Joined-up Government Research Articles

Health in All Policies in South Australia-Did It Promote and Enact an Equity Perspective?

Mobilising cross-sectoral action is helpful in addressing the range of social determinants that contribute to health inequities. The South Australian Health in All Policies (SA HiAP) approach was implemented from 2007 to stimulate cross-sector policy activity to address the social determinants of health to improve population wellbeing and reduce health inequities. This paper presents selected findings from a five year multi-methods research study of the SA HiAP approach and draws on data collected during interviews, observation, case studies, and document analysis. The analysis shows that SA HiAP had dual goals of facilitating joined-up government for co-benefits (process focus); and addressing social determinants of health and inequities through cross-sectoral policy activity (outcomes focus). Government agencies readily understood HiAP as providing tools for improving the process of intersectoral policy development, while the more distal outcome-focused intent of improving equity was not well understood and gained less traction. While some early rhetorical support existed for progressing an equity agenda through SA HiAP, subsequent economic pressures resulted in the government narrowing its priorities to economic goals. The paper concludes that SA HiAP’s initial intentions to address equity were only partially enacted and little was done to reduce inequities. Emerging opportunities in SA, and internationally, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, may revive interest in addressing equity.

A longitudinal study of the implementation experiences of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme: investigating transformative policy change

BackgroundInternationally there has been a growth in the use of publicly funded service markets as a mechanism to deliver health and social services. This has accompanied the emergence of ‘self-directed care’ in a number of different policy areas including disability and aged care – often referred to as ‘personalisation’ (Giaimo and Manow, Comp. Pol Stud 32:967–1000, 1999; Needham, Public Money Manage 30:136–8, 2010; [Hood], [The Idea of Joined-up Government: A Historical Perspective], [2005]; Klijn and Koppenjan, Public Manage 2:437–54, 2000, Greener, Policy Polit 36:93–108, 2008). These reforms are underpinned by an idea that individuals should be placed in control of their own service needs, given funding directly by government and encouraged to exercise choice and control through purchasing their own services. A major challenge for governments in charge of these reforms is determining the best way to structure and govern emerging service markets markets. Given the growing international embrace of market-based reform mechanisms to provide essential services to citizens, finding ways to ensure they promote, and not diminish, people’s health and wellbeing is vital.MethodsThe Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is Australia’s first national approach to the use of personalised budgets. The program of research outlined in this paper brings together streams from a range of different studies in order to investigate the implementation of the NDIS longitudinally across different administrative levels of government, service providers and scheme participants.ConclusionThis programme of research will make a contribution to our understanding of the Australian scheme and how individualised funding operates within this context, but will also generate much needed evidence that will have relevance to other jurisdictions and help fill a gap in the evidence base.

Joined-up Government of utilities: a meta-review on a public–public partnership and inter-municipal cooperation in the water and wastewater industries

ABSTRACTPrivate-sector participation in public services delivery has been criticized due to unfulfilled expectations. In response, joined-up government is being introduced as an alternative approach to providing water and wastewater services. This approach involves the establishment of horizontal (i.e. inter-municipal cooperation) and vertical (i.e. public–public partnership) integration. Drawing on a meta-review focused on the water and wastewater industries, this study shows that both arrangements have positive aspects, such as cost savings. However, contractual schemes and inter-departmental coordination efforts must be carefully managed or they will fail. In addition, research on cooperation between public bodies is scarce and must be better coordinated concerning study aims and methods.

What Works in Joined-Up Government? An Evidence Synthesis

While coordination across departments has long been a goal of government, since the late 1990s joining-up (in various forms) is now viewed as essential to the core business of government and public administration. However, research is still catching up on the expansion of joined-up working, and there continues to be no specific body of evidence upon which judgments about its success, or which can be drawn on in the planning and implementation of new initiatives. This article draws together peer-reviewed, empirical investigations of joined-up government, synthesizing available exploratory evidence on the process of creating joined-up government.

