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Conceptualizing Public Policy

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137314154_2

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 1  

CONCEPTUALIZING PUBLIC POLICY

Michael Howlett (Simon Fraser University) and Ben Cashore (Yale University)

Abstract

This chapter aims at clarifying the term “public policy”. Public policies have been defined in

many different ways, hindering comparative analysis. In order to compare, the object of study

must be carefully conceptualized. Since different concepts such as policy goals, policy

instruments and tools, policy rationales, beneficiaries or target groups, implementers and others

have been used to structure and compare policy content, they must be carefully distinguished if

causality and explanation are to advance. This chapter reviews these challenges, and offers a

policy classification that clarifies the important dimensions of policy-making processes in

manner which facilitates comparative analysis. We draw on this review to explore the

methodological challenges associated with identifying and explaining policy-change, also a

subject of much interest to comparative policy studies.

Defining Public Policy and the Need for Comparative Research

Policy-making is a techno-political process of articulating and matching actor goals and means.

Policies, themselves, are thus actions which contain both some, however poorly identified,

justified and formulated, goal(s) and some means, again however poorly specified and

articulated, to achieve them. Many organizations and actors create policies but “public” policies

are made by governments, and the ‘actions’ we are concerned with in this case are government
 2  

decisions to act or not to act to change, or maintain, some aspect of the status quo (Birkland,

2001: ch. 1).

In probably the best-known short definition of a public policy Thomas Dye offered a
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particularly succinct formulation, describing public policy as ‘anything a government chooses to
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do or not to do’ (Dye, 1972: 2). This is, of course, is too simple for many analytical purposes but

is not without its merits.

First, Dye’s definition specifies clearly that the primary agent of public policy-making is

a government. As mentioned above, to repeat, this means that private business decisions,
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decisions by charitable organizations, interest groups, other social groups, or individuals are not

in themselves public policies. Although these others might be important actors with a role in
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governmental policy-making processes, governments enjoy a special role in public policy-
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:27 PM
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making due to their unique ability to make authoritative decisions on behalf of citizens, that is,

ones backed up by the potential for sanctions for transgressors in the event of non-compliance.

Of course, the activities of non-governmental actors may and very often do influence
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:28 PM
Deleted: Hence, when we talk about public
governments’ policy decisions, and governments will sometimes leave the implementation or policies we are always speaking about initiatives
sanctioned by governments. Although t
some other aspect of policy-making to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), however the

efforts and initiatives of such actors do not in themselves constitute public policy. Thus, for

example, how the medical profession interprets the causes of lung cancer and the solutions it

proposes for prevention and cure may have a bearing on what a government eventually does

about the problem in terms of health-care policy. However, the profession’s proposed solution to

the problem is not itself a public policy; only measures that a government actually adopts or

endorses—such as a ban on the sale or use of tobacco— actually constitute public policy.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:30 PM
Deleted: would
 3  

Second, as Dye notes, public policy is, at its simplest, a choice made by government to

undertake some course of action. Dye highlights the fact that public policy-making involves a

fundamental choice on the part of governments to do something or to do nothing with respect to

a problem and that this decision is made by government officials be they elected or appointed

politicians, judges or administrators. Thus a ‘negative’ or ‘non-decision’, that is, a government’s

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decision to do nothing and simply maintain the current course of action or status quo (Crenson,
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1971; R.A. Smith, 1979) is just as much a policy decision as a choice to attempt to alter some
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:31 PM
Deleted: and other officials
part of the status quo. Such ‘negative’ decisions, however, like more ‘positive’ ones, should be Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:30 PM
Deleted: As Dye notes, public policy is, at its
deliberate, such as when a government decides not to increase taxes or declines to make simplest, a choice made by government to undertake
some course of action.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:32 PM
additional funds available for arts, health care, or some other policy area. The fact we have the
Deleted: A

freedom to paint the interiors of our homes in colours of our choice, for example, does not mean

that this is a public policy, because the government never deliberately decided not to restrict our

options in this area.

