Policy Scholars Research Articles

Admissions Officers’ Perceptions When Undocumented Students Seek In-State Resident Tuition Policy

Administrative burdens scholarship has explored the factors influencing bureaucrats’ perceptions and administrative discretion when entitled individuals seek policy benefits. Few studies, however, have recently investigated such phenomena with undocumented youth immigrants. Drawing from online web surveys and conducting a mixed methods study, I examine factors influencing admissions officers’ perceptions of requirements when undocumented youth claim in-state resident tuition benefits in U.S. colleges. The findings suggest that officers who interact more often with undocumented applicants and with more positive social constructions of them are less likely to support stringently applied administrative requirements when they seek in-state tuition benefits. However, such variables are insufficient to frame admissions officers’ decisions. State laws and organizational rules also constrain their administrative discretion regardless of their proclivity to facilitate access to in-state tuition benefits by undocumented youth. This study addresses the tension among public servants’ attitudes and bureaucratic factors mediating efficiency, equity, and integrity surrounding policy implementation. Findings contribute to higher education policy scholarship by exploring the roles of street-level bureaucrats as mediators among state policies, institutional rules, and the circumstances of undocumented applicants.

Bricolage and beyond: Bringing modern entrepreneurship theories to bear on policy entrepreneurship

AbstractWho makes policy change happen, and how? Public policy scholars now take more seriously the role of agency in the policy process, and in particular the role of policy entrepreneurship, a contested term built mostly from classical, economic conceptions of entrepreneurship from the mid‐20th century. In this study, we introduce policy scholars to modern theories of entrepreneurship from sociology and management scholarship, including cultural entrepreneurship, effectuation, bricolage, and entrepreneurial assembly. We show that theories connect more easily with major theories of the policy process more easily than classical theories do and argue policy scholars should make room for multiple policy entrepreneurship archetypes. We also give three examples—organizational imprinting, the small firm effect, and survivorship bias—of the readymade research agenda modern entrepreneurship theories offer to policy entrepreneurship scholars. Finally, we show how these theories help policy scholars build bridges to other political science subfields.

Black Liberatory Educational Policy: A Systematic and Unapologetic Literature Review on the Advancement of Black Teachers’ Pedagogies and Practices

ABSTRACT Our systematic, unapologetic, and Black education-focused literature review sought to examine how educational researchers, Black teachers, and Black students describe and co-imagine educational policies that advance Black liberatory pedagogies and practices. Our work addresses a need in educational policy studies to shift paradigms and invites scholars to leverage their power and privilege. The review team searched for policy-specific and Black liberation-focused articles. Our search criteria and review process yielded 51 articles that showed clear evidence of connections to educational policy advancing Black liberatory pedagogies and practices. Rooted in Black educational policy scholars, teachers, and students’ co-created knowledge, we found nine Black liberatory educational policies (BLEPs) we organized within three levels— – Classroom, District/School, and Federal/State. Our findings implicate how Black teachers, BLEP scholars, and Black students have engaged in negotiations that build power, so our work is bolstered, and not halted, by educational policy studies and its laws. Finally, we offer the Reality-Imaginary Spectrum (RIS) conversational tool to center power analysis in Black-led, educational justice movements.

If Not Now, Then When? Pathways to Embed Climate Change Within Social Policy

Climate change is arguably the defining issue of our time, with global impacts. Yet to date, scholarship within social policy has remained relatively fragmented and disparate, leaving an urgent need to start comprehensively embedding environmental thinking across all domains of the discipline (Williams, 2021). Responding to this challenge, this paper draws together existing work at the nexus of social policy, the environment, and climate change. The paper then presents findings from workshops held with social policy scholars, policymakers, and practitioners, using these discussions to propose pathways to embed climate change within the discipline. The paper represents a significant contribution to knowledge within the field as it seeks to both broaden discussions about social policy and climate change; to identify theoretical and empirical relationships that exist between the two fields but have not been fully recognised in existing scholarship; and to bring new perspectives and voices into the discussion.

