Policy Analytical Capacity Research Articles

Explaining differences in research utilization in evidence-based government ministries

Studies of evidence-based policy have found that research often fails to influence policy-making and identify a number of barriers to research utilization. Less is known about what public administrations do to overcome such barriers. The article draws on a content analysis of 1,159 documents and 13 qualitative interviews to compare how and why evidence standards affect research utilization in two Danish ministries with available evidence, policy analytical capacity, and broad political agreement on key policy goals. The article finds support for the proposition that more exclusive evidence standards in ministries will lead to higher levels of research utilization by showing that average levels of research utilization are higher in the Ministry of Employment than in the Ministry of Children and Education in the period 2016?2021. In active employment policy the adoption an evidence hierarchy and the accumulating evidence in a knowledge bank has interacted with stakeholder support and a continued coordination with the Ministry of Finance to provide economic incentives for policy-makers to adopt evidence-based policies thus stimulating research utilization. Evidence for public education policy, by contrast, has been more contested and the Ministry of Children of Education retains inclusive evidence standards in an attempt to integrate evidencebased and practical knowledge from stakeholders, which has led to lower average levels of utilization in the period.

Bureaucratic policy work and analytical capacities in central administrations in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain: The results of a comparative survey

Policy analytical capacity is a pivotal source of good governance. Although this capacity can be acquired by decision makers in various ways, it is clear that the internal stock of analytical capacity is strategic in terms of supporting policymaking. This stock can be concentrated in specific types of organisational roles (like policy professionals), but it can also be considered a constitutive component of ordinary bureaucratic work. This paper adopts this latter perspective to analyse the characteristics in terms of policy work and analytical capacities of high-level bureaucrats of the central administrations of the Old Southern Four: Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The data were collected through a large online survey involving more than 1000 high civil servants. The empirical evidence offered shows the high differentiation in terms of policy work and analytical capacities that characterise the four analysed central bureaucracies and confirms that, despite the expected similarities among the four countries, differences are striking and concern almost all dimensions of analysis. Moreover, Spain has a higher stock of policy analytical capacities. Thus, adopting a policy work perspective can be a fruitful lens for analysing whether and how administrative reforms are capable of penetrating the micro dimensions of administrative behaviour. Points for practitioners The paper offers the first comparative analysis of the policy work and the analytical capacities of the central administration in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The results show that, despite the many similarities among the four countries, there are significant differences in terms of ways of working and the held analytical capacities of the high level servants. The offered data show a specific map of policy analytical skills that can be used as a point of departure for designing improvements in high civil servants’ training.

Policy staff and the evolving nature of policy analytical capacity in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand

ABSTRACT This article provides fresh empirical insights into the evolving nature of policy analytical capacity in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. We argue for a focus on the formal policy staff employed in government to provide greater conceptual clarity and empirical purchase regarding specific types of policy analytical resources linked to capacity. Using ten years of administrative data we chart the evolution of the size, composition, and distribution of formal public service policy staff in these cases. We find, contrary to expectations, that formal policy staff have increased in all four cases. Comparative analysis reveals not only uneven staffing capacity across government organizations, but also important developments in the seniority and distribution of staff in “analysts” and “managers” classifications. The findings are used to generate country profiles that demonstrate more nuanced patterns of policy analytical capacity change over time. The findings also raise important questions about shortcomings in how governments track and classify their policy staff, and their ability to effectively manage policy analytical resources in policy making.

Assessing the ‘forgotten fundamental’ in policy advisory systems research: Policy shops and the role(s) of core policy professionals

