Participatory Policy Analysis Research Articles

Overcoming the challenges facing Nepal’s health system during federalisation: an analysis of health system building blocks

IntroductionNepal’s move to a federal system was a major constitutional and political change, with significant devolution of power and resources from the central government to seven newly created provinces and 753 local governments. Nepal’s health system is in the process of adapting to federalism, which is a challenging, yet potentially rewarding, task. This research is a part of broader study that aims to explore the opportunities and challenges facing Nepal’s health system as it adapts to federalisation.MethodsThis exploratory qualitative study was conducted across the three tiers of government (federal, provincial, and local) in Nepal. We employed two methods: key informant interviews and participatory policy analysis workshops, to offer an in-depth understanding of stakeholders’ practical learnings, experiences, and opinions. Participants included policymakers, health service providers, local elected members, and other local stakeholders. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated into English, and analysed thematically using the six WHO (World Health Organization) health system building blocks as a theoretical framework.ResultsParticipants noted both opportunities and challenges around each building block. Identified opportunities were: (a) tailored local health policies and plans, (b) improved health governance at the municipality level, (c) improved health infrastructure and service capacity, (d) improved outreach services, (e) increased resources (health budgets, staffing, and supplies), and (f) improved real-time data reporting from health facilities. At the same time, several challenges were identified including: (a) poor coordination between the tiers of government, (b) delayed release of funds, (c) maldistribution of staff, (d) problems over procurement, and (e) limited monitoring and supervision of the quality of service delivery and data reporting.ConclusionOur findings suggest that since federalisation, Nepal’s health system performance is improving, although much remains to be accomplished. For Nepal to succeed in its federalisation process, understanding the challenges and opportunities is vital to improving each level of the health system in terms of (a) leadership andgovernance, (b) service delivery, (c) health financing, (d) health workforce, (e) access to essential medicines and technologies and (f) health information system.

Community-Based Intersectionality: The Changing Public Services Project

The paper reflects on a changing public service project regarding women and intersectional analysis in Halifax, Canada. The project sought to facilitate collective mobilizations to challenge austerity and to imagine public services that meet the needs of the citizens who use them, and the workers that provide them. We provide an overview of the project, and then explore our attempt at adapting “multistrand” intersectional policy analysis (Hankivsky & Cormier, 2011) to a community-based context. In considering the challenges and opportunities associated with this work, the paper concludes that the changing public service project created space for an innovative approach to community-based research that can guide both participatory policy analysis and collective action.

KEBIJAKAN PENGELOLAAN TRANSPORTASI PUBLIK DI PURWOKERTO

THE POLICY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT IN PURWOKERTOABSTRAKPotensi kemacetan telah terlihat Purwokerto sebagai salah satu kota transit di Indonesia. Potensi ini terjadi akibat lonjakan jumlah kendaraan pribadi, sementara angkutan umum kian ditinggalkan karena kualitas layanannya yang kurang memadai dan tidak mampu menjawab tuntutan publik. Hal ini mengindikasikan gagalnya kebijakan tata kelola transportasi publik yang diselenggarakan pemerintah daerah. Untuk itu, sebuah alternatif kebijakan diperlukan guna mengatasi masalah transportasi publik. Pengembangan alternatif kebijakan dilakukan dengan teknik participatory policy analysis dalam paradigma analisis kebijakan deliberaitf. Teknik analisis kebijakan yang menekankan pada pengembangan alternatif kebijakan dengan melibatkan unsur masyarakat yang terkait dengan kebijakan dalam proses dialog untuk mengembangkan alternatif kebijakan. Proses dialog untuk pengembangan alternatif kebijakan tersebut dilakukan dengan memerhatikan aspek reciprocity, relationship, learning dan creativity di antara aktor kebijakan. Penelitian dilakukan dengan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif, dengan pemilihan informan menggunakan teknik pusposive sampling terhadap mereka yang dianggap berkompeten dan mewakili setiap unsur masyarakat yang terkait dengan kebijakan transportasi publik di Purwokerto. Penelitian berhasil bahwa pilihan kebijakan reformasi pengelolaan transportasi publik merupakan alternatif ideal untuk menjawab tuntutan publik akan transportasi publik yang berkualitas dan dapat diandalkan. Berdasarkan temuan penelitian, meskipun proses dialog kolaboratif mampu menghasilkan alternatif kebijakan, namun proses dialog itu sendiri tidak terjadi tanpa ada fasilitative leadership dan civil society. Komitmen elit pemerintah yang memfasilitasi (fasilitative leadership) dan adanya kesadaran serta wahana bagi masyarakat menyuarakan kepentingannya (civil society) menjadi aspek yang melengkapi model collaborative policy making.ABSTRACTThe potency of traffic density and congestion is already visible in Purwokerto as one of the city transit in Indonesia. It occurs due to the surge in the number of private vehicles, while public transportation is increasingly abandone, because the public transportation is no longer able to fulfill the public demand with its inadequate quality service. This indicates the failure of public transportation management policy organized by local government. Therefore, an alternative public transportation is needed to address the problem. The problem that arises in this research is what is the alternative policy that can be taken by local government? The development of policy alternative is carried out with Participatory Policy Analysis (PPA) technique. PPA was a deliberative policy analysis technique emphasize on the effort of alternative policy development by involving the public elements associated with public transportation policy were involved in the dialogue process to develop policy alternative. The dialogue process to develop the policy alternative was carried out by observing the aspect of reciprocity, relationship, learning, and creativity among the policy actors. This research was carried out using qualitative approach, with the selection of informant using purposive sampling technique. This research has found the public transportation reform policy are the most likely alternative to solve public interest about quality of public transportation. This research also has successfully developed the model of collaborative policy making based on the research finding, although the process of collaborative dialogue is able to produce the alternative policy; however this process of dialogue itself is not going to happen without the facilitative leadership and civil society. The commitment of government in facilitating (facilitative leadership), the awareness and a place for people to voice their interest can be the aspects that complete the model of collaborative policy making.