Bureaucracy at the Border: The Fragmentation of United States Foreign Aid

Foreign policy scholars often assume that leaders pursue a national interest. However, states often spread their foreign policy authority thinly across bureaucracies and programs with overlapping or conflicting interests. This is especially pronounced in foreign aid, which serves a clear foreign policy purpose but is often mired in bureaucracy. Why is foreign aid often so fragmented? Focusing on the United States, I explain foreign aid fragmentation as a byproduct of domestic politics. When moderate legislators are ideologically diffuse, leadership must persuade them to support a foreign aid agenda by offering pet projects. This increases aid’s fragmentation. In contrast, when moderates are relatively homogeneous, leaders can gather support through more traditional compromise, decreasing the need for fragmented pet projects. I test this theory using a mixed-methods approach, employing a novel agency-level dataset of US foreign aid appropriations and a case study of a 1992 act delivering aid to the former Soviet Union.

Fiscal self‐sufficiency, debt policy, and long‐term sustainability in China's emerging local bond market

AbstractUsing panel data from 155 Chinese provincial‐level governments between 2015 and 2020, this study develops fiscal indicators to measure the sustainability of China's bond market given its institutional context. With these indicators, the research empirically explores the effect of fiscal institutions such as centrally‐imposed debt limits on local governments' debt sustainability. It also investigates the capacity of local governments for self‐sufficiency to meet their debt obligations and maintain long‐term sustainability. We find that debt limits have promoted local debt sustainability while local fiscal self‐sufficiency has had little effect on debt sustainability in the long‐term. The findings provide public finance and policy scholars with an understanding of the effectiveness of fiscal institutions such as debt limits imposed by China's central government.

Network Interventions: Applying Network Science for Pragmatic Action in Public Administration and Policy

Abstract Public management and policy scholars have engaged in extensive development of theory and empirical study of networks and collaborative systems of governance. This scholarship has focused on understanding the mechanisms of network formation and the implications of network properties on individual and collective outcomes. Despite rich descriptive work and inferential analyses, little work has attempted to intervene in these systems. In this article, we develop the foundation for a new body of research in our field focused on network interventions. Network interventions are defined as the purposeful use of network data to identify strategies for accelerating behavior change, improving performance, and producing desirable outcomes (Valente, 2012). We extend network intervention strategies from the field of public health to public sector interorganizational and governance networks. Public sector actors have an interest in network interventions based on the fundamental pursuit of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Network interventions can increase the uptake of an organizational change among employees, improve the performance of a governance system, or promote the spread of a successful policy across jurisdictions. We provide scholars and practitioners with a useful way to conceptualize where, why, and how network interventions might be deployed in the pursuit of public value.

Policy advisory systems and public policy making: Bibliometric analysis, knowledge mapping, operationalization, and future research agenda

AbstractThis study offers a comprehensive overview of the literature on policy advisory systems (PAS), motivated by its significance, growing interest in the field among policy scholars, and the substantial body of recent research published recently. The study conducted a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 62 articles on PAS published between 1993 and 2022, using data extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The analysis included performance analysis, collaboration analysis, and science mapping (co‐citation and co‐word analysis). The dataset comprises articles published in 29 different journals, with 17.2% of these journals publishing three or more articles on PAS. Of the 80 authors in the dataset, 78.8% had only one publication. Over the past 5 years, there has been a 69% increase in the production of research on PAS, with the majority of output coming from Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands. The intellectual structure of the field was examined through co‐citation analysis, revealing two main clusters named dynamics of PAS and Policy Advice & Policy Analysts' Role. The former focuses on the variations and dynamics of PAS, while the latter is more concerned with the nature of policy advice and the role of policy analysts. The co‐word analysis identified the most relevant issues linked with PAS, including policy advice, externalization, politicization, and policy capacity. The study has also provided operationalization of the concept with the support of empirical evidence and categorized it into internal and external PAS. Externalization is the dominant trend in Anglophone countries, while public service in Europe and Canada has been the focus of internal PAS research. The study identifies gaps in the literature and calls for further research on the application of PAS in the Global South, the demand for policy advice, and comparative analysis of PAS across different contexts and dimensions.