Third, and closely related to this, Dye’s definition also highlights the fact that a public

policy is a conscious choice of a government. That is, government actions and decisions very

often involve unintended consequences, such as when an effort to regulate tobacco consumption

or some other vice results in the activity ‘going underground’ and operating illegally as a ‘black’

market. Unless this subsequent activity or consequence was specifically anticipated and intended
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Deleted: ’
by government (such as occurs when governments increase gasoline taxes to discourage

automobile use and thus indirectly promote the use of public transit), the unintended

consequence of policy is not public policy but merely its unexpected by-product, which

sometimes may be beneficial and sometimes not.

 4  

Dye’s three points are central to understanding public policy as the result of a

government decision-making process but is less clear on how such decisions are arrived at our

implemented. Other more complex definitions such as that put forward by William Jenkins

(1978), for example, offer a more precise conceptualization of public policy which also

addresses these aspects of the subject. Jenkins defined public policy as ‘a set of interrelated

decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the

means of achieving them within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle,

be within the power of those actors to achieve’. This definition is helpful in specifying the

content of a policy decision, as being composed of the ‘selection of goals and means’ as noted

above, although this says nothing about the nature of the goals (or the means involved). Viewing
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policy as the pursuit of conscious goals nevertheless raises the significance to policy-making of
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the ideas and knowledge held by policy actors about policy goals and the tools or techniques
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used to achieve them,, which shape their understanding of policy problems and the
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Deleted: and especially government actors
‘appropriateness’ of potential solutions to them.

Moreover, Jenkin’s definition is helpful in clarifying some of the implicit components of

Dye’s definition, which could be construed as limiting policy-making to a single choice

opportunity and result. Jenkins’ definition presents policy-making as a dynamic process and

explicitly acknowledges that it is usually the result of ‘a set of interrelated decisions’ that
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Deleted: public policy
cumulatively contribute to an outcome rather than a single decision Thus, a health policy, for
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Deleted: .
example, consists of a series of decisions about building health facilities, certifying personnel
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Deleted: on
and treatment, and financing health-care provision, among many other related items, often taken

over a lengthy period of time (Tuohy, 1999). This also highights the complexity of the nature of

the actors involved in policy-making as these various interrelated decisions are often made by
 5  

different individuals and agencies within government, such as a Department of Health as well as

Ministries of Finance or Social Welfare and by various divisions and sections within them, and

can involve a much larger set of non-state actors than often assumed, resulting in a much more

complex policy-making process than a quick reading of Dye’s definition might suggest.

Jenkins also improves upon Dye’s definition by adding the idea that a government’s

capacity to implement its decisions is also a significant component of public policy and a major

consideration affecting the types of action that government will consider. This recognizes the
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Deleted: Jenkins’s definition
limitations on a government’s ability to act that can constrain the range of options considered in
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particular decision-making circumstances and contribute to the success or lack of success of their
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Deleted: or can
efforts. A government’s choice of a policy may be limited, for instance, by the presence or lack

of financial, personnel, or informational resources, by international treaty obligations, or by

domestic resistance to certain options, all affecting what kinds of actions would be considered

‘effective’ ‘feasible’ and ‘appropriate’ in dealing with an issue (May, 2005; Majone, 1975;

Meltsner, 1972; Huitt, 1968). Thus, for example, we will not understand health policy in many

countries without realizing the powerful opposition that the medical profession can mount

against any government’s effort to control health-care costs which might reduce the profession’s

income (Alford, 1972) or without taking into account the kinds of financial resources

governments have at their disposal in providing healthcare and/or paying doctors and nurses and

other healthcare providers for their services. Similarly, understanding domestic government

actions increasingly requires detailed awareness of the limits upon, and opportunities provided Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:42 PM
Deleted: Understanding how these processes work
and with what results can be undertaken at the
to, them by international agreements, treaties, and conventions (Milner and Keohane, 1996; domestic or international levels and analyses are
often undertaken in this fashion. However,
increasingly, comparative studies of processes and
Doern et al., 1996a). outcomes, both across different sectors – such as
health policy or environmental or industrial policy –
and across different nations are called for in
evaluating best practices and generating descriptions
Specifying the Constituent Elements of Public Policy of processes and identifying the factors which
influence them.
 6  

