Policy Transfer Literature Research Articles

Emulating Erasmus? Turkey’s Mevlana exchange program in higher education

In today’s world, globalization and internationalization of education necessitate new initiatives to catch the new era. Turkey, as a country in between the east and the west, attempts to do so through its recent exchange program in higher education. Interestingly, Turkey’s Mevlana exchange program as an ambitious project in higher education denotes an instance of policy transfer: taking the EU model (i.e., Erasmus) and slightly adjusting it to the national circumstances. This article unpacks Turkey’s Mevlana program to demonstrate the process of policy transfer by focusing on different questions posed within the policy transfer literature. It argues that Mevlana is drawn from Erasmus, and it is created as a tool of soft power that is increasingly exercised by Turkey due to its changing focus within the Turkish foreign policy of 2000s.

Facilitators and Constraints of Policy Learning for Administrative Capacity in the Western Balkans

Abstract Drawing on the policy-transfer literature, where processes such as Europeanization accentuate the role of policy networks as facilitators or constraints in the implementation of acquis, in addition to the familiar mechanism of “conditionality”, the principal objective of this article is to explore the challenges of policy learning toward administrative-capacity building and, more specifically, the role of what I refer to here as “donor-bureaucrat-contractor” networks in the Western Balkans. By employing a qualitative methodology consisting of forty semi-structured interviews and focus groups with policymakers, donor officers, civil-society experts and consultants in the region during the period of January 2011 to December 2016, a critical analysis of aid-supported policy learning via training as a conduit to administrative capacity-building reveals a series of context-specific dimensions, such as the informality of such networks, overreliance on local NGOs as “capacitybuilding” implementation partners and the ability of the context to affect donor behaviour - all ultimately contributing to the (non-) occurrence of policy transfer. Th e overarching conclusion this article draws is that potential answers to problems with aid-supported policy learning in the region may probably lie in the invisible workings of the aforementioned networks rather than solely in the official channels of communication between Brussels and regional governments. From a policymaking standpoint, this conclusion in itself may as well be construed as a recommendation to mobilize future research surrounding the impact of such networks on European Union (EU) accession processes in the region. Th is may encourage research organizations both in the EU and the region to (re) orient future endeavors towards this dimension of administrative capacity-building - a core requirement for EU accession - especially as the EU itself faces its own enlargement dilemmas following Brexit while the region faces threats of a potential revival of “old” ethnic conflicts, both affecting the progress of administrative reforms and prospects of EU accession.

State Theory, Grassroots Agency, and Global Policy Transfer: The Life and Death of Colombia’sEscuela Nuevain Brazil (1997–2012)

This article analyzes the transfer and 15-year policy trajectory of Colombia’s “global best practice” Escuela Nueva in Brazil. This program, initially transferred to Brazil in 1997 with the help of the World Bank, was largely unknown for the first decade of its life span. Then, between 2008 and 2011, after the World Bank stopped funding the program, Escuela Nueva / Escola Ativa suddenly became one of the most well funded and controversial programs in the Brazilian Ministry of Education. Continual protest and unrest concerning the program led to its termination in 2012. This article argues that it is only possible to understand these developments through an explicit theory of the “contested” state, wherein the state’s purpose is understood as both social reproduction and mediating class conflicts. Drawing on the global policy transfer literature, this framework emphasizes the role of elite actors, transnational agencies, and grassroots mobilization in determining educational policy trajectories.

