Processes Of Policy Change Research Articles

A Kaleidoscope Model to address the Construction 4.0 policy changes in Malaysia

The current era of Industry 4.0, driven by advanced technologies, holds immense potential for revolutionising various industries and fostering substantial economic growth. However, comprehending intricate processes of policy change poses difficulties, impeding necessary adaptations. Public apprehensions are growing about the inertia and efficacy of policy changes, given the influential role of policy environments in shaping development amidst resource constraints. To address these concerns, the study introduces the Kaleidoscope Model of policy change, serving as a roadmap for policymakers to enact effective changes. The study investigates the mediating impact of cultural change within the framework of the Kaleidoscope Model. The study delves into cultural influences by incorporating the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) Theory. The methodology involves questionnaires survey, analysing using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The findings reveal that only the Policy Adoption and Policy Implementation components significantly affect the assessment of the effectiveness of the Construction 4.0 policy. Intriguingly, the final model demonstrates no discernible connection between the Kaleidoscope Model and the cultural influences. This study makes a noteworthy contribution to the realm of political science by furnishing a comprehensive framework and directives for the successful implementation of the Construction 4.0 policy.

Evidence uptake is only part of the process: Stakeholders' insights on WHO treatment guideline recommendation processes for radical cure of P. vivax malaria.

Health policy processes should be evidence-informed, transparent and timely, but these processes are often unclear to stakeholders outside the immediate policymaking environment. We spoke to 36 international malaria stakeholders to gain insights on the processes involved in the World Health Organization's Global Malaria Programme's recommendations for their treatment guidelines of P. vivax malaria. Four key themes which drew on the 3i policy framework and Shiffman's four factors that influence global and national policymaking were identified to understand these processes. Triggers for policy change and change prioritisation, evidence types that inform policy, effects of funding on decision-making processes, and transparency and communication of these processes to external stakeholders. Results indicate that more clarity is needed on what triggers global malaria policy change processes, a clearer justification of evidence types used to inform policymaking, better understanding of the impact of the WHO's funding model on policymaking and further transparency and improved communication of these processes to external stakeholders is also needed. We suggest that global malaria policymaking could be improved by using the following strategies: ensuring that identified triggers actually initiate the policy change process, expediting decision-making timelines by developing a priority framework for assessing new evidence, adopting suitable frameworks to assess contextual evidence, and increasing the transparency of the role of non-state funders in policy decision-making processes and when publishing new recommendations.

Canadian Public Policy: The State of the Discipline

AbstractThis article examines the state of the English-language peer-reviewed literature published over the 2011–2021 period whose objective is to describe and explain processes of development of Canadian public policies and their consequences. It first presents a profile of the surveyed literature's attention to different policy sectors, elements of public policy, and its chosen methodologies to study them. It then examines the empirical and theoretical contributions of the literature to uncovering the constitutive actors and their interactions in policy processes in policy domains of Canadian jurisdictions; the logics of chosen policy instruments and their distributive effects; and the interactions among Canada's structural, institutional and ideational features and policy actors’ motivations and behaviour with processes of policy innovation, continuity and change. A foremost contribution of Canadian policy studies to comparative policy studies is to demonstrate the causal impacts of the interaction of institutional, structural and ideational/cultural factors on processes of policy development.

Frontline organizations as experimental settings for policy change: why public management matters even more

ABSTRACT Termed here as Street-Level Policy Innovation, this study shifts attention to public managers’ role in policy change processes during which local street-level implementation adaptations are later formally adopted as a new policy instrument. The study develops an analytical framework drawing on the case of the Free Sidewalk program in Mexico. In summary three processes emerge such as the re-design of implementation arrangements, the accumulation of evidence, and the adoption of the experimented instrument as a formal policy change. The article contributes to understanding the role of frontline organizations as settings where managers explore, experience, and experiment with new policy instruments.