As this definitional discussion suggests, public policies are complex entities made up of a
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:41 PM
Deleted: ese definitions
number of constituent parts, since they exist as combinations of goals and means put together

and implemented by a variety of authoritative policy actors operating within an environment of

Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:41 PM
Deleted: al
multiple interacting actors and organizations operating over both time and space
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:41 PM
Deleted: .
Understanding how these processes work and with what results can be undertaken at the

domestic or international levels and analyses in the policy sciences are often undertaken in this

fashion. However, increasingly, comparative studies of processes and outcomes, both across

different sectors – such as health policy or environmental or industrial policy – and across

different nations are called for in generating descriptions of processes and identifying the factors

which influence them.

A path breaking effort to specify in more detail exactly what these constituent parts entail

and how they can be put together in an empirically and conceptually rich fashion which draws on

comparative analysis, for example, can be found in Peter Halls’ (1989 and 1993) work

comparing the development of economic policies in western countries. This work distinguished

between three basic elements or components of public polices: more or less abstract or general

policy goals, the more concrete policy instruments used to implement them and the even more

specific operational settings or calibrations used when these instruments are deployed.

Although Hall himself suggested that only these three different components existed, the

distinction he drew the three different ‘levels’ of specificity of goals and means - from ‘abstract’

to ‘concrete’ and ‘specific’ - means it is possible to discern as many as six elements that go into

making up a public policy (see Figure 2.1) (Liefferink et al 2006).i

Figure 2.1 A Modified Taxonomy of Policy Components Following Hall

 7  

(Cells contain examples of each measure)

Policy Content

High Level Abstraction Programme Level Specific On-the-

Operationalization Ground Measures

Policy GOALS OBJECTIVES SETTINGS

Ends What General Types What Does Policy What are the

or of Ideas Govern Formally Aim to Specific

Aims Policy Address?

On-the-ground

Development? Requirements of

Policy
(e.g. saving wilderness

or species habitat,

increasing harvesting
(e.g. environmental
levels to create
(e.g. considerations
protection, economic processing jobs)
about the optimal
development)
size of designated

stream-bed riparian

zones, or sustainable

levels of harvesting)

Policy
 8  

Focus

Policy INSTRUMENT MECHANISMS CALLIBRATIONS

Means LOGIC
What Specific Types What are the
or
What General Norms of Specific
Tools
Guide
Instruments are Ways in Which the
Implementation
Utilized?
Instrument is
Preferences?
used?

(e.g. preferences for the

(e.g. the use of (e.g. designations of
use of coercive
different tools such as higher levels of
instruments, or moral
tax incentives, or subsidies, the use of
suasion)
public enterprises) mandatory vs

voluntary regulatory

guidelines or

standards)

Source: Modified from Cashore and Howlett (2007)

Using this insight, public policies and public policy-making can be seen to revolve around the
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Deleted: P
process of articulating and matching up policy goals with preferred policy means at all three of
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:43 PM
Deleted: therefore
the abstract (general or conceptual), program (concrete) and on-the-ground (settings) levels.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:44 PM
Deleted: but in a fashion which includes
Thus for example in an area such as criminal justice policy, policy-making involves both discussion and development

consideration of general abstract policy goals (like ‘reducing crime) and conceptual means
 9  

(better policing), as well as program level objectives (such as reducing violent or gun-related

crime) and mechanisms (by increasing the number of local police stations in high crime areas),

and also the settings and calibrations of policy tools (such as reducing violent crime by 50

percent over five years and doing so doubling the number and frequency of police patrols in

affected areas).

Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:45 PM

Deleted: Comparative studies of policy-making
often focus on specific levels of policy-making, but
Describing How is Policy Made: The Policy Cycle Model accurate depictions of policy processes and
outcomes requires investigation and analysis of all
three levels and the development and articulation of
both goals and means (Bannink and Hoogenboom
2007; Kuhner 2007). Works in this vein have
Comparative studies of policy-making often focus on specific levels of policy-making, but developed several key insights into policy-making
processes and behaviour which inform contemporary
comparative policy studies and are discussed below.
accurate depictions of policy processes and outcomes requires investigation and analysis of all

three levels and the development and of the manner in which both goals and means are

articulated (Bannink and Hoogenboom 2007; Kuhner 2007).