Enhancing Joined‐Up Government and Outcome‐Based Performance Management through System Dynamics Modelling to Deal with Wicked Problems: the Case of Societal Ageing

Systems Research and Behavioral ScienceVolume 32, Issue 4 p. 502-505 Discussant's Comment Enhancing Joined-Up Government and Outcome-Based Performance Management through System Dynamics Modelling to Deal with Wicked Problems: the Case of Societal Ageing Carmine Bianchi, Corresponding Author Carmine Bianchi University of Palermo – CED4 System Dynamics Group, Italy Correspondence to: Carmine Bianchi, University of Palermo – CED4 System Dynamics Group, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Carmine Bianchi, Corresponding Author Carmine Bianchi University of Palermo – CED4 System Dynamics Group, Italy Correspondence to: Carmine Bianchi, University of Palermo – CED4 System Dynamics Group, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 07 July 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2341Citations: 11Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume32, Issue4Special Issue: Health, Demographic Change and Well-Being: The European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme and System Dynamics – Selected papers from the Sixth European System Dynamics Workshop, at Koç University, Istanbul, TurkeyJuly/August 2015Pages 502-505 RelatedInformation

With the benefit of Foresight: Obesity, complexity and joined-up government

Over a hundred factors are associated with obesity, and relationships among most of them were formalised in the Foresight Obesity Systems Map (FOSM) in 2007. This was a characterisation of population obesity in the United Kingdom at that time. The Foresight programme of different projects aimed to harness scientific evidence to the making of policy in a range of areas, obesity among them. An objective of this particular Foresight project was to ‘de-silo’ obesity policy by bringing together very diverse stakeholders, and to develop directives that recruited ‘joined-up’ government to the cause of obesity control. The Foresight process more generally was used to offer science-based solutions to complex problems. Obesity entered the sphere of complex problems that defied resolution that the Labour administration sought to deal with, along with inequality and climate change among others. The take-home message of the Foresight Obesities project was that the causes of obesity are embedded in an extremely complex biological system, set within an equally complex societal framework. While different forms of complexity have been argued for, the type of complexity favoured by Foresight was the one most commonly embraced, romantic, or upward-looking complexity that can be ordered at a more macro-level. This article describes the development of the FOSM and the process through which obesity policy and obesity research were reframed as complex problems.

Emerging coordination practices of European central governments

This symposium deals with new coordination practices that have emerged among European public sectors to cope with complex societal challenges. Governments struggle to deal with multifaceted policy problems that defy simple solutions and straddle the borders of organizations and ministerial areas of responsibility as well as administrative levels. Thus, public-sector coordination has become a key asset in governments’ policy capacity (Governments for the Future, 2013; Painter and Pierre, 2005). Traditional coordination by hierarchy has been supplemented by New Public Management (NPM) solutions relying on market and competition as well as by post-NPM initiatives attempting to (re-)integrate fragmented administrative apparatuses. Transboundary coordination arrangements such as networks, partnerships and shared performance targets have been introduced and a variety of new coordination practices have emerged across Europe to tackle contemporary policy challenges (Laegreid et al., 2014). These coordination practices vary in shape and form and go under different labels, such as whole-of-government, joined-up government, holistic governance, new public governance, networks, partnerships, connected government and collaborative public management.

From zero migration to the migration state: Whitehall cultures, institutional conversion and policy change

This paper examines whether reforms to the machinery of government under New Labour can help to explain immigration policy change. Taking a new institutionalist approach, the paper argues that immigration policy change was partly shaped by processes of departmentalism, the joined-up government strategy and the consequential introduction of new policy actors into what had hitherto been a more tightly-knit policy network. The paper further argues that because the policymaking process has long been organised around the Whitehall model, departments have an organisational culture which shapes and structures the way policymakers perceive and frame a policy issue. When, however, actors move between departments - as a consequence of joined-up government - they apply knowledge and culture acquired from their previous department and transfer them to new policy areas. It is also the case that as a result of joined-up government, multiple departments have begun to make claims on immigration policy, with their institutionalised organisational culture and knowledge reflected in policy.

Top-Down Approaches to Joined-Up Government: Examining the Unintended Consequences of Weak Implementation

Since forming part of Blair’s modernization agenda in the UK, joined-up government has become a central ambition of governments in many industrialized countries. While there continues to be an absence of core methods and principles for achieving joined-up government, consensus has emerged around the effectiveness of top down approaches. Research has found that joining must happen at multiple levels and be supported by a range of cultural and structural interventions. This article presents findings from a study into the Australian Social Inclusion Agenda and explores the long-term and unintended consequences of joined-up initiatives that take a top-down approach.

