Download or read book The Blind Spots of Public Bureaucracy and the Politics of Non Coordination written by Tobias Bach and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book attempts to make that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or ‘not seeing the not seeing’, and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book’s theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective.

Download or read book Handbook of Public Policy Evaluation written by Frédéric Varone and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2023-10-06 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive Handbook examines public policy evaluation in democracies. Focusing on the political dimension of the evaluation process, it argues that policy evaluation can be an emancipatory tool, reducing social inequalities and exclusion, and offers novel suggestions on how evaluations can be used to improve democratic policymaking.

Download or read book Handbook on the Politics of Public Administration written by Ladner, Andreas and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-10-13 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative Handbook puts the politics of public administration at the forefront, providing comprehensive insights and comparative perspectives of the different aspects of the field.

Download or read book Polycentric Water Governance in Spain written by Nora Schütze and published by transcript Verlag. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasing irrigation efficiency has been high on the political agenda in Spain for many years. However, the overarching aim to reduce agricultural water consumption has not been met so far. To explore this phenomenon, Nora Schütze investigates processes of coordination between the water and agricultural sector in three Spanish river basins in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive implementation. From the perspective of polycentric governance, she identifies multiple mechanisms which illustrate how and why actors interact in certain ways, and thus shows why environmental aims of the Water Framework Directive remain unachieved.

Download or read book Explaining Foreign Policy in Post Colonial Africa written by Stephen M. Magu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-02 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores foreign policy developments in post-colonial Africa. A continental foreign policy is a tenuous proposition, yet new African states emerged out of armed resistance and advocacy from regional allies such as the Bandung Conference and the League of Arab States. Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957. Fourteen more countries gained independence in 1960 alone, and by May 1963, when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed, 30 countries were independent. An early OAU committee was the African Liberation Committee (ALC), tasked to work in the Frontline States (FLS) to support independence in Southern Africa. Pan-Africanists, in alliance with Brazzaville, Casablanca and Monrovia groups, approached continental unity differently, and regionalism continued to be a major feature. Africa’s challenges were often magnified by the capitalist-democratic versus communist-socialist bloc rivalry, but through Africa’s use and leveraging of IGOs – the UN, UNDP, UNECA, GATT, NIEO and others – to advance development, the formation of the African Economic Community, OAU’s evolution into the AU and other alliances belied collective actions, even as Africa implemented decisions that required cooperation: uti possidetis (maintaining colonial borders), containing secession, intra- and inter-state conflicts, rebellions and building RECs and a united Africa as envisioned by Pan Africanists worked better collectively.

Download or read book How to Do Public Policy written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to Do Public Policy offers a guide to students and practitioners on how to improve problem-solving with policies in a political world. It integrates insights from applied policy analysis and studies of the policy process to develop a framework that conceives policy-making as structured by two spheres of action - the 'engine room' of specialists and experts in government agencies, NGOs, research organizations etc., on the one hand, and the political 'superstructure' of politicians, key public stakeholders and the public, on the other hand. Understanding the different logics of the engine room and the superstructure is key for successful policy-making. The dual structure of policy-making provides a perspective on policy-analysis (interactive policy analysis) and policy-making (actor-centred policy-making) that moves from the focus on individual and specific measures, towards understanding and shaping the relation and interaction between policy interventions, the institutional context and the stakeholders involved or affected. Part I of the book presents the basic analytical concepts needed to understand the policy process and the structures and dynamics involved in it, as well as to understand how and why actors behave the way they do-and how to engage with different types of actors. Part II moves further into the nuts and bolts of policy-making, including policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Part III introduces and explores three key aspects of the capacity to make good policies: engagement with stakeholders, the process of policy coordination in a context of interdependence, and the role of institutions.

Download or read book Country Size and Public Administration written by Marlene Jugl and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-07-07 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although countries differ tremendously in population size, comparative public administration has not considered this context factor systematically. This Element provides the most comprehensive theoretical and empirical account to date of the effects that country size has on the functioning of public administration. It synthesizes existing literature and develops a theoretical framework that distinguishes the effects of small, medium and large country size on administrative structures, practices, and public service performance. Large states with larger administrations benefit from specialization but are prone to coordination problems, whereas small states experience advantages and disadvantages linked to multifunctionalism and informal practices. Midsize countries may achieve economies of scale while avoiding diseconomies of excessive size, which potentially allows for highest performance. Descriptive and causal statistical analyses of worldwide indicators and a qualitative comparison of three countries, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany, demonstrate the various ways in which size matters for public administrations around the world.