Agenda governamental brasileira: prioridades e mudanças na dinâmica da atenção sobre a distribuição orçamentária da União (2000-2021)

Abstract Studies on policy agenda have adopted several indicators to measure the attention and priorities of governments to analyze the processes of policy change and policy dynamics. Based on the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) applied on the patterns of policy change, the distribution of the public budget has stood out as one of the instruments that best express the levels of attention and priority for governments in different sectors. This study seeks to investigate the pattern of government attention on the federal budget distribution in Brazil. Thus, this work maps the dynamics of government attention on the distribution of the federal approved budget over the last two decades (2000-2021), identifying (i) what are the percentage levels of attention to the different sectors of public policies over time and (ii) the conjunctural and institutional factors that guide the levels of government attention in the budget distribution of the federal government in Brazil. A database of the federal approved budget from 2000 to 2021 was created, in which the 814 combinations of expenditure functions and subfunctions were coded into 21 sectors according to the methodology of the Comparative Agenda Project (CAP). The results indicate that government attention on the distribution of the Brazilian federal budget operates in a mostly incremental pattern over time, permeated by punctuations in specific sectoral policies, thus proving the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory at the national level. As for future research agenda, the study shows the need for further sectoral studies that explain the causes and effects of changes on government attention, their relationships with the legislative agenda, and the impacts of moments of institutional crisis in defining priorities in budget distribution.

The processes of transport and public health policy change: 20mph speed limits in Edinburgh and Belfast

BackgroundIn 2016, large scale 20mph speed limits were implemented in the cities of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). The fact that both cities succeeded in implementing 20mph speed limit interventions is important. They illustrate the processes of transport and public health policy change. This paper describes how 20mph speed limit interventions became a reality in the two cities. MethodsWe adopted a qualitative case study method. Data were collected from available documents and interviews with stakeholders involved in the pre-implementation processes. Documents and interviews were analysed inductively using thematic analysis, and separately for each city. ResultsFive main themes were generated through the analysis: the national policy context of the two cities; political leadership; support for 20mph; opposition; and the key actions involved prior to implementation. ConclusionsIn both cities the process took place over at least a ten year period and was piecemeal. However, the gradualist approach proved successful in gaining support for the schemes and minimising political and public backlash. These examples of policy success in Edinburgh and Belfast provide useful learning for other jurisdictions planning or thinking about similar transport and public health policy changes.

Beyond "Lack of Political Will": Elaborating Political Economy Concepts to Advance "Thinking and Working Politically" Comment on "Health Coverage and Financial Protection in Uganda: A Political Economy Perspective".

Political economy analysis (PEA) has been advanced as critical to understanding the political dimensions of policy change processes. However, political economy (PE) is not a theory on its own but draws on several concepts. Nannini et al, in concert with other scholars, emphasise that politics is characterised by conflict, contestation and negotiation over interests, ideas and power as various agents attempt to influence their context. This commentary reflects how Nannini et al wrestled with these PEA concepts - summarised in their conceptual framework used for PEA of the Ugandan case study on financial risk protection reforms. The central premise is that a common understanding of the PEA concepts (mainly structure-agency interactions, ideas, interests, institutions and power) forms a basis for strategies to advance thinking and working politically. Consequently, I generate several insights into how we can promote politically informed approaches to designing, implementing and evaluating policy reforms and development efforts.

Beleidsdiskriminasie, verandering en entrepreneurskap: Beperkte politieke regte vir "Kleurlinge" in Suid-Afrika tot 1979

Hierdie artikel kontekstualiseer, verduidelik en beoordeel die ontwikkeling van politieke regte vir "Kleurlinge" in Suid-Afrika, tot 1979. Dit word gedoen vanuit die teoretiese perspektief van beleidsentrepreneurs wat verskillende persoonlike, professionele en ander sosiale netwerke tot hulle beskikking gebruik om direkte beleidsbeïnvloeding te doen. Die artikel skets eers kortliks die teoretiese uitgangspunte en kenmerke van beleidsentrepreneurskap en -netwerkbeïnvloeding en som dan die ontwikkeling van politieke regte vir die "Kleurlingge-meenskap" in die land op, tot PW Botha die leierskap van die Nasionale Party oorgeneem het. Die artikel kontekstualiseer en fokus veral op die aanloop tot en die afloop van die Erika Theron-kommissie, wat 'n direkte rol gespeel het by die uiteindelike instelling van 'n fun-damentele nuwe staatsbestel in die land. Die ondersoek illustreer die toepassing en impak wat doelgerigte individuele beleidsentrepreneurskap en -netwerkbeïnvloeding deur strategies geposisioneerde individue, groepe en netwerke op fundamentele samelewingsverandering kan hê. Dit illustreer en staaf verder die belangrike kumulatiewe effek wat beide interne en eksterne politieke druk op beleidsverandering kan hê. Dit het belangrike implikasies vir huidige en toekomstige beleidsaanpassings in Suid-Afrika en in ander demokratiese beleidsveran-deringsprosesse.