Works in this vein have developed several key insights into policy-making processes and

behaviour which inform contemporary comparative policy studies. One is the finding that policy

processes generally unfold as a a set of interrelated stages through which some item flows in a
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:46 PM
Deleted: A process is
more or less sequential fashion from being an ‘input’ to government deliberations to being an
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Deleted: s
‘outputs’ or subject of government action. The sequence of stages through which this decision-
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:48 PM
Deleted: In the case of policy-making, as we have
making activity operates is often referred to as the ‘policy cycle’ (Jann and Wegrich, 2007). First seen, the process is one in which various demands
are made upon governments to act or expend its
resources in specific ways, leading it to take some
broached in the work of Harold Lasswell (1956), one of the central pioneers and promoters of kind of action.

what he termed ‘the policy science’ (Farr et al., 2006) Lasswell (1971) divided the policy process
andréanne bourque 11/16/12 6:35 PM
Comment [1]: Please  add  this  reference  in  the  
into seven stages, which, in his view, described not only how public policies were actually made bibliography  

but also how they should be made.

 10  

In Lasswell’s construct, the policy process began with intelligence-gathering, that is, the
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:48 PM
Deleted: this
collection, processing, and dissemination of information for those who participate in decision-
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:48 PM
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making. It then would move to the promotion of particular options for addressing the problem by
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:48 PM
Deleted: s
those involved in making the decision. In the third stage the decision-makers would prescribe a Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:48 PM
Deleted: s
course of action. In the fourth stage the prescribed course of action would be invoked alongside a
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Deleted: is
set of sanctions to penalize those who fail to comply with these prescriptions. The policy would
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then be applied by the courts and the bureaucracy and run its course until it was terminated or
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cancelled. Finally, the results of the policy would be appraised or evaluated against the original
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aims and goals.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:49 PM
Deleted: are
This way of thinking about policy-making as a staged-process of problem-solving was

highly influential in the development of the policy sciences (deLeon, 1999) and formed the basis

for much further work on the subject (Lyden et al., 1968; Simmons et al., 1974; Brewer 1974;

Jones, 1984; Anderson, 1984). Through comparative studies of policy-making processes in many
andréanne bourque 11/16/12 6:35 PM
Comment [2]: Please  check  year  in  bibliography  
sectors and jurisdictions a simpler version of the policy cycle emerged which more clearly linked
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the stages of public policy making with the logic of applied decision making (Hupe and Hill,

2006). The five stages in applied problem solving and the corresponding stages in the policy

process are depicted in Figure 2. 2.

Figure 2.2 Five Stages of the Policy Cycle and Their Relationship to Applied

Problem-Solving

Applied Problem-Solving Stages in Policy Cycle

1. Problem Recognition 1. Agenda Setting

2. Proposal of Solution 2. Policy Formulation

 11  

3. Choice of Solution 3. Decision Making

4. Putting Solution into Effect 4. Policy Implementation

5. Monitoring Results 5. Policy Evaluation

In this model, agenda setting refers to the process by which problems come to the

attention of governments; policy formulation refers to how policy options are formulated within

government; decision making is the process by which governments adopt a particular course of

action or non-action; policy implementation relates to how governments put policies into effect;

and policy evaluation refers to the processes by which the results of policies are monitored by

both state and societal actors, the outcome of which may be reconceptualization of policy

problems and solutions.