AbstractDuring the past 30 years, research on policy analytical capacity's multidimensional nature and the evolution of policy advisory systems (PASs) has both increased knowledge of these processes and structures and opened new avenues of inquiry. While it is clear that changes in PASs in many countries have occurred ‐ featuring processes such as the increased externalisation and politicisation of policy advice ‐ studies of changes among the roles played by core policy professionals in advice provision have lagged. One aspect of this question concerns the nature and extent of changes in this ‘forgotten fundamental’ of advice systems related to how these professionals are arrayed within ‘policy shops’—that is organisational units identified in the 1960s and 1970s as the main organisational home of policy professionals in government. Whether or not such shops have changed from the central‐integrated model identified in early studies and, if so, how, remain outstanding and foundational questions. Recent research in Canada has mapped the distribution of policy professionals at the central and provincial level and found more types of analysts and venues than in earlier eras— which range from the ‘classical’ integrated policy shops of the 1960s and 1970s which remain in central agencies and single‐purpose line departments to the much more 'distributed' patterns found in many departments dealing with multiple or complex controversial issues. Using Canadian data, this study outlines the development of these organisational types and their distribution in government and discusses the implications of these changes for better understanding the work, and needs, of core professionals in policy advice systems. .Points for practitioners ‘Policy professionals’ or public employees specifically tasked with policy analysis in government are key players in policy advisory systems despite the addition of more external and internal actors in policy advice systems in recent years. How these advisors and analysts are organised in government, whether they work in clusters or small groups, and how they interact with other civil servants and policy‐makers are a key determinant of their activities and influence in policy‐making. In the policy sciences, work in the 1960s and 1970s established ‘the policy shop’, that is relatively small centrally located organisational units employing mainly policy analysts, as the main home of policy professionals in government. These units often enjoyed a monopoly in analysis and played a key role in policy‐making. However, research on these organisations has not kept up with changes in advisory relations within and outside of governments and the impact such changes have had on the influence and activities of core professionals. Recent work by the authors looking at the large Canadian province of Ontario has identified more than a single type of arrangement of analysts in the current era. This paper expands this analysis to both small and large jurisdictions in Canada, including the federal government, and develops two detailed case studies of the current organisation of policy professionals in smaller central agencies like Ministries of Justice as well as in larger omnibus Ministries of the Environment. The study finds a ‘distributed’ model of policy shops—in which multiple policy units exist throughout the agency—to be dominant in both cases and in all the governments examined and suggests this is now the new normal, replacing the dominance of the older more integrated central shop model. The predominance of the distributed model contributes to the fragmentation of policy advice already underway in government due to the growth in the number of external advisors such as consultants and think tanks, and internal ones such as political staffers.

Chinese cities as digital environmental governance innovators: Evidence from subnational low-Carbon plans

Research examining the rise of digital environmental governance, particularly at the subnational scale in China, is fairly limited. Critical questions regarding how digital technologies applied at the subnational level may shape or transform environmental governance are only beginning to be explored, given cities’ increasing role as sustainability experimenters and innovators. In this study, we investigate how smart city initiatives that incorporate big data, artificial intelligence, 5G, Internet of Things, and information communication technologies, may play a role in the transformation towards a “digital China.” We conceptualize three major pathways by which digital technology could transform environmental governance in China: through the generation of new data to address existing environmental data gaps; by enhancing the policy analytical capacity of environmental actors through the use of automation, digitalization, and machine learning/artificial intelligence; and last, through reshaping subnational-national, and state-society interactions that may shift balances of power. With its dual prioritization of digital technologies and climate change, China presents an opportunity for examining digitalization trends and to identify gaps in governance and implementation challenges that could present obstacles to realizing the transformative potential of digital environmental management approaches.

Comparing Formal Public Sector Policy Staff: Organizing Principles, Composition, and Distribution in Anglophone Countries

This exploratory article examines the contemporary state of formal government policy staff in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, contributing to the ongoing research seeking to understand the policy capacity of governments. It analyzes the size, composition, and distribution of the countries’ formal policy staff across government units. Comparative analysis reveals significant differences in the basic organizing approaches used to categorize policy staff as well as important differences in their numbers, composition, and distribution across government units. While uneven distributions characterize all four cases, there is significant variance in where staff work, their seniority, and functional classifications as “analysts” or “managers”. The analysis provides fresh insights into the nature and availability of policy analytical capacity within these governments. It also underscores major gaps in how governments collect and make available basic data on their policy staff, which raises questions about their ability to effectively manage and deploy those staff.

Measuring policy analytical capacity in renewable energy policy: Germany‐Japan‐US comparison

AbstractPolicy makers in the modern age must confront complex and expanding knowledge on a daily basis. It has been put forth that policy making requires increasingly higher levels of policy analytical capacity at the individual, organizational, and system levels. Analytical capacity can enable better policy design and facilitate policy learning. Previous studies mostly operationalized the concept at the individual or organizational level with survey instruments, but the lack of widely and regularly conducted surveys limits the applicability of this method. Here, we propose new indicators of policy analytical capacity at the system level, using publicly available data. Our metrics are based on the outputs such as academic journal publications, government and stakeholder publications, and think‐tank rankings. As an illustration, we apply this approach to the case of renewable energy policies in three countries: Germany, Japan, and the United States. Though each of the underlying metrics is susceptible to uncertainties and biases, a totality of the indicators presents a useful, proxy measurement of policy analytical capacity. The proposed approach can supplement the survey method by enabling longitudinal and geographical investigation into policy analytical capacity.