County-Level Recreational Marijuana Policies and Local Policy Changes in Colorado and Washington State (2012-2019).

In 2012, Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. Both allowed local governments to further regulate the availability of marijuana facilities in their jurisdictions. As early adopters, these states are important quasi-natural experiments to examine local marijuana policy and policy change processes, including key stakeholders and arguments. We conducted a policy scan of county-level recreational marijuana ordinances and regulations in Colorado and Washington. Data collected included policy documents from counties in both states and newspaper articles. We used a mixed-methods approach to describe the types of county-level recreational marijuana policies enacted by April 1, 2019; identify key policy stakeholders involved in local policy debates; and explore arguments used in support or opposition of county policies. We also selected four counties that represent three county policy environments (all marijuana facility types allowed, some marijuana facility types allowed, all marijuana facility types prohibited) and described the policy changes within these counties since recreational marijuana was legalized. By April 1, 2019, Colorado counties were less likely than Washington counties to allow marijuana facilities-48.4% of Colorado counties prohibited recreational marijuana facilities in their jurisdiction compared to 23.1% of Washington counties. Since state legalization, several counties in both states have made substantial marijuana facility policy modifications, often preceded by information-seeking activities. Primary stakeholders involved in policy debates included elected officials, law enforcement, individual growers/farmers, marijuana business license applicants, parents, and residents. Proponents referenced local economic gain, reduced crime, and potential health benefits of marijuana as arguments in favor of permitting local facilities, whereas opponents pointed to economic loss, negative health and public health issues, public safety concerns, and existing federal law. Both sides referenced local public opinion data to support their position. By early 2019, a patchwork of local marijuana policies was in place in Colorado and Washington. We identify key areas of policy and public health research needed to inform future local marijuana policy decisions, including the impact of legalization on public health outcomes (particularly for youth) and public safety.

Policy processes leading to the adoption of 'Jamie's Ministry of Food' programme in Victoria, Australia.

This study investigated the policy processes related to the 2012 adoption of the Jamie's Ministry of Food programme by the Victorian Government in Australia. The aim was to provide insight into obesity prevention policy change processes to help strengthen future health promotion action. State-level government policy processes were examined through key informant interviews and a review of relevant documentation. Data were analysed using the Multiple Streams Theory and the Advocacy Coalition Framework in order to understand influences on relevant policy processes and strategies used by policy advocates to facilitate policy adoption. We found that policy adoption was facilitated by dedicated national funding for preventive health at that time, the relatively small number of stakeholders involved in the policy development process and the anticipated support for the programme by the general public due to the association with celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. We identified that policy brokers aligned the policy with decision-maker ideologies and broader government objectives, and proactively managed potential criticisms. Evidence of intervention effectiveness was not a major driver of policy adoption. We conclude that, iven the complexity of policy processes for obesity prevention, multiple, reinforcing strategies are likely to be needed to facilitate policy change. Support for the adoption of obesity prevention policies is likely to increase when framing of policy options aligns with decision-maker values and has broad public appeal.

A scoping review of theories and conceptual frameworks used to analyse health financing policy processes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Health financing policies are critical policy instruments to achieve Universal Health Coverage, and they constitute a key area in policy analysis literature for the health policy and systems research (HPSR) field. Previous reviews have shown that analyses of policy change in low- and middle-income countries are under-theorised. This study aims to explore which theories and conceptual frameworks have been used in research on policy processes of health financing policy in sub-Saharan Africa and to identify challenges and lessons learned from their use. We conducted a scoping review of literature published in English and French between 2000 and 2017. We analysed 23 papers selected as studies of health financing policies in sub-Saharan African countries using policy process or health policy-related theory or conceptual framework ex ante. Theories and frameworks used alone were from political science (35%), economics (9%) and HPSR field (17%). Thirty-five per cent of authors adopted a 'do-it-yourself' (bricolage) approach combining theories and frameworks from within political science or between political science and HPSR. Kingdon's multiple streams theory (22%), Grindle and Thomas' arenas of conflict (26%) and Walt and Gilson's policy triangle (30%) were the most used. Authors select theories for their empirical relevance, methodological rational (e.g. comparison), availability of examples in literature, accessibility and consensus. Authors cite few operational and analytical challenges in using theory. The hybridisation, diversification and expansion of mid-range policy theories and conceptual frameworks used deductively in health financing policy reform research are issues for HPSR to consider. We make three recommendations for researchers in the HPSR field. Future research on health financing policy change processes in sub-Saharan Africa should include reflection on learning and challenges for using policy theories and frameworks in the context of HPSR.