Strengthening of the executive centre: looking beyond NPM as the explanation for change

In several countries, attempts have been made to increase the capacity to coordinate and control public policy in the executive centre. The literature on whole-of-government and joined-up government describes these changes as reassertion efforts to counter the negative effects of former New Public Management (NPM) reforms. The main research question discussed in this article is whether the strengthening of the executive centre also should be explained by broader developments in society and by features of the cabinet itself. The research question is answered by looking at changes in Norway over the last three decades. Although former NPM reforms play a part in the Norwegian case, the article finds that the efforts undertaken should also be explained by the wish to improve cabinet decision-making and to solve conflicts between parties in cabinet.Points for practitionersThis article examines different explanations for change in the executive centre in Norway. Over the last three decades, the Norwegian executive centre has been strengthened by the increased number of political appointees in ministries, by the enlargement of the Prime Minister’s Office where its own coordination minister was appointed in 2009, and by the formalization of an inner cabinet. The empirical data are gathered from internal cabinet documents and semi-structured interviews with administrative and political leaders. The article finds that developments in Norway have several explanations, suggesting that changes in the executive centre are heterogeneous, and are seldom undertaken to serve only one purpose.

Charting the trajectory of domestic violence policy change in the Republic of Ireland since the mid-1990s - a path towards integration?

This paper assesses the policy developments pertaining to the implementation of an integrated approach to domestic violence over the past 15 years. The contextual setting is outlined in terms of the international policy response to the problem of domestic violence based on an ecological perspective. Periods of core strategic policy and related structural developments are considered illustrating the Irish experience of domestic violence policy-making and service provision. The value of adopting an integrated approach to domestic violence based on the rationale of improving strategic policy formulation, coordinating service provision and facilitating joined-up governance is set out. The core facilitators and challenges associated with such an approach are described. The policy framework and restructured landscape of domestic violence in Ireland has undergone significant change over the past decade and a half. The paper uses a three-dimensional matrix of domestic violence policy development and service integration as a means of addressing horizontal, vertical and resource aspects of collaboration and integration. While the changes have been characterised by significant phases of fluctuation in terms of coordinated action and the situation currently appears promising, however it is too early to judge the outcomes of the most recent reforms.

Towards networked governance: improving interagency communication and collaboration for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in Australia

Major disasters, such as bushfires or floods, place significant stress on scarce public resources. Climate change is likely to exacerbate this stress. An integrated approach to disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) could reduce the stress by encouraging the more efficient use of pooled resources and expertise. A comparative analysis of three extreme climate-related events that occurred in Australia between 2009 and 2011 indicated that a strategy to improve interagency communication and collaboration would be a key factor in this type of policy/planning integration. These findings are in accord with the concepts of Joined-up Government and Network Governance. Five key reforms are proposed: developing a shared policy vision; adopting multi-level planning; integrating legislation; networking organisations; and establishing cooperative funding. These reforms are examined with reference to the related research literature in order to identify potential problems associated with their implementation. The findings are relevant for public policy generally but are particularly useful for CCA and DRM.

Being Strategic in Partnership – Interpreting Local Knowledge of Modern Local Government

Broad and international literature exists on networked governance which has both described and informed recent transformations in local government. Reforms in the UK have led to the development of strategic partnerships to join up services and solve wicked issues. In Scotland, these are referred to as Community Planning Partnerships. Evidence from numerous studies has highlighted the partial nature of this transformation, particularly around community engagement, with some of the pioneers of this work now questioning earlier assumptions. This article presents an interpretive policy analysis of strategic partnership in Scotland to add three themes to this literature. First, to demonstrate the historical contingency of ‘joined-up government’; second, to explore the practices and meanings used by policy actors to understand ‘strategic’ and ‘partnerships’. Finally, the article problematises strategic partnership working, suggesting that in and of itself it creates effective barriers to community empowerment and even engagement.

An investigation of national policies on transformational government (t-Gov) in Europe

Electronic government (e-government) is high in the agenda of a large number of countries worldwide for more than a decade now. Recently, the concept of transformational government (t-Gov) was introduced to determine the stage of e-government evolution characterised by the radical restructuring of the public sector towards efficiency. The aim of this paper is to understand t-Gov and investigate the level of t-Gov sophistication in Europe by assessing the e-government policies of 18 European Union member states. We first review the relevant literature, to conclude t-Gov embraces nine defining elements namely user-centric services, joined-up government, one-stop government, multichannel service delivery, flexibility, efficiency, increased human skills, organisational change and change of attitude of public servants, and value innovation. We also review e-government assessment frameworks that could be used to evaluate t-Gov sophistication. We thereafter critically examine and compare the degree of t-Gov sophistication of 18 European Union member states. Here, the results suggest that most strategies partially only exploit the full potential of t-Gov. For example, all strategies address user-centric services and most address efficiency, breaking out of silos, and joined-up government. On the other hand, however, no policy addresses constant value creation and value innovation and only a few address flexibility and organisational change and change of attitude. Using a published e-government assessment framework we finally compare progress across Europe with regards to t-Gov.