A Social, Not a Natural Science: Engaging With Broader Fields in Health Policy Analysis Comment on "Modelling the Health Policy Process: One Size Fits All or Horses for Courses?"

Powell and Mannion's recent editorial discusses how different 'models' of the policy process have been applied within the health policy field. They present two ways forward for scholarship: more 'home grown' development of health-specific models, or deeper engagement with broader public policy scholarship. In this paper I argue for the latter approach for several reasons. First, health policy analysis is a social, not a natural science - and as such is not exceptional to other forms of policy scholarship. Second, many 'health policy models' are often grounded in conceptual work from elsewhere (or may not be health specific). Finally, there has been significant work to develop more nuanced understandings of theories, models, and frameworks available to particular analytical tasks and questions. As such, the growing body of global health policy scholarship may find it can benefit more from deeper engagement with existing conceptual work than constructing its own new models in most cases.

Education policy is spatial policy: Using spatial imaginaries to enhance education policy research

Education policy scholars must consider spatial theories and related methodologies. Spatial theories encourage rich understandings of education policy because education and place are intimately connected. This article shows how scholars can use spatial imaginaries to enhance knowledge of place and education policy. We explain these connections in three ways. First, we outline theoretical concepts and analytical considerations of spatial imaginaries. Second, we provide examples of lines of inquiry related to spatial imaginaries and education policy. Third, we consider methodological techniques. Education policy is spatial policy, so building theory and methods about place and education policy is vital to the field.

Lived Policy: Towards the Humanization of Telecommunications

ABSTRACT This paper develops the concept of “lived policy” for the methodological toolkits of critical, qualitative communication policy scholars. Lived policy seeks to understand how public policies are lived by those impacted by them. It is inspired by research in “lived religion” and “lived theology” which connect theological studies with the lived realities of those who practice religion. Lived policy aims to humanize the policymaking process and the critique of public policy by grounding it in the lives of those most impacted by policy decisions. Examples from a larger study on US rural broadband policy are used to illustrate this approach.

Policy Studies Yearbook Annual Review 2022–23: Note from the editor and call for papers

<i>Policy Studies Yearbook Annual Review</i> 2022–23: Note from the editor and call for papers

Agency in the Ecology of Language Policy and Planning: A systematic literature review

Post-modern research has shifted attention in language policy and planning from central decision-making to lower-scale agency. However, there is a paucity of studies assessing the nature and quality of papers about agency in language policy and planning ecology. Considering Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, this study examines how language policy scholars approached the agentive roles of local arbiters. All research papers published about agency in language policy and planning across three databases in the last five years were considered for this review. The results indicate that the conceptualization, design, and execution of agency-oriented research are not yet woven into a fully-fledged theoretical fabric.

How do community organizations develop successful strategies of resistance? Revisiting institutional embeddedness and agency

ABSTRACT The capacity for resistance is an essential component of the principles and practice of liberal democracy. Critical policy scholars agree that unwelcome interventions in local communities by the state meet resistance, but disagree on whether such efforts can be successful in any meaningful sense. This paper identifies an optimistic turn in the literature, and derives from this a workable definition of successful resistance, which it then applies to an original piece of research into the ‘Save The Green Backyard’ campaign in Peterborough in the UK. Theory driven, it takes two basic concepts from the new institutionalism, embeddedness and agency, and demonstrates how a conceptual framework developed from these can expose the underlying mechanisms driving the successful resistance observed in the case study. The final section of the paper considers how forms of embeddedness worked together to provide a context for successful resistance; the nature of the agency in the case study; and how popular and invited spaces impacted differentially on the community organization in terms of embeddedness and agency. It also draws out some implications for institutionalist theory and methodologies, and for community organizations seeking to protect themselves against unwelcome state interference.

Using Quantitative Critical Race Methodology to Explore Teachers’ Perceived Beliefs

As critical educational policy scholarship continues to move toward transformational knowledge production, critical and contextualized quantitative methods are central to justice and equity. In this study, the authors used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), guided by quantitative critical race methodology, to examine teachers’ beliefs about their ability to instantiate critical pedagogy— critical pedagogical efficacy. We parametrized a latent path model to examine the additive influence teacher solidarity for justice has on the relationship between teacher justice collaboration frequency and critical pedagogical efficacy. The model estimate indicated the cruciality of teacher solidarity in improving critical pedagogical efficacy beliefs. Our study’s discussion section offers implications for teachers, leaders, policy actors, and critical quantitative researchers contributing to, or planning to join educational justice movements.

Prioritizing rehabilitation in low- and middle-income country national health systems: a qualitative thematic synthesis and development of a policy framework

BackgroundThere is a large and growing unmet need for rehabilitation – a diverse category of services that aim to improve functioning across the life course – particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Yet despite urgent calls to increase political commitment, many low- and middle-income country governments have dedicated little attention to expanding rehabilitation services. Existing policy scholarship explains how and why health issues reach the policy agenda and offers applicable evidence to advance access to physical, medical, psychosocial, and other types of rehabilitation services. Drawing from this scholarship and empirical data on rehabilitation, this paper proposes a policy framework to understand national-level prioritization of rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries.MethodsWe conducted key informant interviews with rehabilitation stakeholders in 47 countries, complemented by a purposeful review of peer-reviewed and gray literature to achieve thematic saturation. We analyzed the data abductively using a thematic synthesis methodology. Rehabilitation-specific findings were triangulated with policy theory and empirical case studies on the prioritization of other health issues to develop the framework.ResultsThe novel policy framework includes three components which shape the prioritization of rehabilitation on low- and middle-income countries’ national government’s health agendas. First, rehabilitation lacks a consistent problem definition, undermining the development of consensus-driven solutions which could advance the issue on policy agendas. Second, governance arrangements are fragmented within and across government ministries, between the government and its citizens, and across national and transnational actors engaged in rehabilitation service provision. Third, national legacies – particularly from civil conflict – and weaknesses in the existing health system influences both rehabilitation needs and implementation feasibility.ConclusionsThis framework can support stakeholders in identifying the key components impeding prioritization for rehabilitation across different national contexts. This is a crucial step for ultimately better advancing the issue on national policy agendas and improving equity in access to rehabilitation services.

Editorial introduction: Punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, environmental governance, and many more

Editorial introduction: Punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, environmental governance, and many more

Geography: Do we advocate enough for the discipline and profession in terms of public policy?

Geography: Do we advocate enough for the discipline and profession in terms of public policy?

A cognitive network perspective for public administration and policy

AbstractThis article introduces the concept of cognitive social structures to public administration and policy scholars. Cognitive social structures are the perceptions, or mental maps, actors hold of the relationships that exist among the members of their network. These perceptions and their accuracy have implications for actor behavior, decisions, and outcomes. The literature on network cognitions has developed in the fields of psychology and organization studies but has yet to be applied in public administration and policy. We provide an overview of cognitive social structure research. We then demonstrate the theoretical and practical implications cognitive social structures hold for our field by examining applications in two research areas—implementation and leadership. We argue that using a network cognition perspective can help researchers and practitioners to better explain and pursue important organizational and interorganizational phenomena. We hope this article fosters new dialogue on the role of network cognitions in public administration and policy.

Policy diffusion, policy transfer, and policy mobilities revisited: A call for more interdisciplinary approaches in human geography

AbstractGeographers and urban studies scholars tend to rely on policy mobilities approaches to explain processes of policy spread, whereas political scientists and public policy scholars usually draw on either policy diffusion or policy transfer. I challenge this widespread scholarly practice of selecting approaches based on the association with a certain discipline. Instead, first and foremost, the specific research aim(s) and question(s) should shape the choice of theoretical lens. Analytical or policy outcome‐oriented studies should rely on policy diffusion and policy transfer, while a policy mobilities approach is best suited for more (policy) critical analysis. The approaches can also complement each other to a certain degree. Analytical and policy outcome‐oriented approaches need a stronger critical perspective while policy mobilities scholars need to underpin their critique with constructive suggestions on how to improve established practices.