Global sustainability agenda and institutional change

The concept of sustainability has become a global agenda penetrating from global institutions to diverse forms of domestic policy making. This dissertation focuses on how, and to what extent, the global sustainability agenda and the actors involved influence domestic policy change. The Indonesian palm oil sector, particularly the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) policy, provided the case study for the research. Three independent studies were conducted using multiple data collection strategies with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The first study examines power relations amongst stakeholders in the Indonesian the palm oil sector supply chain. The second study investigates historical development of the institutions that lead towards a vision of sustainability for governing the Indonesian palm oil sector. The third study, uses discourse analysis to explore the main factors that trigger initiation of the new ISPO policy under the influence of transnational negotiations. The research revealed that international stakeholders have tried to exert influence on the national sustainability agenda in the Indonesian palm oil sector, using power held at the global level. However, institutional change in the Indonesian palm oil sector resulted from power contestation within the government’s national coalitions and occurred as a form of sovereignty. The findings reveal that institutional change was not mainly a response to exogenous influence from global institutions, but resulted from the interplay of endogenous factors that changed the perspectives of national actors. The state, nevertheless, is undergoing a transformation and is enhancing national institutional capacity through the publication of the ISPO policy instead of being ‘hollowed-out’ by the rise of transnational actors operating at the global level. The dissertation presents novel insights on the interaction between globalization and domestic policy making. From a theoretical perspective, new insights contribute to knowledge of the links between institutions, sustainability, globalization and the processes of domestic policy change. From the practical perspective, the research results can help the palm oil sector stakeholders understand power relations between actors; development of institutions contributing to the national sustainability vision; and components of the discourses on the ISPO and oil palm sector that need to be focused to enhance sustainability.

Is the end in sight? A study of how and why services are decommissioned in the English National Health Service.

The decommissioning of a health-care service is invariably a highly complex and contentious process which faces many implementation challenges. There has been little specific theorisation of this phenomena, although insights can be transferred from wider literatures on policy implementation and change processes. In this paper, we present findings from empirical case studies of three decommissioning processes initiated in the English National Health Service. We apply Levine's (1979, Public Administration Review, 39(2), 179-183) typology of decommissioning drivers and insights from the empirical literature on pluralistic health-care contexts, complex change processes and institutional constraints. Data include interviews, non-participant observation and documents analysis. Alongside familiar patterns of pluralism and political partisanship, our results suggest the important role played by institutional factors in determining the outcome of decommissioning processes and in particular the prior requirement of political vulnerability for services to be successfully closed. Factors linked to the extent of such vulnerability include the scale of the proposed changes and extent to which they are supported at the macrolevel.

Using policy network analysis to understand ideological convergence and change in educational subsystems

In recent years, education policy scholars have begun to utilize social network concepts and methods to describe contemporary policy changes across P-16 levels. While many insights have emerged from this growing literature base, we argue that a more formal network approach rooted in policy network analysis (PNA) is needed to fulfill its conceptual and analytical ambitions. Policy network analysis integrates concepts from social network analysis with theoretical assumptions developed in the field of political science. Toward this end, we first argue that a more rigorous treatment of policy beliefs is needed to analyze the impact of ideas on the policy agenda. Existing literature on the ideological dimensions of market-based reform movements tends to define them largely within the bounds of neo-liberalism and thus far has failed to systematically explain how policy beliefs emerge and converge in this context. Second, we contend that previous work has generally lacked theoretical grounding in formal policy network analysis (PNA). Although there are clear links between the concepts and findings in traditional PNA literature and educational research – particularly the use of networked governance as a concept for understanding the interconnectedness of educational reform networks – a more diligent application of PNA theory and methods would enable educational policy scholars to gain deeper insights into the explanatory processes of policy change. We pay particular attention to the usefulness of these approaches for examining two-mode network data and for modeling ideological policy change.