Post-NPM Governance Reforms: Insights and Implications

Since the 1980s, public administration in the ‘developed’ West was under the fascination of ‘neo-liberalism’ with its emphasis on the crucial role of the ‘Market’ as against the ‘State’ as the key control apparatus of society and economy. What emerged as the ‘governance’ philosophy came to be called the ‘New Public Management (NPM) with two theories of administrative reform underlying it, the public choice theory and neo-taylorism. The NPM as a model for public sector reforms stretched rapidly into many countries. However, later on, various concepts emerged in reaction to NPM contradictions. This paper is an attempt to recapitulate and reflect on the post-NPM governance concepts and reforms such as Joined-up Government (JUG), Whole-of-Government (WG), One-stop Government and Government 2.0 that have special bearing upon governance in general and e-Governance in particular.

Marktzulassung und -überwachung von Medizinprodukten in Deutschland: Wo sollte noch koordiniert werden?

Since 2011 new regulatory measures regarding medical devices have been set up with the aim to eliminate obstacles to innovations and to find more coordinated ways to marketing authorisation and market surveillance. This essay investigates whether these new and existing coordination mechanisms build up to a Joined-up Government approach. The analysis shows that the regulatory process should be adjusted along several dimensions. First, many organisations lack awareness regarding their stakeholders and focus solely on their immediate organisational activities. Second, the regulatory process (marketing authorisation and market surveillance) is too fragmented for an effective communication to take place. Finally, the underlying strategy process is an ad-hoc approach lacking continuity and continued involvement of, in particular, the responsible federal ministries.

Call for Papers: A collaborative public service: what are the management and organizational challenges of more joined-up government?

Call for Papers: A collaborative public service: what are the management and organizational challenges of more joined-up government?

Joined-Up Government for Welfare Administration Reform in Norway

One of the largest public sector reforms in Norway is the welfare administrative reform of 2005. The aims are to get passive beneficiaries back into work and to make the administration more user-friendly, holistic and efficient. The aims are to be achieved by increasing the administration’s capacity to address “wicked issues” by cutting across existing policy fields and administrative levels. This joined-up-government approach poses three main challenges: 1) to get a merged central government agency to work, 2) to establish constructive cooperation between the central and local authorities and 3) to coordinate front-line services with user-oriented employment and welfare offices. The article shows that increasing the capacity of government to cut across existing policy fields and handle transboundary wicked issues are still struggling to be implemented. Cooperation between sectors is however easier to achieve than cooperation between levels. The joined-up-government-approach also tends to make accountability relations more ambiguous.

Regime Complexity and Policy Coherency: Introducing a Co-adjustments Model

This article looks at regime complexes from a state policymaking perspective. It develops a theoretical model in which regime complexes become denser over time while governmental policymaking becomes more coherent. Under this model, interactions between global regime complexes and national policymaking are twofold. On the one hand, greater policy coherence generates negotiated mandates asking for regime connections and complex density. On the other hand, regime-complex density creates more cohesive audiences, which increase incentives for national policy coherence. This co-adjustments model brings states into the discussion of institutional interactions and critically questions the desirability and feasibility of recent calls for joined-up government and whole-of-government approaches. KEYWORDS: regime complexity, policy coherency, substantive coherence, procedural coherence, political audience, life cycle.

Joined-Up Government in The Netherlands: Experiences with Program Ministries

Over the last 15 years there have been many experiments with joined-up (also known as whole of) government practices, aimed at horizontal coordination to overcome the fragmentation of vertical governmental structures due to departmentalism and New Public Management. These practices were initiated to address wicked problems and to better interact with society at large. Now that there are signs that the rhetoric of joined-up government is winding down and many joined-up government developments are being dismantled, it is time to evaluate this approach. This is especially appropriate as some suggest that the overall impact of these developments may be relatively small, despite (overly) optimistic claims made in the past. In this article we take experiences with joined-up government in the Netherlands as the departing point for a critical discussion of this approach. By comparing the Dutch experiences with those in other countries, we will draw a picture of the challenges and dilemmas of horizontal coordination in the vertical world of government.