Assessing policy analytical capacity in contemporary governments: New measures and metrics

AbstractAssessing the policy analytical capacity (PAC) of governments has suffered in the past from the anecdotal nature of most studies, leading to different evaluations of specific analytical activities and of the overall competences and capacities of governments as a whole. What is needed to advance the field is a set of metrics that can generate insights into the capabilities of different units and how changes to their and overall government capacity develop over time. Focusing on this component of policy capacity, we map and measure the distribution of policy professionals in the provincial, territorial, and federal governments in Canada. Our measures are tested against two major findings regarding PAC: first that variation among governmental PAC varies by size of the civil service, with smaller jurisdictions likely to have less capacity, and second, that concentration of professionals in specific issue areas underscores that area's political and/or policy salience to the government concerned. Both measures prove robust in assessing Canadian government activities in these areas.Points for practitionersPolicy capacity is acknowledged as a significant perquisite for policy success.While some general frameworks exist highlighting policy relevant competences and capabilities important to policy success, how to measure these remains under‐investigated.Focusing on policy analytical capacity, this paper draws on the literature on policy professionals to develop two measures of this component of policy capacity linked to the extent to which an agency focuses on analysis and the proportion of their staff who work on the subject compared to other agencies.The measures are deployed in an illustrative case of Canada and Canadian governments at the territorial, provincial, and federal level which confirms their utility and robustness as indicators of the different levels of analytical capacity different agencies employ.

Policy analytical capacity and "Eastern" styles of policy analysis: evidence from West Java Province, Indonesia

An emerging body of scholarship suggests that "Western" notions of policy analysis may not be relevant in "Eastern" jurisdictions, and that non-Western countries, particularly in Asia, may have their own local policy analytical style or tradition. However, in many Asian countries, little is known about the work that public sector policy analysts do. Using data from a survey and focus groups, this article investigates policy analysis and analytical capacity in the provincial government of West Java, Indonesia. We find ample signs of policy analytical activity as it would be understood by Western scholars, with little evidence of any specific Asian style.

Composition, distribution, and change in Canada's federal policy staff

AbstractUsing a decade of administrative data from the Government of Canada, we provide fresh analysis of the composition and distribution of staff most formally associated with policy work, the Economics and Social Science (EC) classification. Comparative analysis across unit levels including “ministerial departments” and central agencies, as well as non‐standard organizations support but clarify the nature of the uneven distribution of policy analytical capacity across government. We demonstrate a dramatic increase in not only the overall complement of EC staff over time, particularly since 2017, but also significant growth at senior levels while junior EC staff have remained stable or declined. The findings also point to new dynamics related to the pace, orientation, and distribution of policy analytical capacity as governments gain, lose, and exercise that capacity often in the face of tough choices about how, where, and when to deploy policy resources.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – Building capacities for the use of big data algorithm systems (BDAS) in early crisis detection

Public sector organizations at all levels of government increasingly rely on Big Data Algorithmic Systems (BDAS) to support decision-making along the entire policy cycle. But while our knowledge on the use of big data continues to grow for government agencies implementing and delivering public services, empirical research on applications for anticipatory policy design is still in its infancy. Based on the concept of policy analytical capacity (PAC), this case study examines the application of BDAS for early crisis detection within the German Federal Government—that is, the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) and the Federal Ministry of Defence (FMoD). It uses the nested model of PAC to reflect on systemic, organizational, and individual capacity-building from a neoinstitutional perspective and allow for the consideration of embedded institutional contexts. Results from semi-structured interviews indicate that governments seeking to exploit BDAS in policymaking depend on their institutional environment (e.g., through research and data governance infrastructure). However, specific capacity-building strategies may differ according to the departments' institutional framework, with the FMoD relying heavily on subordinate agencies and the FFO creating network-like structures with external researchers. Government capacity-building at the individual and organizational level is similarly affected by long-established institutional structures, roles, and practices within the organization and beyond, making it important to analyze these three levels simultaneously instead of separately.

