Policy Feedback Research Articles

Unpacking the effects of burdensome state actions on citizens' policy perceptions

AbstractAdministrative burdens appear to influence citizens' perceptions of welfare policies and attitudes toward beneficiaries. However, empirical evidence that has disentangled different state actions' effects on policy perceptions is scarce. We applied a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial survey experiment and manipulated the conceptually distinct state actions implemented in German unemployment benefits. We investigated whether and how exposure to learning demands, compliance demands, and sanctions affected citizens' prejudices against beneficiaries, policy support, and perceived legitimacy. The results from a sample of 1602 German citizens indicate that those confronted with program sanctions exhibit less policy support and expect higher policy spending. Similarly, sanctions decreased the Federal Employment Agency's perceived legitimacy. These results have implications for administrative burden and policy feedback research. Distinguishing different state actions provides nuances to assess policy feedback effects. Practitioners should consider whether program sanctions are necessary because they evoke unintended policy feedback effects.

Universal Health Coverage with Private Options: The Politics of Turkey’s 2008 Health Reform

Over the past decades, countries across the Global South have been adopting expansionary health reforms and are increasingly doing so under the banner of promoting universal health coverage. But countries have taken notably different approaches regarding the inclusion of private actors in their expanding healthcare systems. In this article, we explore the political causes and consequences of partial privatization in the context of healthcare expansion. We conduct a case study of Turkey’s 2008 health reform, which coupled substantial coverage expansion with the introduction of private options in provision and financing—and has since been branded as a global “success story” of achieving universal health coverage. Specifically, we seek to explain why Turkey introduced private options with its expansionary health reform and what kind of policy feedback effects this has triggered. We find that private options were incorporated into the reform as the result of persistent business lobbying and pro-market changes in the leadership of the health ministry and not because of any international coercion, e.g., by the World Bank. The introduction of these private options has since led to the growth of private hospital and insurance markets and the political entrenchment of partial privatization.

A wind of change in Norway: Explaining shifts in municipal stances on wind power by policy feedback and energy justice

Despite the growing need for renewable electricity, wind power development has not proceeded smoothly. This study examines the shifting stances on wind power development in Norwegian municipalities. By developing and applying a combined policy feedback and energy justice framework, we investigate how experiences from earlier wind power policies have affected the positions of municipal councils. Through a systematic text analysis of municipal council responses to a national consultation on the siting of wind power installations, combined with data from interviews in selected municipalities, we show how considerations of distributional, procedural and recognition justice, stemming from experiences with wind power policies and developments, have moulded the shift in municipal council stances. Our analysis makes clear the essential role of perceptions of justice in connection with strategies for raising acceptance of wind power development as part of the ongoing energy transition.

Illiberal democracy and nutrition advocacy

AbstractMotivationAcross the world, illiberal democracy is on the rise. These majoritarian polities limit individual rights and undermine protections for minorities. Civil society organizations (CSOs) that support human rights and freedom of speech and association in these settings can be repressed.PurposeHow does illiberal democracy impact CSOs that lobby for economic and human development? We examine how illiberal democracy affects organizations advocating for nutrition. Ostensibly, improved nutrition is a valence issue that does not threaten a government's hold on power. But nutrition advocacy may mean criticizing a government's policies and programmes, and hence be seen by governments as hostile.Methods and approachWe focus on India, where illiberal democracy has become more pronounced over the last decade. Structured interviews were conducted in 2021 with three dozen advocacy organizations, donors, and government stakeholders who work on nutrition policy in India. We analyse how the financing of nutrition organizations, access to policy‐making, and advocacy have been affected under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).We divide CSOs into organizations that focus on the design of nutrition programmes, those that prioritize evidence‐based nutrition policies, and those that advocate for the food and nutrition rights of certain communities, including those who are often marginalized.FindingsNutrition advocacy organizations' access to finance has been hampered by amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Partisan ideology and low tolerance of policy accountability affects nutrition CSOs' access to policy debates and decision‐making. Fears about freedom of expression and its impacts on renewal of organizational registrations make the CSOs more timid in their advocacy.These changes disproportionately affect CSOs that focus on evidence and, above all, those that stand up for rights.Policy implicationsAssessments of enabling environments for nutrition policy need to consider better how partisan ideologies and political settlements exclude some groups in society. Moreover, given that illiberal democracy further weakens the value of evidence in policy‐making, donors need to consider how they present evidence and policy feedback when governments see criticism as hostile and politically motivated. Donors also need to consider what illiberal democracy implies for their efforts to support local CSOs: they should be aware that their support can sometimes undermine the legitimacy of CSOs in the eyes of national governments.

