Title: TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTABLISHING POLICY SUCCESS
Abstract: Public AdministrationVolume 88, Issue 2 p. 564-583 TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTABLISHING POLICY SUCCESS DAVID MARSH, DAVID MARSH David Marsh is in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra.Search for more papers by this authorALLAN McCONNELL, ALLAN McCONNELL Allan McConnell is in the Department of Government and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney and the Department of Government, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.Search for more papers by this author DAVID MARSH, DAVID MARSH David Marsh is in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra.Search for more papers by this authorALLAN McCONNELL, ALLAN McCONNELL Allan McConnell is in the Department of Government and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney and the Department of Government, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.Search for more papers by this author First published: 10 June 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2009.01803.xCitations: 177Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Claims that a particular policy has been a ‘success’ are commonplace in political life. However, a few of these claims are justified in any systematic way. This article seeks to remedy this omission by offering a heuristic which practitioners and academics can utilize to approach the question of whether a policy is, or was, successful. It builds initially on two sets of literature: Boyne's work on public sector improvement; and the work of Bovens et al. on success, failure and policy evaluation. We discuss the epistemological issues involved in whether it is possible to produce an objective measure of ‘success’. Subsequently, we present a framework for assessing success, focusing on three dimensions: process success; programmatic success; and political success. We then move on to raise a series of what we term complexity issues in relation to success for whom; variations across time, space and culture; and methodological issues. REFERENCES Barber, M. 2007. Instruction to Deliver: Tony Blair, Public Services and the Challenge of Achieving Targets. London: Politico's. Baumgartner, F.R. and B.D. Jones. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. A. Bebbington and W. McCourt (eds). 2007. Development Success: Statecraft in the South. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bovens, M. and P. ‘t Hart 1996. Understanding Policy Fiascos. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Press. M. Bovens, P. 't Hart and B.G. Peters (eds). 2001. Success and Failure in Public Governance: A Comparative Analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Bovens, M., P. ‘t Hart, and S. Kuipers. 2006. ‘The Politics of Policy Evaluation’, in M. Moran, M. Rein and R.E. Goodin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 319–35. Boyne, G.A. 2003. ‘What is Public Sector Improvement?’, Public Administration, 81, 2, 211–27. Boyne, G.A. 2004. ‘Explaining Public Service Improvement: Does Management Matter?’, Public Policy and Administration, 19, 4, 100–17. Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2007. Extraordinary Rendition in US Counterterrorism Policy: The Impact on Transatlantic Relations. Joint Hearing Before The Subcommittee On International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight and the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Of Representatives, 17 April, Washington, DC. Cornelius, W. 2001. ‘Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy’, Population and Development Review, 27, 4, 661–85. Davidson, J.E. 2005. Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Sound Evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Dolowitz, D., S. Greenwold and D. Marsh. 1999. ‘Policy Transfer: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, but why Red, White and Blue?’, Parliamentary Affairs, 52, 4, 719–30. Dolowitz, D.P. and D. Marsh. 2000. ‘Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making’, Governance, 13, 1, 5–23. Dryzek, J.S. 2006. ‘Policy Analysis as Critique’, in M. Moran, M. Rein, M. and R.E. Goodin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 190–203. Dye, T.R. 2005. Understanding Public Policy, 11th edn. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Edelman, M. 1977. Political Language: Words that Succeed and Policies that Fail. New York: Academic Press. Exworthy, M. and M. Powell. 2004. ‘Big Windows and Little Windows: Implementation in the “Congested State”’, Public Administration, 82, 2, 263–81. Falkner, G., O. Teib, M. Hartlapp and S. Leiber. 2005. Complying With Europe: EU Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States. New York: Cambridge University Press. Goldfinch, S. 2006. ‘Rituals of Reform, Policy Transfer, and the National University Corporation Reforms of Japan’, Governance, 19, 4, 585–604. Green, H., H. Trache and D. Blanchard. 2001. ‘An Experiment in French Urban Policy: Evaluation and Reflection on the Implementation of The Zones Franches Urbaines', Planning Theory & Practice, 2, 1, 53–66. Hall, P.G. 1982. Great Planning Disasters. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Hay, C. 2002. Political Analysis: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. HC471. 