What are the prospects for deploying advanced biofuels in Canada?

This article addresses the prospects for advanced biofuels in Canada by examining whether recommendations of two literatures for overcoming the unfavourable market conditions and policy uncertainty facing advanced biofuels are met in Canada. Our empirical analyses demonstrate the presence of conditions posited by the innovation policy literature. That is, Canadian governments provide financial support for biofuels research infrastructure and private R&D, invest in training highly qualified personnel, and support knowledge creation and mobilization across industry, academia and government. However, our analyses indicate deficiencies in the conditions posited by the policy network and governance literature for policy innovation. The Canadian state's policy analytical capacity, autonomy from industry, and coordination capabilities are low, as is the organizational development of industry actors. Consistent with the recommendations of the policy network and governance literature, we conclude that improving the prospects for the Canadian advanced biofuels sector requires the Canadian government augment its personnel, expertise and budgetary resources for advanced biofuels policymaking, and strengthen its interdepartmental and intergovernmental coordination mechanisms. Greater cooperation between the two organizations representing Canada's advanced biofuels sector is also recommended.

A Comparative Assessment of Elite Policy Recruits in Canada

Recent case studies and large-N survey evidence has confirmed long-suspected shortages of public sector “policy capacity”. Studies have found that government policy workers in various jurisdictions differ considerably with respect to types of policy work they undertake, and have identified uneven capacity for policy workers to access and apply technical and scientific knowledge to public issues. This suggests considerable difficulties for government’s ability to meet contemporary policy and governance challenges. Despite growing attention to these matters, studies have not examined the “elite” policy workers many governments recruit to address these capacity shortages. Using an established survey instrument, this study of two Canadian recruitment programs provides the first comparative analysis of elite policy recruits, as policy workers. Three research questions anchor the study: (1) What is the profile of these actors? (2) What types of policy work do “elite” policy analysts actually engage in? (3) How does their policy work compare by recruitment program? The article provides fresh comparative data on the nature of elite policy work and policy analytical capacity, but, more importantly, a crucial baseline for future comparative study of how elite recruitment may facilitate “supply-side” capacity gains expected from recruitment programs.

Measuring policy analytical capacity for the environment: A case for engaging new actors

This paper discusses how varied policy analytical capacity can be evaluated at the systemic level through observed gaps in environmental data monitoring and reporting among countries. Such analytical capacity at the knowledge system level facilitates transparency and credibility needed for nation-states to cooperate on issues requiring global coordination, including “super-wicked” environmental issues like climate change. So far there has been relatively sparse attention paid to whether countries will have the ability – or policy analytical capacity – to report the necessary data and indicators required for the next round of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being proposed. In this paper, I argue that the varied policy analytical capacity within the global environmental knowledge system necessitates the participation of new institutions and actors. Identifying gaps in data availability at a global, systemic scale, this paper presents a proxy measure of policy analytical capacity based on publicly-reported national statistics of air and water quality performance. Such discrepancies evaluated at a systemic level make a case for channels by which citizen scientists, independent watchdogs, private sector companies and third-party organizations can participate to enhance the policy analytical capacity of governments.

Policy analytical capacity: The supply and demand for policy analysis in government

“Policy analytical capacity” is an important component of overall policy capacity, bringing together individual level analytical skills (competencies) and resources (capabilities) needed for the systematic evaluation of policy alternatives and practices. Despite the existence of a large body of literature on policy analysis, a more complete picture of the roles played by policy analysts in policy appraisal is needed if the nature of contemporary policy work and formulation activities and the impact and influence of higher and lower levels of capacity of governments in this area are to be better understood.

COOPERATIVE INTERACTIONS AMONG FRIENDS AND FOES OPERATING WITHIN COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS

Perhaps nowhere is the inclination to interact with friends over foes more apparent than in the realms of politics and policy, and public managers increasingly operate within collaborative governance arrangements that are highly politicized. To further the existing knowledge on policy‐based interactions, this article examines factors that lead to cooperative interactions between foes. The Advocacy Coalition Framework, Resource Dependence Theory, and Policy Analytical Capacity are utilized to examine effects of resources and beliefs on interactions of climate policy supporters and opponents within Colorado. Despite the contentious nature of climate policy, a majority of individuals interacted equally with friends and foes, with opponents more likely to interact with foes. Extreme beliefs made individuals more likely to interact with friends, while resources had mixed effects. These findings offer an improved understanding of cooperative interactions between foes, which may help public managers operating within collaborative governance arrangements to promote greater cooperation and understanding.