Much study has focussed on detailing the operation of particular stages of the cycle; for
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:51 PM
Deleted: Again, m
example, examining through comparative case study techniques the nature of agenda setting
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:51 PM
Deleted: comparative
dynamics in the United States and Europe, or comparing the roles played by specific actors – like
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:51 PM
Deleted: , for example,
the media – in each. Other studies examined the manner in which different stages interacted –

such as feedback-like processes involving policy evaluation and agenda setting when a negative

evaluation of a policy leads to its revision in subsequent rounds of policy making (Pierson,

1993). These studies have shed a great deal of light on the nature of the policy making process

and highlighted the use of comparative research in order to better understand the kinds of actors
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:53 PM
Deleted: need
and dynamics at work in different countries and sectors as policy making processes unfold.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:53 PM
Deleted: ed if these forces and determinants were
to be understood and controlled.
Who Makes Policy: Policy Actors
 12  

The cycle or process model of public policy-making is useful not only because of the way

it separates out distinct tasks conducted in the process of public policy making. It also it helps
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:54 PM
Deleted: , but also because
clarify the different, but interactive, roles played at each stage in the process by specific kinds of

policy actors, the institutions in which they operate, and the importance of the ideas they hold

about both policy content and process in determining what kinds of policy goals and means are

considered and implemented in public policy decision making (Sobeck, 2003).

Comparative study has helped show, for example, how at the agenda setting stage
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:54 PM
Deleted: A
virtually any (and all) policy actors canbe involved in decrying problems and demanding
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: is a
government action. These policy actors—whether all, many, or few—can be termed the policy
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: in which
universe. At the next stage, formulation, however, research has shown how only a subset of the Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: might
policy universe—the policy subsystem—is typically involved in discussing options to deal with

problems recognized as requiring some government action. This subsystem is composed only of
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: e
those actors with sufficient knowledge of a problem area, or a resource at stake, to allow them to
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: of
participate in the process of developing alternative feasible courses of action to address the issues
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:55 PM
Deleted: t
raised at the agenda setting stage. When a decision is being taken on one or more, or none, of Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:56 PM
Deleted: possible
these options to implement, the number of actors is reduced even further, to only the subset of

the policy subsystem composed of authoritative government decision makers, whether elected

officials, judges, or bureaucrats. Once implementation begins, however, the number of actors

increases once again to the relevant subsystem and then, finally, with the evaluation of the results

of that implementation, expands once again to encompass the entire policy universe. This public

policy ‘hourglass’ configuration of actors is set out in Figure 2.3 below.

Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:57 PM
Deleted: (see
Figure 2.3. The Policy Cycle–Actor Hourglass Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:57 PM
Deleted: ).

Stages in Policy Cycle Key Actors Involved

 13  

1. Agenda Setting 1. Policy Universe

2. Policy Formulation 2. Policy Subsystem

3. Decision Making 3. Authoritative Government Decision Makers

4. Policy Implementation 4. Policy Subsystem

5. Policy Evaluation 5. Policy Universe

Understanding how these different actors interact in policy processes in order to produce

specific kinds of policy outcomes is a major subject of contemporary comparative policy

research. Different patterns of policy outcomes have been linked to the patterns of behaviour of

different policy actors at each stage of the policy process and these, in turn, have been linked to

factors such as the kinds of institutional structures found in different countries and sectors that

condition how policy initiatives emerge and how policy advice is generated and deployed (Peled

2002; Howlett and Lindquist, 2004; Bevir and Rhodes, 2001; Bevir, Rhodes and Weller, 2003;

Aberbach and Rockman, 1989; Bennett and McPhail, 1992).

Recent comparative studies of policy formulation processes in countries such as the New
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:59 PM
Deleted: making
Zealand, Israel, Canada and Australia, for example, have developed the idea that government

decision makers sit at the centre of a complex web of policy advisors which are key players in

affecting how demands made at the agenda setting stage of the policy process are articulated into

specific policy options or alternatives for decision makers to consider (Dobuzinskis, Howlett and

Laycock, 2007; Maley, 2000; Peled, 2002; Eichbaum and Shaw, 2007). These include both

‘traditional’ political advisors in government as well as non governmental actors in NGOs, think
 14  

tanks and other similar organizations, as well as less formal or professional forms of advice from

colleagues, relatives and members of the public.