20012. Better Public Services through Joint Working, Select Committee on Public Accounts, House of Commons. Head, B.W. 2008. ‘Three Lenses of Evidence-based Policy’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 67, 1, 1–11. Head, B. and J. Alford. 2008. ‘Wicked Problems: Implications for Policy and Management', Refereed paper delivered to the Australasian Political Studies Association Conference, 6–9 July, Brisbane. Hodgson, L., C.M. Farrell and M. Connolly. 2007. ‘Improving UK Public Services: A Review of the Evidence’, Public Administration, 85, 2, 355–82. Hogwood, B.W. and L.A. Gunn. 1984. Policy Analysis for the Real World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Home Office. 2008. Efficiency & Productivity Strategy for The Police Service: 2008–11. London: Home Office (http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publication/human-resources/efficiency-productivity-strategy?view=Binary), accessed 15 April 2008. Ingram, H. and A.L. Schneider. 2006. ‘Policy Analysis for Democracy’, in M. Moran, M. Rein, M. and R.E. Goodin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 169–89. Jas, P. and C. Skelcher. 2005. ‘Performance Decline and Turnaround in Public Organizations: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis', British Journal of Management, 16, 3, 195–210. Ling, T. 2002. ‘Delivering Joined-up Government in the UK: Dimensions, Issues and Problems', Public Administration, 80, 4, 615–42. Lodge, M. 2001. ‘Barking Mad? Risk Regulation and the Control of Dangerous Dogs in Germany’, German Politics, 10, 3, 65–82. Lodge, M. and C. Hood. 2002. ‘Pavlovian Policy Responses to Media Feeding Frenzies? Dangerous Dogs Regulation in Comparative Perspective’, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 10, 1, 1–13. Lukes, S. 2005. Power: A Radical View, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lundberg, T.C. 2007. ‘Electoral System Reviews in New Zealand, Britain and Canada: A Critical Comparison’, Government and Opposition, 42, 4, 471–90. Marsh, D. and P. Furlong. 2002. ‘A Skin Not a Sweater: Ontology and Epistemology in Political Science’, in D. Marsh and G. Stoker (eds), Theory and Methods in Political Science, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 17–41. Marsh, D. 2008. ‘Keeping Ideas in their Place: In Praise of Thin Constructivism’ ([email protected]). Martin, B. 2007. Justice Ignited: The Dynamics of Backfire. Plymouth: Rowman and Littlefield. Moore, M.H. 1995. Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Mossberger, K. 2000. The Politics of Ideas and the Spread of Enterprise Zones. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Nagel, S. 2002. Public Policy Studies. Hauppauge, NY: Nova. Office for National Statistics. 2008. Social Trends 38. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_social/Social_Trends38/Social_Trends_38.pdf), accessed 16 April 2008. Parsons, W. 2002. ’From Muddling Through To Muddling Up: Evidence Based Policy Making and the Modernization of British Government', Public Policy and Administration, 17, 3, 43–60. Platzer, H. 2005. ‘Best Value But Not Best Interests: Can Service Users Instruct Mental Health Advocates?’, in D. Taylor and S. Balloch (eds), The Politics of Evaluation: Participation and Policy Implementation. Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 87–96. Prasser, S. 2006. ‘Aligning “Good Policy” With “Good Politics”’, in H.K. Colebatch, (ed.), Beyond the Policy Cycle: The Policy Process in Australia. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, pp. 266–92. Riker, W H. 1962. The Theory of Political Coalitions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Robinson, N. 2003. ‘Fuel Protests: Governing the Ungovernable’, Parliamentary Affairs, 56, 3, 423–40. P.A. Sabatier and H. Jenkins-Smith (eds). 1993. Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Sanderson, I. 2002. ‘Evaluation, Policy Learning and Evidence-based Policy-making’, Public Administration, 80, 1, 1–22. Schwartz, R. and A. McConnell. 2008. ‘The Walkerton Water Tragedy and the Versailles Banquet Hall Collapse: Regulatory Failure and Policy Change’, in A. Boin, A. McConnell and P. ‘t Hart (eds), Governing After Crisis: The Politics of Investigation, Accountability and Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 208–31. Squires, P. and L. Measor. 2005. ‘Below Decks on the Youth Justice Flagship: The Politics of Evaluation’, in D. Taylor and S. Balloch (eds), The Politics of Evaluation: Participation and Policy Implementation. Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 21–40. Stone, D. 2002. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making, 2nd edn. New York: W.W. Norton. Tsebelis, G. 2002. Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Taylor, D. and S. Balloch. 2005. ‘The Politics of Evaluation: An Overview’, in D. Taylor and S. Balloch (eds), The Politics of Evaluation: Participation and Policy Implementation. Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 1–17. Weimer, D.L. and A.R. Vining. 1989. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Winship, C. 2006. ‘Policy Analysis as Puzzle Solving’, in M. Moran, M. Rein and R.E. Goodin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 109–23. Citing Literature Volume88, Issue2June 2010Pages 564-583 ReferencesRelatedInformation
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-04-05
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 280
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot