Symposium on implementing public policy: Learning from theory and practice - Introduction

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Schofield, J; Sausman, C
• 署名单位: Aston University; University of Cambridge
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0033-3298.2004.00392.x
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 235-248
• 关键词: NETWORKS; state

摘要

The initiative for this symposium issue arose out of a series of five ESRC seminars called 'Implementing Public Policy: Learning from Each Other'. The aim of the seminars was to revitalize interest amongst public policy researchers about implementation studies, to advance the development of ideas about public policy implementation and to assess the relevance of academic models of public policy implementation to those who deliver public services. An understanding of how and why public policy is put into effect can be conceptualized under the heading of Implementation Theory, which tends to take as a starting point for scholarly concern the work of Pressman and Wildavsky 1973. The benefits of an implementation perspective are such that they allow the policy analyst to transcend the distinction between politics and administration. Such a distinction has had a tendency to be polarized between either political science research or public administration and general management research. The creation of the ESRC seminar group aimed to create an interdisciplinary group that would bring together researchers from these disciplines. It was also timely because of the British Government's renewed emphasis upon policy implementation and delivery (Schofield and Sausman 2002). The papers that are presented here reflect the themes that were explored in the seminars, later more fully developed and subsequently synthesized by the authors and editors. These themes are: 1. Is it time for a revival in implementation studies: did they ever go away? 2. What is the role of knowledge, learning and capacity in ensuring that policy is enacted? 3. What is the utility of theoretical models of implementation? 4. What is the importance of context? Certainly, implementation studies have waxed and waned and while we are not making the case for a resurgence for its own sake, we hope that the papers provide a basis for renewed critical thinking and continuing debate about this very specific aspect of the policy process (Harrow 2002).