참여정책분석 관점에서 본 국가연구개발사업 기획 과정 : X-프로젝트를 중심으로

참여정책분석 관점에서 본 국가연구개발사업 기획 과정 : X-프로젝트를 중심으로

The Effects of Risk, Knowledge, and Ideological Beliefs on Climate Policy Preferences: A Study of Colorado Climate and Energy Policy Actors

Responding to the impacts of climate change will require communities to develop an improved understanding of the factors influencing the policy preferences of supporters and opponents of climate policy. The literature on climate politics and policy has identified risk perceptions, climate-related knowledge, and ideological beliefs on government intervention as key factors impacting the general public's support for climate policies, but two important gaps within the literature remain unaddressed. The factors impacting policy preferences have been understudied among policy actors, a critical sub-population actively involved in the policy process. In addition, the effects of these factors on policy preferences have yet to be examined simultaneously. To examine the factors impacting the policy preferences of policy actors, this article conducts an analysis of questionnaire data administered in 2011 to policy actors involved in climate and energy policy in the state of Colorado. The results indicate the policy preferences of policy actors are largely affected by risk perceptions and ideological beliefs regarding government intervention. Contrary to previous studies, climate-related knowledge was found to have minimal impact on policy preferences when examined alongside risk perceptions and ideological beliefs. These findings draw attention to the need to develop a better understanding of the risk perceptions and ideological beliefs of climate policy actors throughout the development of climate policies. This article concludes with an overview of several approaches that appear to be worthy of this task, including participatory policy analysis, community risk assessments, and stakeholder analysis.

A Framework for Operationalizing the Effect of National Culture on Participatory Policy Analysis

Participatory policy analysis (PPA) aims to involve actors who affect, or are affected by, a decision in the policy-making process. Although the concept of public participation is attractive and promising, the possibility and quality of its application is sensitive to context, notably to cultural factors. Research on how to operationalize and manage this sensitivity while designing and implementing PPA is scant. This article aims to fill this gap by providing an analytic framework for assessing culturally sensitive factors affecting participation (FAPs) using cross-cultural theories. The framework is tested in secondary case studies in four countries with different cultural backgrounds. The results show good correspondence between the quantitative indicators in the framework and the empirical observations in the case studies. This suggests that the framework provides a valuable ex ante diagnostic tool for researchers and practitioners who wish to tailor a participatory approach to a cultural context.

Toward a Theory of Collaborative Policy Networks: Identifying Structural Tendencies

Support for the “democratization of the policy sciences” has led to the development of a number of frameworks and theories to enhance the normative, multidisciplinary approach to policy analysis. However, this approach has been challenged for failing to produce the objective empirical and normative standards implied by its scientific aspirations. One consideration that has been advanced under a variety of rubrics is “participatory policy analysis.” This is a methodological proposal that expands the range of actors/stakeholders involved in the making and execution of public policy in a discursive or deliberative mode. While much of the research on policy networks is focused on the management and coordination of such networks (i.e., collaborative management), there is little attention on analysis of networks as a participatory policy analytical approach. We propose a theory of “collaborative policy networks” that examines not only the stakeholder composition of a group or the partnerships between any two stakeholders but also the way these stakeholders are embedded in various degrees of institutionalized structure and the discursive tendencies of exchange among them that leads to policy initiative, implementation, evaluation, and possibly termination. Collaborative policy networks are characterized by discursive properties, specifically reciprocity, representation, equality, participatory decision making, and collaborative leadership. We suggest that the results of such research can identify structural signatures of collaborative policy networks that serve as “stamps” of the common nature of such networks that, if fostered, can inform and improve the attempt of networks of partners to achieve policy goals.