The introduction of public–private partnerships in the Netherlands as a case of institutional bricolage: The evolution of an Anglo‐Saxon transplant in a Rhineland context

In this contribution, the introduction of contractual public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the Netherlands, more specifically the use of Design, Build, Finance, Maintenance, and Operations (DBFMO) contracts in Dutch infrastructure management, is analysed using a specific strand within the policy transfer and institutional transplantation literature: that of ‘institutional bricolage’. This perspective states that policy transplants come to fit their new institutional context stepwise. This contribution reconstructs the adoption process by which the Anglo‐Saxon‐inspired PPP practice is incorporated into the traditional ‘Rhinelandic’ practice of infrastructure management in the Netherlands, identifying four waves of PPP initiatives. It concludes that these waves and the difficulties that emerge in them stem from an ongoing struggle between actor coalitions, one aiming to preserve the transplant in its original shape, and others making attempts at bricolage. Shifts in power relations explain the progress and outcomes of the process of institutional transplantation.

"Enticing case study" or "celebrated anomaly"? Policy learning from the Cuban health system.

Cuba is regarded as having achieved very good health outcomes for its level of economic development. It has adopted policies and programs that focus on prevention, universal access to healthcare, a strong primary care system, the integration of health in all policies, and public participation in health. It has also established a strong and accessible system of medical education and provides substantial medical aid and support to other countries. Why then, it may be asked, has the Cuban experience not had greater influence on health policies and reforms elsewhere? This article, based on a literature review and new primary sources, analyzes various factors highlighted in the policy transfer literature to explain this. It also notes other factors that have created greater awareness of Cuban health achievements in some countries and which provide a basis for learning lessons from its policies.

Processes of local alcohol policy-making in England: Does the theory of policy transfer provide useful insights into public health decision-making?

Recent years have seen a rise in new and innovative policies to reduce alcohol consumption and related harm in England, which can be implemented by local, as opposed to national, policy-makers. The aim of this paper is to explore the processes that underpin the adoption of these alcohol policies within local authorities. In particular, it aims to assess whether the concept of policy transfer (i.e. a process through which knowledge about policies in one place is used in the development of policies in another time or place) provides a useful model for understanding local alcohol policy-making. Qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews and focus groups from five case study sites across England were used to explore stakeholder experiences of alcohol policy transfer between local authorities. The purposive sample of policy actors included representatives from the police, trading standards, public health, licensing, and commissioning. Thematic analysis was used inductively to identify key features in the data. Themes from the policy transfer literature identified in the data were: policy copying, emulating, hybridization, and inspiration. Participants described a multitude of ways in which learning was shared between places, ranging from formal academic evaluation to opportunistic conversations in informal settings. Participants also described facilitators and constraints to policy transfer, such as the historical policy context and the local cultural, economic, and bureaucratic context, which influenced whether or not a policy that was perceived to work in one place might be transferred successfully to another context. Theories of policy transfer provide a promising framework for characterising processes of local alcohol policy-making in England, extending beyond debates regarding evidence-informed policy to account for a much wider range of considerations. Applying a policy transfer lens enables us to move beyond simple (but still important) questions of what is supported by 'robust' research evidence by paying greater attention to how policy making is carried out in practice and the multiple methods by which policies diffuse across jurisdictions.

From New Labour to Rudd/Gillard – transferring social policy

ABSTRACTFrom 2007 to 2010, there were national Labour governments in Britain and Australia, the longest and only third time this had occurred since the second World War. The period of New Labour was closing in the UK, and in Australia the Rudd government came to power after 11 years in opposition, directly influenced by the, at times, trailblazing UK Labour government. In the domain of social policy, New Labour was a source of policy inspiration and transfer. Specifically, the Rudd/Gillard governments borrowed heavily its ‘social exclusion’ agenda, and also the use of ‘compacts’ with the third sector. This article examines the policy diffusion and transfer between the UK and Australia, and in doing so offers critical insights into the policy transfer literature. The article examines the reasons for the Australian Labor Party's adoption of these policies, and links this to wider dilemmas and identity crisis that are afflicting centre-left governments across the globe.

Basic Income in Our Time: Improving Political Prospects Through Policy Learning?