Norms, institutions and freedom of speech in the US, the UK and Australia

AbstractWhile it has become accepted that norms can act in institution-like ways, a highly valued norm that has not been examined is free speech. Can free speech be conceptualised as acting in institution-like ways? If it can, what does this illuminate about processes of policy change? I analyse policy change between 2001 and 2011 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, a period during which significant new limits were introduced on free speech in relation to national security. In addition to showing how free speech acted in institution-like ways, the analysis suggests three implications: norms can both act in institution-like ways and be subject to change in interaction with other institutions; a broad, cultural level institution can mask policy change at the narrow, rule-based level even where the latter contradicts the former; and complexity and variation in speech regulation can be understood as consequences of the to-be-expected variability in the institutionalisation of a norm.

Is the trajectory of European Union environmental policy less certain?

ABSTRACTThe core themes and research questions of this volume, centred on the nature of environmental policy change in the European Union (EU), are laid out. An original heuristic framework to capture different dimensions, mechanisms and processes of policy change is presented. In order to contextualise the current situation, where EU policy scope has reached maturity and faces an uncertain future trajectory, EU environmental politics is divided into particular eras, looking closely at the nature of change in each period. This volume interrogates the extent to which change has occurred, the conditions or context within which it did/did not take place and the implications arising from stasis or change. The contributions to the volume are introduced and placed into the context of the broader trajectory of EU environmental policy.

Roles of Teacher Organizations in Teacher Evaluation Policy Formation and Change Processes in Korea

Roles of Teacher Organizations in Teacher Evaluation Policy Formation and Change Processes in Korea

Resilience through policy integration in Europe? Domestic forest policy changes as response to absorb pressure to integrate biodiversity conservation, bioenergy use and climate protection in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

In this paper, we analyse how and why domestic forest policies in Europe have responded to pressures to integrate biodiversity conservation, climate and bioenergy policies. We use content analysis of documents and interviews to analyse change and stability in domestic forest policy goals, instruments and practices in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden over time. We find that decision-makers in forest policy and practice responded to pressure to integrate biodiversity into forestry through four different types of policy change outcomes and processes. Depending on the context, these responses included layering, drift, conversion and/or replacement. In all countries, the forest policy changes were driven by (partly shifting) coalitional politics and changes in external conditions. Domestic forest policy regimes shifted from ‘timber production’ towards ‘multifunctional’, ‘sustainable forest management’ or ‘biodiversity’ primacy, and then back to ‘timber harvesting’. Forest policy also integrated bioenergy and climate change policies in order to minimise pressure by EU and national biodiversity policy sectors and to enable ‘timber harvesting’ (re-)turns in forest policy. We conclude that policy integration processes and the shifts in forest policy they contain refer to a sectoral resilience, that is, the ability of forest policy to react to, minimise, and absorb pressures to integrate biodiversity conservation policies.

Dynamics of policy change in authoritarian countries: a multiple-case study on China

AbstractUsing evidence from China, this study proposes the conflict expansion model to explore how pressure for policy change can build up to overcome resisting force and stimulate a response from decisionmakers in an authoritarian context. Tracing the policy change processes of four national policies, this study finds that the social pressure mobilised by media reports focused on specific events is a major force for facilitating policy change in China. However, owing to institutional constraints, the influences of societal actors are sporadic, incident-based and varied by population. The policy change process is protracted and difficult when it encounters resistance from state actors who have multiple institutional access channels for influencing the decision-making process. The power distribution between the facilitating and resisting forces determines whether policy change proceeds quickly or arduously.

Connecting models of the individual and policy change processes: a research agenda

This article proposes that closer attention to models of the individual provides substantial theoretical and empirical leverage to policy studies scholars. Capturing the nuances of individual choice can assist policy researchers in adjudicating between specific theories of policy change. We provide an analytical matrix for parsing models of the individual underpinning various collective processes of policy change and demonstrate the value of our approach by applying it to the case of Canadian provincial renewable energy policy. The article demonstrates that gathering evidence regarding individual choice can support the presence or absence of processes functioning at the collective level. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of this approach for future policy research on the relative explanatory power of different causal processes, sequencing of policy change, and the identification of new mechanisms of policy change.