“Every Virus Tells a Story”: Toward a Narrative-Centred Approach to Health Policy

Combining insights from narrative inquiry and participatory policy analysis, this article analyses the “illness narratives” of people with hepatitis C, a blood-borne liver disease that affects millions of people around the world. In particular, we explore how a narrative-based approach to health politics and policy can illuminate our understanding of the social dimensions of health and illness. In incorporating the “experiential” knowledge of people living with this chronic condition, we seek to challenge the dominant approach of Evidence Based Medicine, in which randomised controlled trials operate as the Gold Standard against which all other forms of evidence are judged. Narrative approaches can be particularly useful, we argue, when examining newly emerging illnesses that are only beginning to receive public attention. Moreover, in the case of chronic illnesses such as hepatitis C, which can be relatively invisible in a public and media landscape dominated by diseases with dramatic, “punchy” storylines, rendering an illness “narratable” may be an important task of the policy analyst.

A avaliação da implementação de políticas públicas a partir da perspectiva neo-institucional: avanços e validade

Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar as linhas gerais de um modelo de avaliação da implementação de políticas públicas derivado da teoria neo-institucional. O modelo proposto busca estabelecer uma correspondência entre o momento de implementação da política e o processo de mudança institucional. A partir daí, são geradas análises fundamentalmente baseadas nos conceitos de dependência da trajetória e de custos de transação. A noção de dependência da trajetória é empregada no intuito de fornecer indícios a respeito dos fatores que sustentam a mudança institucional, ou seja, os elementos que constituem a base para a implementação da política. Já o conceito de custos de transação é utilizado como base de um esquema destinado a abordar os efeitos provocados pela implementação da política, proporcionando uma visualização do potencial transformador que os novos arranjos institucionais trazidos pela política implementada possuem sobre as práticas de governo. O modelo apresentado enfatiza a relevância da avaliação de políticas públicas inovadoras surgidas, principalmente, a partir de 1988 e destaca sua utilidade para a análise de políticas participativas.

The Democratic Ethos and Public Management

One of the few issues on which public management scholars agree in theory is the centrality of the democratic ethos. Public policy has recently paid attention to more democratic forms of policy making (e.g., participatory policy analysis), and public administration has periodically studied and advocated increased citizen participation in the processes of government. But the field of public management scholarship has yet to make a similar commitment to the democratic ethos, despite some contemporary practices (flattened hierarchies, self-managing teams) that represent democratization in public organizations. This essay reviews reasons why public management should be more democratic, some ways in which it is not, and proposes some ways in which the focus of scholarship and practice should be directed.

The role of GSS in participatory policy analysis: A field experiment

This paper describes a rare opportunity for a field experiment; in this, several forms of evaluation were combined into a (quasi) experimental evaluation design. Two matched and randomized groups of citizens engaged in a debate on the future of their city (‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands) were studied during four meetings of a participatory policy exercise. The intent of our experiment was to test whether the use of a GSS had a positive effect on the quality of the group processes and the quality of group results. We found that process facilitation and time effects have more influence on group processes and outcomes than did the use of a GSS.

Foresight - refining the process

The use of foresight as a tool in national research and technology planning exercises has increased markedly over the past decade, as a consequence of the pressures of the emerging knowledge economy, constraints on government spending, the new emphasis in organisations on learning, networks and relationships, and changes in the structures of knowledge production. It is therefore timely to invest in evaluation of and learning from these experiences. That the business management focus in addressing the future is far more on issues of structure and culture, such as flexibility, adaptability and tolerance for ambiguity, than it is on tools such as foresight, suggests the need for a much closer linking of foresight to other company considerations. Three particular areas of challenge are identified. The first is linking foresight more effectively with strategy and action, through better engagement of and with key stakeholders. The second is the development and refinement of the range of foresight techniques with a clear appreciation of their appropriate arena of application. The third is to acknowledge the cultural dimension of foresight, and to apply it with an awareness of the potential cultural constraints. An alternative framework for foresight, modelled on participatory policy analysis, is proposed to improve the interface of foresight with political and administrative decision making process.

Methodology for participatory policy analysis

In the course of time it has become clear that policy analysts who use traditional formal modeling techniques have limited impact on policy making regarding complex policy problems. These kinds of problems require the analyst to combine scientific insights with subjective knowledge resources and to improve communication between the parties involved in the policy problem. A policy analyst who takes into account the need for social interaction has different participatory methods at his disposal, such as gaming/simulations, consensus conferences, and electronic meetings. Some assumptions with regard to the theoretical base, the application, and the effectiveness of participatory methods are formulated in this article. These assumptions can be tested and supplemented by means of comparative research on the effectiveness of participatory methods in different policy situations.