AbstractFollowing the success of a recent Swiss Citizens’ Initiative to grant each citizen an unconditional income guarantee and the Finnish Government's plans to conduct the first national pilot project, the idea of a basic income as a citizens’ right has gained much prominence in the policy debate. This article reviews a number of policy developments on the ground through the lens of the policy transfer literature. In the absence of a fully developed basic income in place, proponents must rely on partially implemented schemes or proposals that differ in crucial respects from the basic income ideal. This paper outlines three sets of empirical cases and analyses what (if any) lessons we can draw from them regarding the future of basic income schemes.

Learning by doing: the case of administrative policy transfer in China

ABSTRACTThis article explores of the role of policy transfer in facilitating the rise and consolidation of the ‘Reform and Open Door Policy' in China. It builds upon the seminal Dolowitz and Marsh [Dolowitz, D., and D. Marsh. 1996. “Who Learns What From Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature.” Political Studies 44: 343–357; Dolowitz, D., and D. Marsh. 2000. “Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making.” Governance 13 (1): 5–23] framework to provide an examination of processes of administrative policy transfer which it argues are broadly indicative of the dynamics of change underpinning the incremental process of reform. It is observed that the reforms under study have not been characterized by rational policy design underpinned by evidence-based policy-making in which issues of cultural assimilation were emphasized. Rather, the implementation process itself has been used to affect processes of adaptation. Policy transfer in China can best be described as learning by doing.

The OECD and “The Rest”: Analyzing the Limits of Policy Transfer

Prompted by the rise of the emerging economies and the growing importance of the G20, the OECD has formally announced its intention of establishing itself as a key actor in global policy coordination. As part of this ambition, it has embarked on cultivating closer relations with five G20 countries it designated as key partners through the so-called “Enhanced Engagement” programme: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. This article mobilizes concepts from the policy transfer literature to explain why the OECD’s attempts to increasingly involve all five countries in its policy have fallen short of its original ambitions, and also why the transfer of its policy work has been uneven across policy and country issue.

Adapting to climate-induced sea level rise on the Gold Coast: lessons from the Netherlands

Sea level rise poses significant risks to the Gold Coast, which is particularly vulnerable to coastal retreat, inundation and flooding. Drawing on policy transfer literature as the conceptual framework, this paper aims to draw lessons from the Netherlands, as an exemplar of adaptive flood management, to inform the future direction of adaptation to sea level rise on the Gold Coast. On both the Gold Coast and in the Netherlands, the traditional approach taken to adapt to sea level rise has been characterised by a structural approach to protect properties through flood defences. However, the Dutch Government has recently acknowledged the need to adopt a proactive approach to water management and accommodate water through spatial planning initiatives to minimise long-term risk from climate change. From the Dutch experience, three important lessons can be drawn: (1) the need to use spatial planning to accommodate water; (2) the need to adopt a proactive approach to climate adaptation; and (3) the importance of a strong centralised approach to water management. As the current adaptation framework in the Netherlands reflects centuries of experimenting with flood mitigation, these lessons should be of particular interest to Australian planners and policy-makers.

The Negotiation and Contestation of EU Migration Policy Instruments: A Research Framework

Abstract This article develops a research framework for the analysis of the politics of migration policy instruments. Policy instruments are seen as living instruments; they evolve and develop similar to moving targets. A scholar interested in this field of research may focus either on the establishment of a given instrument or on its use. The question of an instrument’s design relates to the policy transfer literature focusing on how certain policies move from one setting to another. In the context of a policy transfer, actors from the other – ‘receiving’ – institutional setting negotiate and, potentially, contest or reinterpret a policy instrument. The evolution of policy instruments once adopted in a specific institutional context is a second area of interest. The original goals can be diluted throughout the implementation process notably due to tensions between intergovernmental and supranational actors, or sticky institutionalization, which is characterized by path-dependencies. Often the choice of new instruments derives from an inefficiency or loss of credibility of past instruments. This editorial therefore seeks to make a twofold contribution: first it investigates the added-value of a policy instrument approach to the study of migration; second it furthers research on the external dimension of EU migration policy.