Ideas, Policy Feedback and the American Political Economy

In their volume The American Political Economy, Jacob S. Hacker et al. seek to renew the study of American political economy (APE) through a direct engagement with other areas of political science, including and especially comparative political economy (CPE). In the introduction of their volume, they lay out the foundations of APE as both a field of research and an approach to American politics that seeks to contribute to the study of the United States as well as to the broader discipline of political science. In this review essay, I will discuss the APE as an intellectual project to stress its key assumptions and its potential contribution to the study of politics and public policy, in the United States and beyond. Then, I will discuss two key issues that, while not explicitly central to APE as developed in The American Political Economy, could help enrich this novel approach. These two issues are policy feedback, a concept already prominent in the institutionalist tradition APE draws on, and the role of ideas in politics, which in recent decades has gained more currency in the study of politics, public policy and CPE.

Coalition cascades: The politics of tipping points in clean energy transitions

AbstractPolicy change often involves multiple policy subsystems, as in the case of clean energy transitions. We argue that trans‐subsystem policy feedback is a central dynamic in policy change across subsystems. Policy in one subsystem creates benefits/costs and/or learning effects that mobilize actors for policy change in another subsystem, resulting in “coalition cascades” across interdependent subsystems. If coalition cascades lead to the resolution of coordination problems across subsystems, the system reaches a tipping point in policy change. Coalition cascades are thus the transmission belts of trans‐subsystem policy feedback. We illustrate our argument in the case of California's clean energy transition. We show how early renewable energy policy spilled over into the subsystems on grid policy—leading to energy storage policy—and on transport policy—resulting in electric vehicle charging policy. The article advances our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning trans‐subsystem policy change, offering a model of the politics of tipping points.

Measuring up in a pandemic: information attention, source credibility, and public evaluation of the government COVID-19 response in mainland China

This study examines the interaction effects of attention to COVID-19 information and perceived source credibility on the evaluation of government performance in the Hubei province of mainland China; the study is based on two waves of panel data drawn from a sample of 1896 respondents. The results demonstrated that COVID-19 information attention positively influences the evaluation of both central and local government performance. These direct relationships are contingent on the perceived source credibility of central and local government institutions, but they are not influenced by the perceived credibility of social media sources. More interestingly, there is a negative moderating effect of the perceived credibility of local institution sources on the relationship between COVID-19 information attention and the evaluation of central government performance. This study extends the current research on the impacts of information consumption on political attitudes by integrating various theories or hypotheses (e.g. cognitive media model, attitudinal policy feedback, message persuasion, and informational incongruity).

External stakeholders in the governance of slums in Ghana

PurposeIn the space of slums are many stakeholders; the extent to which their assistance contributes to slum administration is sparsely studied. The study aims to examine how external stakeholders contribute to slum administration within the Ghanaian context.Design/methodology/approachUsing the stakeholder theory, the study used an exploratory qualitative design based on face-to-face, in-depth interviews among 21 respondents. Participants were purposively selected from stakeholder organisations and slum residents based on the stake in slums governance in Ghana.FindingsThe results indicate that stakeholders have contributed towards slums livelihoods in the general areas of housing, trading, skill development and capacity building. It shows that stakeholders’ contributions tend to enhance slums’ living conditions and affect local assemblies positively. The study finds that slum dwellers categorise stakeholders’ contributions as short-term relief and long-term solutions. Additionally, it emerged that in the areas of policy design, implementation and policy feedback, external stakeholders have supported the government in that regard.Research limitations/implicationsThe conclusion drawn from the study is limited to the four communities and the stakeholder organisations. However, communities with similar characteristics globally might benefit from the findings.Practical implicationsThe study uncovers a context-specific role and assistance of external stakeholders in the domain of slums. This provides a guide to the government regarding key areas of stakeholder collaboration towards slum governance in the Ghanaian context. Theoretically, this study has contributed to new knowledge about stakeholders’ contribution to the overall governance of slums.Originality/valueThe study expands the frontiers of knowledge in the field of slum administration by focusing on external stakeholders. This study departs from previous studies, which have examined, in broader perspectives, stakeholders’ roles within the space of slums.

The impact of self-reinforcing and self-undermining policy feedback on Mexican social policy: the end of the conditional cash transfer programme

The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019. CCTs seek to fight poverty under a social investment logic by promoting the formation of human capital through the compliance of behavioural conditionalities. The programme – the first of its kind introduced at national level – accomplished several achievements and was maintained and developed by three successive federal administrations. As the backbone of anti-poverty policy for more than two decades, its achievements included delivering positive results to a significant proportion of the population; and triggering the expansion of social policy beyond social insurance. As a result, it was emulated by governments across the globe. A programme of these characteristics would have been expected to generate path dependency and policy stability, yet it was swiftly terminated with practically no opposition. This article applies a framework of historical institutionalism to analyse the feedback effects developed during the duration of the programme from the perspectives of beneficiaries, in order to contribute to the explanation of its termination. The research is based on qualitative empirical data from interviews with former beneficiaries. Our findings show that self-undermining mechanisms linked to a ‘hard’ design and implementation of conditionalities counterbalanced the self-reinforcing mechanisms derived from the benefits supplied by the programme, causing beneficiaries to become apathetic towards its continuity or termination. Conclusions yield theoretical insights that might serve to examine policy feedback in similar contexts, as well as lessons for policymakers regarding the design and implementation of social programmes.

