In the document, you can find a summary of the reader Policy Design and all mandatory literature from the reader. The reader is summarized in a question-conclusion-evidence way and often embodies questions that are also on the exam. The articles are summarized using bullet points. The reader includ...
Policy design - reader content
11 October 2021 11:42
1. Introduction
Question: who can design and implement policies to address environmental problems?
Conclusion: both public and private actors
Question: what does the term policy design refer to?
Conclusion:
1. The process through which a policy is formulated
a. 'design-as-verb'
2. The content of a policy
a. 'design-as-noun'
Question: what is the difference between policy design in theory and policy design in practice?
Conclusion:
• In theory: could be a well-structured process, starting with a problem definition and ending
with policy formulation and implementation
• In practice: often messy, certain policies emerge as a result of various mutually reinforcing
(political) dynamics and different, sometimes competing interests of political actors trying to
influence various stages of the policy process
Question: what kind of process does policy design resemble? (social-interactive or rational-
analytical)
Conclusion: social-interactive
Question: why is policy design by definition political?
Conclusion: because problems, goals and instruments all reflect different perspectives
Evidence: not problematic (as is often assumed), not something that can be solved (as is often
promoted), but something that simply is and that needs to be addressed if one is designing policies
Question: whose task is adopting public policies?
Conclusion: responsible politicians, but civil servants, policy analysts, strategic advisors, lobbyists,
and various stakeholders can all be involved in the formulation of a policy
Evidence: They are often asked to present their perspective on a proposed policy and they regularly
come up with alternative ideas
Question: what does policy design in most cases include?
Conclusion:
• a careful consideration of different alternative solutions
• Negotiations and bargains between actors with different perspectives, opinions and interests
Question: on what can policy design be based?
Conclusion: a sound analysis of the…
• Policy context
• Underlying issues
• Evaluation of different alternatives and their possible effects
• Different ideologies and ideas about society, governance and the role of actors and policies
2. The social construction of policy design
2.1 The social construction of the problem
Question: what does the social construction of the problem entail and how does this influence policy
design?
Conclusion: different groups in society may define and consider different problems. This means that
Policy Evaluation and Design Page 1
,Conclusion: different groups in society may define and consider different problems. This means that
the framing of policy problems evolves with changes in society and governance.
Question: what drives the changes in society and governance that affect the framing of policy
problems?
Conclusion:
• Previous experiences with particular policy instruments
○ If these instruments have failed to deliver goals or to meet the expectations of
stakeholders, they can become out of grace, while alternative instruments gain
momentum
• International agreements
○ e.g. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Supra-national institutions
○ EU
Evidence: the European Water Framework Directive introduced a new vocabulary in the regional
water governance of various EU member states. According to the WFD, regional water authorities
have to assess the “ecological potential” of a water body, a concept previously not used in water
governance (Borja & Elliot, 2007)
2.2 The social construction of knowledge
Question: on what should policy design ideally be based?
Conclusion: a thorough understanding of the actual situation in which the policy will be introduced
(beyond a general overview of the most obvious actors and formal institutions)
Evidence: Policymakers should attempt to get a clear picture of how things are actually working, not
on how they are supposed to work (Flyvbjerg, 1998; Scott, 1998)
Question: what does attempting to understand of how things actually work vs how they should work
imply?
Conclusion:
• An understanding of the power relations between actors
• An understanding of the interplay between formal and informal institutions
• An overview of the perspectives, opinions and interests of all those involved
• How a certain policy domain is influenced by other domains, as well as by other developments
in governance and society
• Attention to the legacies of the past (Path-dependencies) that shape present day decision-
making and will co-determine the performance and impact of new policies
Question: what is the difficulty of creating an overview of how things actually work?
Conclusion: it is challenging and can also be a very subjective exercise
Evidence: Different actors have different types of knowledge and ideas
Question: why is the idea that science can support policymaking in a way that 'truth speaks to
power' often criticised?
Conclusion: because actors often look for arguments and evidence that support their perspective
and that they use to rationalise their policy choice
Evidence: proponents and opponents of a policy…
• Produce knowledge that serves their purposes
• Re-interpret and marginalise alternative knowledge
• Try to influence the policy process in many other ways
Question: what is the difference between the rationalistic or modernist approach vs. the
constructivist or reflexive approach?
Conclusion: In contrast to the rationalistic or modernist approach, the constructivist or reflexive
approach is cognizant of the fact that collecting objective facts is not (always) possible, and that
different stakeholders’ perceptions about the problem and the possible solution should be taken
into account in policy evaluation and design
Evidence: This includes not only the evaluation but also the design of policy, and therefore the
choice of policy instruments
Policy Evaluation and Design Page 2
, choice of policy instruments
2.3 The social construction of policy instruments
Question: how are policy instruments defined?
Conclusion: as the means to achieve the policy goals
Question: why are policy instruments as highly disputed as policy goals?
Conclusion: because policy instruments are normative in nature
Evidence: People do not only differ in their ideas about ideal worlds, existing problems, and possible
solutions, but also in their preferences for policy instruments
Question: what does the normative nature of policy instruments imply?
Conclusion: that policy design cannot be considered as selecting the optimal choices on the basis of
given goals, but that it should consider the wide variety of ideologies, preferences, ideas, and
opinions that influence problem perceptions and policy design, as well as the various ways in which
these are interrelated
Question: what is the relation between how policy goals are perceived and how problems are
perceived?
Conclusion: The perspective on formulated problems and society in general influence instrument
choice, but the opposite is also true: the view on instruments influences the way in which problems
are formulated. “If the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails”
Evidence:
• A policymaker focusing on the effectiveness of policies will make other choices than one that
focuses on legitimacy, feasibility or public support.
• Preferences for policy instruments are related to broad and generic ideas about governance
and about the role of key actors in governance
Question: what does an instrumental approach to policy design entail and what are its critiques?
Conclusion:
• Instrumental approach: policy design as selecting policy instruments that best fir the policy
goal
○ e.g. through multi-criteria analyses
○ “that in most instances processes of policy formulation are governed less by political
considerations than they are by concerns about efficiency and effectiveness in practice,
which leads policymakers to think more systematically and analytically about their
options and alternatives”
• Criticism: overlook that a focus on effectiveness and efficiency is already a political choice and
that a different focus is possible
• Criticism: tends to simplify the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency by implicitly assuming
that these are unambiguous
○ people can have different ideas about what constitutes effective and efficient policies
3. Policy design methods
Question: what makes each policy design method unique?
Conclusion: their…
• Starting point
• Strategy
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Way of engaging with stakeholders
• Way of using knowledge
• Way of yielding different results
Question: the policy design methods discussed, are ideal-typical methods. What does this mean?
Conclusion: that they relate to an ideal type
Evidence: In reality the distinction between these methods is not as clear as described in this reader
Policy Evaluation and Design Page 3
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