The importance of feedback: Policy transfer, translation and the role of communication

In recent years, translation has begun to be employed in multidisciplinary policy studies as a more constructivist alternative to the established policy transfer literature. While both transfer and translation acknowledge the complex nature of communication in the adaptation of policies to new contexts, they are yet to investigate the impact of communication types on the modification of policies. This study draws upon public relations theory in order to develop four modes of translation in the transfer of policy. The modes are utilized as a means of illustrating how two-way communication between both borrowers and lenders, and borrowers and policy stakeholders is most likely to increase the chances of policy success. The practicality of the theoretical model is illustrated through examples of congestion charge translation in Stockholm and Greater Manchester.

The Inclusion of Nonsafety Criteria within the Regulatory Framework of Agricultural Biotechnology: Exploring Factors that Are Likely to Influence Policy Transfer

AbstractPolicy makers of various countries are exposed to critiques that call for the consideration of issues that transcend human, animal, and environmental safety concerns when assessing agricultural biotechnology products. While some jurisdictions have decided to broaden the scope of their approval process for genetically modified (GM) foods, this paper analyzes legal, political, and economic factors that can influence the transfer of these initiatives. Drawing on mechanisms presented in the policy transfer literature, this article examines their mixed effects pertaining to the regulation of biotechnology. Although the mechanisms of competition and coercion do not preclude such a possibility, one must admit that they do not create any incentives for policy makers to include nonsafety criteria within biotechnology regulations. By contrast, to varying degrees, the mechanisms of mimicry and learning can foster the transfer of such a broadened scope that allows a better assessment of GM foods' social acceptability.

Making Markets: Think Tank Legislation and Private Property in Detroit

The growing literature on shrinking and declining cities portrays the problems of vacancy and abandonment as symptoms of the absence of capital, while the policy transfer literature views declining cities as unlikely sites for the incubation of neoliberal urban policy. This study examines how declining cities have become key sites for tailored market intervention, focusing on the collapse of Detroit's land market. Long-term decline has been exacerbated by legislative changes orchestrated by think tanks seeking to reinvigorate the market for private property while using homeownership for neighborhood stabilization. Analysis of legislative proceedings, tax foreclosure auction data, and interviews with developers, officials, and activists document the trajectory of these policies of market fundamentalism and indicate that the primary “stabilization” has involved a revitalization of the conditions for predatory capital accumulation in a declining city.

Policy Diffusion and Policy Transfer in Comparative Welfare State Research

AbstractFor many years, comparative welfare state research has followed a ‘methodological nationalism’ in the sense that countries were treated as independent units. Yet the recent ‘spatial turn’ in comparative politics has also influenced welfare state research. For some years now, the field has been witnessing a growing interest in questions about interdependencies and policy diffusion between countries. In this article, we provide a structured overview of the state of the art in the policy diffusion and transfer literature that deals specifically with social policy. We present and critically evaluate existing theoretical concepts and quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches that enable the analysis of interdependencies between countries. Moreover, we summarize the empirical findings of quantitative and qualitative studies on the diffusion and transfer of social policy, from some pioneering studies to the latest findings. Against this background we point out what we believe to be promising avenues for future research. We focus on five areas: theoretical work on the mechanisms underlying diffusion and transfer; methodological approaches; the impact of domestic institutions and policy characteristics on social policy diffusion and transfer; programme‐specific dynamics; and the systematic combination of horizontal and vertical interdependencies.