The Right and the (Provincial) Welfare State: The Case of the Coalition Avenir Québec Government

AbstractIn this article, we study how political parties located on the right of the political spectrum adapt to changing electoral and political constraints. Drawing on the concept of policy feedback, we turn to the politics of social policy in the province of Quebec to show that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), a right-wing party, embraced a more centrist strategy than the preferences of its electoral base would suggest. The CAQ has rejected the austerity policies associated with the previous government and has favoured social policy expansion rather than tax cuts or a quicker return to balanced budgets. We then explore the reasons for this move toward the centre. Our evidence suggests that self-reinforcing feedback effects from existing policies shape public opinion and electoral strategies, which contribute to moderating the actions of this right-wing governing party.

Workfare and Attitudes toward the Unemployed: New Evidence on Policy Feedback from 1990 to 2018

To what extent, and under what conditions, have workfare reforms shaped public opinion towards the unemployed? This article unpacks the punitive and enabling dimensions of the workfare turn and examines how changes to the rights and obligations of the unemployed have influenced related policy preferences. To do so, it presents a novel dataset on these reforms across a diverse set of welfare states and investigates potential feedback effects by combining our data with four waves of survey data from Europe and North America. Results suggest that while enabling measures generate more lenient attitudes towards the unemployed, punitive measures have no clear effect on public opinion – but they do accentuate the gap between the preferences of high- and low-income individuals. This leads us to conclude that the trend towards punitive and enabling measures since the 1980s has not broadly undermined solidarity with the unemployed, though it has increased income-based polarization.

Influence analysis and promotion countermeasures of green finance policy in China-Traceability based on grounded theory and validation using the csQCA method.

Green finance is closely related to sustainable energy development. Using the NVivo12plus software, a governance model of China's green finance policy was constructed using 22 green finance policy texts at the central level as research objects. Furthermore, based on the csQCA method, Tosmana software was used to develop and verify a theoretical model of 19 policy text cases. The research results demonstrate that policy belief, policy objectives, policy tools, policy feedback, and policy cycle are the main components of China's green finance policy governance. Furthermore, policy instruments are the fundamental factors affecting the governance effectiveness of China's green finance policy. Policy goals and policy feedback dominate the influence pattern of green finance policy in China. There are three modes driving the influence of green finance policies: regulation-oriented, collaborative-driven, and tool-guided. Finally, for the optimization and improvement of green finance policies, three forces must be improved: stimulus force, driving force, and promotion force.

Sowing the seeds of change: Policy feedback and ratcheting up in South African energy policy

More ambitious and stringent policy intervention is required to accelerate the transition to renewable energy technologies. The ratcheting-up of policy ambition hinges on the political feasibility of policy change. Positive policy feedback can, in theory, enhance the political feasibility of ratcheting-up by creating pro-change constituencies and policy learning. To analyze the empirical mechanisms through which policy feedback operates, in this study, we analyze two energy policy instruments in South Africa. We examine how the Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Program (REIPPP), a renewable energy auction program for niche support, affected the re-design of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a central energy planning instrument. We use a qualitative case study approach, drawing on a large dataset of policy documents, public consultation responses and expert interviews. We show that REIPPP, through mechanisms of largely positive interpretive and resource feedback, has increased the political feasibility of more ambitious, pro-renewable energy planning in IRP. Our case thus demonstrates positive political feedback from the market creation to the central planning policy instrument. The findings suggest that the temporal sequencing of (re-designing) policy instruments can, under certain conditions, enable dynamic ratcheting up of energy policy mixes and thus sow the seeds for major policy change.

Tax principles, policy feedback and self-interest: cross-national experimental evidence on wealth tax preferences

Abstract Rising wealth inequality and squeezed public budgets has brought wealth tax back into policy discussions. A net wealth tax might help to boost state revenue and reduce wealth inequality. Yet little is known about citizens’ attitudes towards the design of a net wealth tax (i.e. the tax unit, exemption and rate). Using a novel multifactorial survey experiment, we examine citizens’ endorsement of fundamental principles of taxation. Building on policy feedback theory, we examine if preferences differ in three policy arenas (USA, Germany and UK) and whether individuals’ reasoning is dependent on self-interest. While a clear majority in all three countries generally endorses a wealth tax, our findings show that citizens care more about the amount exempted than the tax unit or rate. We do not identify a preference for any specific tax unit. Furthermore, tax preferences seem to be strikingly similar among citizens of all three countries. Yet we show that individuals are mostly concerned about not being personally affected by such a tax, which is reflected in their preference for substantial exemptions. We discuss our findings with regard to our understanding of wealth inequality, tax equity and the potential implications for policymakers.

