Legitimacy to Effectiveness and Back

Abstract

The article assumes that the search for legitimacy (politics) and the demand for public governance efficiency and effectiveness (policies) are closely intertwined and cannot be separated either structurally or substantively. The legitimacy of policies is not simply a consequence of the legitimacy of political power, but is created by bringing stakeholders together in the process of policy making and implementing. Therefor policy needs to be managed in order to restrict unpredictability when formulating and implementing collective choices. We argue that the policy initiator should act as policy manager binding the whole process from the idea to the results.