Trust and Understanding in Participatory Policy Analysis: The Case of the Vermont Forest Resources Advisory Council

Participatory policy analysis (PPA) has been recommended as a means for better informing the policy process and reinvigorating citizen participation in government decisionmaking. This study analyzes the Vermont Forest Resources Advisory Council (FRAC), a stakeholder form of PPA, to assess trust and understanding, which PPA proponents suggest is important for democratic governance. Findings indicate that process design and the roles of science and social values in decisionmaking affected trust and understanding among participants and in the FRAC process. This case highlights challenges in making PPA operational and in addressing positivist and postpositivist perspectives within PPA.

Technology and society: GSS-supported participatory policy analysis

This article is about a Group Support System (GSS) used as a participatory instrument in policy analysis. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) initiated the program "Technology and Society". This program aims to encourage the use of technological innovations and applications for the solution of social problems. Tools in this program are technology scans. These scans help to identify innovations and applications. The MEA organised a consultation round which consisted of five GSS-meetings. Policy-relevant actors from politics, trade and industry, knowledge infrastructure and social organisations discussed social problems, concrete technology-based project ideas and criteria for the selection of these project ideas. An answer is given to the question of whether a GSS is an effective tool to support the quality of this type of participatory policy analysis in technology policy-making.

Debating technologies: A methodological contribution to the design and evaluation of participatory policy analysis

Debating technologies: A methodological contribution to the design and evaluation of participatory policy analysis

The shaping of collective values through deliberative democracy: An empirical study from New York's North Country

Participatory planning and policy analysis has gained increasing attention in recent years because of its potential to improve the knowledge base for policy design (substantive benefits), increase the likelihood of stakeholder compliance and support (instrumental benefits), and strengthen the democratic legitimacy of public policies (normative benefits). Deliberation among stakeholders is considered essential for participatory policy analysis, representing a democratic process for clarifying the particular as well as the collective goals and values as well as the potential impacts of alternative policies. This study examines the effects of democratic deliberation on participants' viewpoints of the policy domain (the local food system), based on two-and-a-half day participatory planning events in each of six rural counties in northern New York. Participant viewpoints were assessed several weeks before and after these events, using Q methodology. The results reveal three major viewpoints, representing concerns for social justice, the viability of conventional agriculture, and the potential environmental and social externalities associated with conventional agriculture. The substance of these viewpoints remain unchanged before and after the deliberative events, but the salience of the conventional agriculture viewpoint increased and the salience of the social justice and alternative agriculture viewpoints decreased significantly, even among those participants who most clearly defined the latter two viewpoints. These findings, together with an analysis of the action agendas emerging from these planning events, suggest that local deliberative processes may produce outcomes that are neither fair nor efficient and that reflect the values and interests of certain stakeholders more than others, even in the absence of overt conflict. Moreover, it appears that such processes may cause some participants to alter their viewpoints in ways that appear contrary to their values and interests as expressed prior to the deliberative event. The implications for participatory policy analysis are explored.

Democracy and the policy sciences

The policy sciences approach has recently came under sustained criticism for being insensitive to the values and preferences of the ordinary citizen. This paper attempts to address these problems by outlining a post-positivist approach, drawing upon the works of Jurgen Habermas. The paper proposes a “participatory policy analysis” that utilizes a sampling of affected citizens to create a “policy forum” to inform the policymaker of citizens' positions on important policy issues.

Democracy and the Policy Sciences

The policy sciences approach has recently came under sustained criticism for being insensitive to the values and preferences of the ordinary citizen. This paper attempts to address these problems by outlining a post‐positivist approach, drawing upon the works of Jürgen Habermas. The paper proposes a “participatory policy analysis” that utilizes a sampling of affected citizens to create a “policy forum” to inform the policymaker of citizens' positions on important policy issues.

Expanding the discursive context of policy design: A matter of feminist standpoint epistemology

While recent elaborations of policy design have been innovative and intriguing, feminist analysis remains unacknowledged. The exclusion of feminist analysis confounds policy design's goal of increased sensitivity to context, values, and audience. I use feminist standpoint epistemology to illustrate and expand the dialogue of policy design as well as policy analysis generally. Addressing policy analysis from a meta-perspective facilitates a discussion of theory. methodology, and practice. The applicative aspects of the feminist epistemic stance are illustrated via a hypothetical case study addressing the environmental problematique. As such, a feminist standpoint reformulation of policy design is proffered. Overall, the analysis expands the theoretical construction of policy design, providing an increased potential for participatory policy analysis and a bridge between two discourses previously lacking interchange.