Abstract
Policy capacity and effectiveness are two themes that have opened new pathways for academic and empirical enquiry throughout the policy sciences. In the contemporary discourse of policy design, effectiveness has taken on a more foundational meaning that goes beyond what is understood as only the attainment of specific policy goals. Rather, it has come to occupy a central position in the study of policy design, signifying the broader logic of deliberate policy action used to articulate policy problems and present alternative ways of addressing them. Effectiveness thus signals both effectual processes as well as successful policy outcomes. However, what constitutes effective design is a question that still reflects a largely dispersed body of research within the policy sciences. This article and others in this special issue, aim to address the topic of effective design from the perspective of capacity, defined as the inherent analytical, managerial and political capabilities of policymakers to bring about effective policy solutions.
Highlights
The modern era is characterized by unprecedented sociopolitical, environmental, and economic changes
Largely unanswered in contemporary studies of policy formulation. This is the case for individual concerns about what constitutes effective policy design or what define the capabilities necessary to make design happen, and for how the interaction of these two factors can shape policy design in practice. This remaining gap suggests, perhaps, that the time is ripe for exploring the explicit relationship between policy effectiveness and capacity and what their interaction means for sound policy design
What does policy effectiveness mean for practice? How can effectiveness be operationalized across different policy domains? What kinds of capabilities do designers need to produce sophisticated formulations, and more successful public policies? As showcased by the contributions to this special issue, these questions offer several promising pathways of empirical investigation to inform both the study and practice of policy formulation, by examining how capacities enable effective policy design
Summary
The modern era is characterized by unprecedented sociopolitical, environmental, and economic changes. BALI largely unanswered in contemporary studies of policy formulation This is the case for individual concerns about what constitutes effective policy design or what define the capabilities necessary to make design happen, and for how the interaction of these two factors can shape policy design in practice. This remaining gap suggests, perhaps, that the time is ripe for exploring the explicit relationship between policy effectiveness and capacity and what their interaction means for sound policy design. What does policy effectiveness mean for practice? How can effectiveness be operationalized across different policy domains? What kinds of capabilities do designers need to produce sophisticated formulations, and more successful public policies? As showcased by the contributions to this special issue, these questions offer several promising pathways of empirical investigation to inform both the study and practice of policy formulation, by examining how capacities enable effective policy design
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