Given its reliance on existing institutional configurations the exact configuration of an

advisory system varies not only temporally, but also spatially, by jurisdiction, especially by

nation state and, somewhat less so, by policy sector. That is, the personal and professional

components of the policy advice supply system, along with their internal and external sourcing,

can be expected to be combined in different ratios in different situations (Prince, 1983; Wollman,

1989; Hawke, 1983; Rochet, 2004; Halligan, 1995). Discerning the underlying patterns of policy
andréanne bourque 11/16/12 6:35 PM
Comment [3]: Check  year  in  bibliography  (1983  
analysis, their influence, and effectiveness in different analytical contexts involves understanding or  1993)?  

how a policy advice system is structured and operated in different countries, jurisdictions and

sectors of policy activity (Lindquist, 1998; Verschuere, 2009; Mayer, Bots and van Daalen,

2004) and is thus a good example of a subject well suited to comparative public policy analytical
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:59 PM
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techniques.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:59 PM
Deleted: a
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 5:59 PM
Deleted: of some interest to students of

How Policies Change: The Punctuated Equilibrium Model of Policy Dynamics

These insights into the nature of public policy, policy processes and policy actors have

been brought together in recent years by by students of comparative public policy dynamics; that
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:00 PM
Formatted: Font:Italic
is, in order to explore and explain the manner in which policies change. In this regard, the

contemporary study of policy dynamics owes a broad debt to two works which appeared 30

years apart: again Peter Hall’s 1989 above-mentioned study of policy paradigms and Charles

Lindblom’s 1959 earlier work on incrementalism.

 15  

Both authors worked in a synthetic fashion, utilizing the insights of other scholars into

aspects of politico-administrative behaviour – in Lindblom’s case Herbert Simon’s (1957)

insights into the nature of organizational behaviour and in Hall’s case Thomas Kuhn’s (1962)

ideas about the history of scientific advance – to propose and refine the notion that general

patterns of policy development can be identified and understood which transcend specific subject
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:01 PM
Deleted: could
areas and content.

Hall’s work served to break the long term orthodoxy in studies of policy dynamics
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:02 PM
Deleted: a
dominated by Lindblom-inspired incrementalism, that is, the position that due to constraints on
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:02 PM
Deleted: change
the nature of human cognition which led to most decision-making effectively being political

bargaining, a single type of policy dynamics – marginal or small increments from the status quo
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:02 PM
Deleted: one which argued that
– would characterized almost all instances of public policy making(Hayes, 1992; Howlett and
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:02 PM
Deleted: change
Ramesh, 2003). Although Hall agreed with this basic characterization and finding, he also

identified a second pattern of change. This was the broad ‘paradigm’ shift which could be
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:05 PM
Deleted: – the
observed in many policy areas in many countries and sectors over more or less long periods of

time in which policy goals changed in a non-linear fashion; such as when ideas about ‘wellness’
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:04 PM
Deleted: shift
in the health sector took over from long-held notions about ‘illness’.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:06 PM
Deleted:

Comparative scholars studying public policy dynamics have been involved in a 20 year Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:06 PM
Deleted: –

process of attempting to refine the two patterns and assess their inter-relationships. As this work Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:07 PM
Deleted: and c
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:07 PM
has developed a new ‘post-incremental’ orthodoxy has emerged as policy scholars have
Deleted: ... [1]

Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:07 PM

generally accepted the idea – borrowed from paleo-biology (Eldredge and Gould, 1972) and first Deleted: work has emerged

put forward in the context of policy dynamics by Baumgartner and Jones (1991) – that periods of

marginal adaptation and revolutionary transformation are typically linked in an overall Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
Deleted: This
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
‘punctuated equilibrium’ pattern of policy change. That is, in a pattern in which periods of
Deleted: s one in
 16  

relatively long-term stability in policy goals succeed each other while within each ‘paradigm’
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
Deleted: in a non-linear fashion
changes in policy objectives and instruments occur which result in more evolutionary,
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
Deleted: ,
incremental, ‘intra-paradigmatic’ policy changes.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
Deleted: ,

The principle elements of the new orthodoxy in comparative studies of policy dynamics Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:08 PM
Deleted: s

are that:

• Any analysis of policy development must be historical in nature and cover

periods of years or even decades or more (Sabatier, 1993).ii

• Political institutions and their embedded policy subsystems act as the

primary mechanisms of policy reproduction (Botcheva and Martin, 2001;

andréanne bourque 11/16/12 6:35 PM
Comment [4]: Check  year  in  bibliography  :  2001  
Clemens and Cook, 1999; Howlett and Ramesh, 2003). or  2002?  