Download or read book Handbook of Public Policy Implementation written by Fritz Sager and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-05 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this comprehensive Handbook, international experts examine theoretical and empirical research to analyse a core element of the public policy process: implementation. Traversing numerous sub-disciplines and traditions including top-down and bottom-up approaches to public policy implementation research, the chapters present a synthesis of the state of scholarship and stimulate future thinking in the field.

Download or read book Rethinking Policy Piloting written by Sreeja Nair and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Piloting is an important form of policy experimentation and a promising tool for policymakers to innovate, formulate and test alternative policy designs for the future. While this is recognized in theory, there are several challenges in realizing a pilot's potential to do so in practice. Addressing these challenges ask for a deeper understanding of the design of policy pilots and their outcomes in terms of how they mainstream into routine policymaking. Looking back at selected national piloting initiatives in Indian agriculture over a period of twenty-five years, this book draws insights for policy theory and practice. Design features of pilots that are found to influence their scaling-up and translation into formal policies (or not) are distilled from literature and compared across the selected cases. Theoretical insights from the book can be extended and adapted to agricultural policymaking in other Asian countries as well as to policy formulation in other sectors.

Download or read book Reluctance in World Politics written by Sandra Destradi and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2023-07-31 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book develops a concept and a theory of reluctance in world politics. It finds that reluctance emerges when governments fail to devise clear foreign policy preferences and face competing international pressures.

Download or read book Newcomers Navigating the Welfare State written by Hanne Vandermeerschen and published by Leuven University Press. This book was released on 2023-12-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topic of social assistance for migrant newcomers often sparks heated public debate and remains a prominent concern on the policy agenda. Society has experienced a growing level of diversity. This reality gives rise to new demands and changing profiles of individuals who benefit from welfare services. Welfare institutions, which are responsible for providing social assistance, play a crucial role in granting access to social benefits for newcomers. Moreover, the provision of social assistance can significantly influence the settlement and integration processes of migrants. This book provides empirical insights into the alignment between the needs of newcomers and the service provided to them. It examines the accessibility of social assistance for newcomers from a comprehensive perspective, encompassing aspects such as gaining access (including equal access for all) and service availability. By focusing on the Belgian Public Centres for Social Welfare as a case study, the authors explore the policies and practices related to social assistance and labour market activation for newcomers and the factors that influence individuals’ access to their rights. By incorporating the perspectives of all the relevant stakeholders involved, drawing on the insights of social workers and managers as well as the experiences of newcomers themselves, this book offers a unique understanding of the interactions between immigrants, the welfare state, and street-level bureaucrats. It provides valuable insights for enhancing service provision, striving for a more inclusive approach.

Download or read book Elgar Encyclopedia of European Union Public Policy written by Paolo R. Graziano and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2022-12-13 with total page 661 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A holistic and extensive exploration of both the dynamic and incremental changes in EU public policy and the decision processes surrounding them, this Elgar Encyclopedia is the definitive reference work in the field of EU public policy.

Download or read book Crises Inquiries and the Politics of Blame written by Sandra L. Resodihardjo and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-29 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This study probes deeply into the dynamics of the blame games that seem now to have become an inevitable part of advanced societies’ responses to negative events. Resodihardjo’s forensic analysis of how such negative events get framed, investigated and accounted for significantly advances our understanding of how incidents and crises affect the reputations and political capital of public authorities, and how they can foster but also significantly impede institutional learning.”—Paul ’t Hart, Utrecht University, The Netherlands “The crisis is often not even over before the mud starts flying. This little gem of a book outlines causes and consequences of blame games. The author offers strategies for dealing with these blame games. An emerging scholar writing a valuable primer on surviving blame games - warmly recommended!”—Arjen Boin, Leiden University, The Netherlands “This is an important book. Crises are followed by questions and the accountability phase inevitably involves the blame game. In using in-depth case study analysis of tragic incidents at festivals, Sandra Resodihardjo explores why and how blame games start, evolve and are then influenced by a variety of factors. This is a fascinating read, when things go badly wrong the cycle of blame is often complex, involving multiple actors and organisations often battling to frame the event to their own agenda. This should be essential reading not just for scholars studying this critical area of public policy, but practitioners who would undoubtedly learn a lot from the analytical oversight and forensic detail contained in this excellent book.”—Mark Bennister, University of Lincoln, United Kingdom ​During the accountability phase following a crisis, the focus is both on learning (how can we prevent a recurrence of this horrific event?) and on finding culprits (who caused and/or contributed to this crisis?). The latter is also known as the blame game where actors receive and respond to blame. Too much focus on the blame game, however, could lead to an unbalanced accountability phase as people are less inclined to share what they know about what happened because of fear, for instance, of resignation. This lack of information hampers the learning process following crises. Hopefully, a better understanding of how blame games work will lead to a better managed blame game which, in turn, should result in a more balanced accountability phase where there is ample of room to learn from the tragic event.This book furthers our understanding of what happens during blame games following crises by looking at both theory and practice. Theories on blame games help to answer questions such as who is blamed and why? How much blame is this person receiving and why? How can this person respond? And why do these responses sometimes not work?One particular response to blame (appointing an inquiry) can have quite an impact on the blame game. That is why the second theoretical chapter addresses questions such as why are inquiries created? How can one influence them? And why are some inquiries more independent than others?The analysis of three festivals gone wrong helps to expand our knowledge of blame games even further. The three cases show that responses to blame can backfire and that rituals, context, and sub-blame games can have an impact on how blame games evolve.Taken together, the theories and cases explored in this book will help people to better understand and manage blame games.

Download or read book The Governance Report 2018 written by The Hertie School of Governance and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-30 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008-9 was the greatest economic stress test since the 1940s. It put not only financial markets and currencies at risk; entire economies and political systems were threatened as the GFC soon revealed major governance shortcomings and weaknesses felt across a wide spectrum of policy fields. Globalization seemed in jeopardy, the Washington Consensus of neoliberal policies broken, and democratic backsliding set in as populism and protectionism began to take root. The GFC triggered many responses to improve governance through reforms and regulatory measures of many kinds across a wide range of fields: most prominently in finance and banking, but also in fiscal policy, trade, labor markets and social security. Ten years after the GFC, the 2018 Governance Report takes stock and asks: How have countries fared, and are they better prepared to avoid or withstand another crisis of GFC proportions? To answer this question, the 2018 Report focuses on the performance of countries before and after the GFC. Using elaborate indicator and data systems, applying state-of-the-art analytics, and covering a wide range of countries, it offers a systematic comparison of governance performance from three perspectives: What public goods are being provided, at what quality and to what effect? How ready are countries to address governance challenges in the context of globalization? What are the administrative capacities of the public sector? With measures taken before the GFC and today, these perspectives on governance performance provide important benchmarks for measuring both resilience and progress and can assist policymakers in designing effective solutions.

Download or read book Research Handbook on the Enforcement of EU Law written by Miroslava Scholten and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2023-09-06 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive Research Handbook investigates the success of EU law enforcement processes. Going beyond traditional analyses of administrations and courts in isolation, it focuses on the increased cooperation seen between national and EU authorities, and on the widening variety of means used to enhance compliance with EU norms.

Download or read book Policy Controversies and Political Blame Games written by Markus Hinterleitner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyses and compares political blame games in Western democracies to show how democratic political systems manage policy controversies.

Download or read book Zombie Ideas written by Brainard Guy Peters and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-24 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ideas are important in shaping the policy choices of governments. But many ideas that have not been successful in the past continue to be used by policymakers, and some good ideas tend not to be adopted. This Element will focus on why governments make these poor policy choices. We will discuss a number of examples of 'zombie ideas' that refuse to die, and then discuss the factors that are associated with their survival. Those factors occur at the elite, the organizational and the societal level. We will also examine some 'ghost' ideas that may well be successful but have a difficult time being adopted, and the factors that are associated with the exclusion of these ideas from the policy process.