Making Social Welfare Policy in America: Three Case Studies since 1950

Making Social Welfare Policy in America: Three Case Studies since 1950

Editorial Introduction: Contributing to the policy process literatures

Editorial Introduction: Contributing to the policy process literatures

Weakly institutionalized, heavily contested: Does support for contemporary welfare reforms rely on norms of distributive justice?

AbstractThree reforms each appealing to a different logic of (re)distribution are strongly politicized in contemporary welfare states: means-tested benefits, demanding activation policies and basic income schemes. While the policy design of means-tested benefits relies on the distributive justice principle of need, demanding activation policies are intrinsically related to the principle of equity and basic income schemes depend on equality. Based on the moral economy and policy feedback literatures, which assume that public opinion adapts to the normative conceptions of justice encapsulated by institutions, attitudes towards these welfare reforms are expected to be grounded on these distributive logics. However, as these reforms are weakly institutionalized and their underlying principles are politically contested, the normative foundation of their public support remains unclear. This study investigates how distributive justice preferences shape support for these proposals by applying structural equation modelling on data from the CRONOS panel linked to the European Social Survey round 8 (2016/2017). Results indicate that only basic income schemes and demanding activation policies are to some extent connected to each of the justice principles. Overall, this study nevertheless indicates that the justice principles have limited explanatory power, which confirms that attitudes towards contemporary welfare reforms rely weakly on justice norms.

Policy Feedback & Research Methods: How Qualitative Research Designs With Marginalized Groups Inform Theory

As a body of literature that informs and analyzes the effects of policy, policy feedback research will benefit from more qualitative research designs with marginalized populations. Qualitative research designs allow for theoretical and conceptual development, as well as ensure multiple perspectives are fully captured. This article argues that qualitative methods with different populations will expand applications of policy feedback theory and lead to critical insights for its development. Three examples of potential areas of theory development are outlined including informing the variable of participation, examining more nuanced effects of specific policy elements, and understanding the interactions of multiple policies. The article concludes with the suggestion of more mixed-method designs utilizing qualitative approaches involving participants to test existing hypotheses and inform new relationships. Policy feedback theory raises vital questions of democratic legitimacy and policy effectiveness that benefit from research conducted with, and informed by, marginalized populations.

Examining policy feedback effects from COVID-19 on social welfare support: developing an outcome distance dimension

Can experience with one set of policies result in support for a set of different, but related, policies? To show how this is possible, we develop a new dimension of policy feedback effects missing from prior studies – outcome distance. We then examine what we call a middle-distance outcome and apply this concept to the case of welfare attitudes in the United States. A novel counterfactual survey design is used to estimate the within-subject effects of experience with pandemic-related relief efforts (that is, stimulus checks, unemployment assistance) on attitudes towards broader welfare programmes like TANF, SNAP, SSI and Medicaid. The evidence suggests that attitudes towards broader welfare initiatives may have become more supportive as a result of the pandemic and associated policies, implying that specific policies and events can have feedback effects on outcomes that are some medium-distance away, such as other policies of a similar type. Future research ought to further explore this proposed dimension of feedback effects.

DIGITAL SPACE AND POLITICAL STABILITY OF RUSSIA

Today digital space is one of the most significant social niches. The unique value-behavioral patterns related to basic spheres of social life, including political-administrative field, are formed within it. On the one hand, digital space requires more time from many modern people, on the other hand, the latter declare their needs in new ways, creating social request and present-day problem field. As a result, misunderstanding and lack of precision in understanding such requests by authorities can lead to formation of vacuum in the informational picture of the world, which other political actors, as a rule, pretend to fill, including those who pursue destructive goals. All that radically changes requirements not only for the level of interaction and dialogue between authorities and society but also for the principles of the interaction. Ignoring the mentioned state of affairs can involve risks of political stability and safety of states. The given article is aimed at identifying peculiarities of political-administrative digital space in Russia and defining possible preventive works for exclusion and neutralization of this kind of threats. According to the central conclusion of the article, the key step in this direction should be development of channels and mechanisms of policy feedback in the digital space allowing authorities to understand social requests and problem field of society timely and as accurately as possible and prevent the political picture of the world from distortion of social-political reality. All this should contribute to the formation of the so-called “social immunity”, which is extremely necessary for maintain political stability in the current conditions.