Policy transfer: coming of age and learning from the experience

Policy transfer research has been something of a growth industry, reflected in the fact that Google Scholar identifies 17 articles on the subject with more than 100 citations. Of course, as an earlier issue of Policy Studies indicated, the concept and its use have not gone unquestioned. However, the contributors to this volume, for the most part, argue that the study of policy transfer has matured significantly over the last two decades. In order to substantiate this point, we engage here with the article by McCann and Ward which begins this volume. It is an excellent and important example of such a critique, but, in our view, they are a trifle unfair about what they see as the ‘mainstream’, political science approach to the study of policy transfer. As such, we briefly outline McCann and Ward's critique, before considering the later articles in this collection which indicate how these critiques have been, and are being, addressed in the mainstream policy transfer literature. Subsequently, we briefly consider the ontological and epistemological positions which underpin the differences between the approaches of McCann and Ward and the mainstream literature.

Big Brothers Big Sisters comes to Ireland: A case study in policy transfer

Abstract Over the past decade, formal youth mentoring programmes have been adopted in many countries but there has been relatively little attention in the mentoring literature to the processes by which mentoring models developed in the USA have become embedded in these new policy environments. Using a conceptual framework from the policy transfer literature (Evans, 2009) which identifies obstacles to the successful transfer of policy models, this paper analyses the processes by which the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) youth mentoring programme was introduced to and became accepted in Ireland. Firstly, it is argued that that the decisions made by the host organisation, Foroige prior to the introduction of the BBBS programme to Ireland had a critical influence on the degree to which mentoring became established in Ireland and whether or not it would be ‘culturally accepted’. In particular, the approach of emulation rather than copying of the original BBBS model was an effective one. Secondly, the mentoring model is seen to fit well with Irish policy relating to children and young people. Thirdly, embedding the BBBS model within an established community based youth organisation helped to overcome any potential cultural issues that may have arisen from ‘importing’ a model developed in a country with a strong cultural tradition of formal mentoring to one where such a tradition does not exist. Finally, the new policy model was found to be feasible to implement. These four factors helped to ensure that the BBBS programme became successfully established in an Irish policy context. It is argued that the policy transfer literature can enhance our understanding of why formal mentoring models succeed or fail in new policy environments.

Policy transfer and learning in the field of transport: A review of concepts and evidence

This paper presents a state-of-art review of why and how policies and policy lessons in the transport planning arena are transferred between cities. It begins by drawing on literature from the fields of political science, public administration, organisational learning and management to outline a conceptual framework for policy transfer and learning. This framework is then used to structure a review of policy transfer literature in the fields of transport and planning policy. Although there is only a limited amount of literature on policy transfer in this field, the findings suggest that transport has much in common with other areas of public policy in terms of the main aspects and influences on policy transfer. As well as being part of a process for introducing new ideas into countries or cities, policy transfer in the transport sector (as in other areas of public policy) can also be a highly politicised process that seeks to justify preferred solutions. Little is known about the relative importance of different parts of the transfer process or the extent to which learning about policies in other areas can influence the effectiveness of policy design in the transport arena and/or policy outcomes. The paper concludes with some research and methodological recommendations that may help to answer these questions. It is suggested that policy transfer concepts can be important to both practitioners and researchers in the transport arena, particularly given the pressures to seek solutions to accelerate progress to a more sustainable future.

Policy transfer and the introduction of road pricing in Valletta, Malta

Charging motorists to pay for driving at times and/or in places where there is insufficient capacity to meet the level of demand has long been recognised by transport economists as an efficient way to address traffic congestion. However, only a few locations have actually decided to use this mechanism, with Valletta one of the more recent cities to introduce such a scheme. This paper aims to present a case study of road pricing in Valletta and the role played by policy transfer in its introduction. To do this, it applies data gathered from existing literature, in-depth interviews and direct observation with those involved in the policy development. Experience of road pricing was gained from London, Durham, Edinburgh and Stockholm. One of the major barriers to policy transfer was felt to be the unique geography of the island however international events, local conditions and a political champion driving change were critical factors to the successful implementation of the road pricing scheme. Policy transfer was deemed useful in terms of policy development, relations with stakeholders, scheme design and administrative approaches. This paper concludes by identifying the contributions of the case study of Valletta to the policy transfer literature.