The Policy Analytical Capacity of the Government of Quebec: Results from a Survey of Officials

This article complements the work of Howlett et al. on the capacity of Canadian governments for public policy-making. The new public management wave was driven by the notion of a need for improved service delivery to the population. A number of authors, including Metcalfe, pointed out that the government was then neglecting management in favour of "policy advice." It was fashionable to show interest in policy but not in management. After decades spent seeking greater efficiency, have we gone too far in the other direction? Do governments have the capacity to develop public policy? Have those responsible for developing public policy received the training they require? This article addresses the Quebec portion of a set of Canada-wide surveys on the capacity for public policy-making. It complements the earlier analyses by presenting the results of a survey conducted among public servants in Quebec. We place particular emphasis on education and the training of the public servants who work on developing and formulating public policy.

A Stakeholder Analysis ofColorado Climate and Energy Issues Using Policy Analytical Capacity and the Advocacy Coalition Framework

AbstractNoticeably absent from the tools and techniques in policy analysis are methods for understanding political contexts, including the beliefs, networks, resources, and activities of policy actors. In combination,PolicyAnalyticalCapacity and theAdvocacyCoalitionFramework offer one appropriate solution. We apply both approaches to analyze theColorado climate and energy policy subsystem using questionnaire data. In the policy subsystem, we identify a large proclimate change coalition and a smaller anticlimate change coalition. Member beliefs between rival coalitions diverge in regard to the cause, severity, and solutions needed to address climate change adaptation and mitigation issues. Both coalitions report similar levels of individual and organizational capacity to generate and analyze information and to engage in similar activities and strategies. This article contributes to the public policy literature by applying bothPolicyAnalyticalCapacity and theAdvocacyCoalitionFramework and by emphasizing individual, organizational, and subsystem levels in conducting a stakeholder analysis.

The limits of policy analytical capacity: Canadian financial regulatory reform

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document Canadian financial services regulatory reform, illustrating how existing institutional fragmentation has undermined capacity to effectively learn from the global financial crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on government documents, public comments and interviews with key individuals in the reform process to document the different institutional responses to the crisis.FindingsThe case highlights concerns raised in the policy subsystems literature that the capacity for “learning”, even from events as significant as the financial crisis, can be undermined by poor institutional arrangements which create incentives for policymakers to support self interested and limited analysis.Practical implicationsThe case suggests that effective learning in a complex sector requires that there be a national regulator charged with broad independent analytical responsibilities to ensure that the industry is effectively regulated. Existing fragmentation of responsibilities, combined with the interests of the industry and the current government in deflecting new regulatory rules, has meant that existing government expertise has not been effectively deployed.Originality/valueThe paper offers an important corrective to the existing view of Canadian financial regulation and is a compelling illustration of how poor institutional arrangements and ambiguous jurisdictional responsibilities can impede effective policy capacity in relation to learning.

Policy Analytical Capacity and Policy Activities

The study of policy process involves the study of
 policy actors - people involved in the development of public
 policy in a particular geographic area. This paper investigates
 policy actors in the context of Colorado climate and
 energy issues with a particular emphasis on the types and
 levels of their engagement in policy activities. The conceptual
 framework guiding this study centers on policy analytical
 capacity, the ability to acquire and use information in the
 policy process. High policy analytical capacity is expected to
 be associated with high levels, and more diverse kinds, of
 policy activities. The findings partly confirm the expectations.
 Actors from government and the non-profit sector
 report the highest policy analytical capacity and highest and
 most diverse range of policy activities. However, researchers,
 despite relatively high levels of policy analytical capacity,
 report involvement in just a few activities beyond conducting
 research. Actors with strong educational backgrounds in the
 physical sciences are more likely to be involved in conducting
 research whereas those with strong backgrounds in the
 social sciences are more likely to be involved in evaluating
 and appraising policies and working with the public. The
 conclusion contextualizes the findings by focusing on the
 relationship between technical and scientific complexity of
 climate and energy issues and the necessity for participating
 actors to possess high levels of policy analytical capacity.