• “Paradigmatic” change, a process in which there is a fundamental

realignment of most aspects of policy development, is generally

understood to occur rarely and in the absence of such processes policy

Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:10 PM
Deleted: only when the policy institutions
changes are expected to follow “incremental” patterns (Deeg, 2001; themselves are transformed.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:11 PM
Genschel, 1997); and, Deleted: I
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:10 PM
• Paradigmatic transformations or ‘punctuations’ themsleves usually occur Deleted: any

due to the effects of “external perturbations” that cause widespread

disruptions in existing policy ideas, beliefs, actors, institutions and

practices rather than due to endogenous causes, although this is also

possible (Smith, 2000; Thelen, 2003 and 2004; Sabatier and Jenkins-

Smith, 1993; Hacker, 2004; Mahoney, 2000; Pierson, 1993, 2000; Kay,

2006; Howlett and Rayner, 2006).

 17  

Much more comparative research is required in this area in order to both prove and refine
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:12 PM
Deleted: While alluring as a synthetic construction
these elements (John and Margetts, 2003). For example, some recent longitudinal studies have with the potential for great explanatory power in
many empirical instances, most elements of the new
orthodox punctuated equilibrium model have not
failed to find evidence of the exogenously driven change processes typically associated with been fully tested or proven and m
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:12 PM
most contemporary theorizing about paradigmatic changes (Cashore and Howlett, 2007; Deleted: still
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:12 PM
Coleman, Skogstad and Atkinson, 1996). In these cases, researchers have found dramatic policy Deleted: much

change to involve a more complex pattern of linkages and change among the levels or orders of
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:13 PM
Deleted: d
policy than originally contemplated (Mortensen, 2005). Uncovering these “hidden” and more

complex patterns of policy development challenges the way most policy studies measure and

classify overall policy dynamics as either “paradigmatic” or “incremental” and provide a fertile

field for contemporary comparative policy research (Howlett and Ramesh, 2002; Lindner, 2003;

Lindner and Rittberger, 2003).iii

Conclusion

The discussion of policy elements, processes, actors and dynamics provided above reveals public

policy to be a complex phenomenon consisting of numerous decisions made by many individuals

and organizations inside government at different points in policy processes, influenced by others

operating within, and outside of, the state and resulting, generally, in long periods of stability of

outcomes or incremental changes, punctuated by infrequent bursts of paradigmatic change. The

decisions policy-makers make are seen to be shaped both by the structures within which these

actors operate and the ideas they hold—forces that also have affected earlier policies and related

decisions in previous iterations of policy-making processes which have set policies onto specific

trajectories sometimes over long periods of time. As such, the complexity of studying public

policy is considerable, posing analytical difficulties for which students of comparative public
 18  

policy-making have developed useful models or analytical frameworks such as those set out
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:15 PM
Deleted: simplifying
above (Danziger, 1995; Yanow, 1992; Phillips, 1996).

The results of such comparative efforts have been many and fruitful. The discipline now

has a much stronger understanding about factors such as legislative “attention spans”, “policy

windows”, and how alterations in subsystem beliefs and membership can result in certain issues

coming to the fore on policy agendas, precipitating change by shaping what subsystem members

deem to be appropriate types and modes of policy-making (Baumgartner and Jones, 1993, 2002;

Hall, 1989; Kingdon, 1995; Leach, Pelkey and Sabatier, 2002). It also has a much better

understanding of the role played by macro, meso and micro-institutions, formalization of issue

discourses, and routinization of political and administrative affairs in shaping the mobilization of

actors and restraining change in policy agendas and processes (Weaver and Rockman, 1993;

Deeg, 2005; Thelen, 2003 and 2004).

However as pointed out above, this research is by no means finished. A large number of

significant questions about policy-making and policy behaviour continue to exist and define the
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:17 PM
Deleted: research
agenda for further comparative research. In addition to the kinds of questions about patterns of

policy change mentioned above, it is also the case that most studies have focussed on a small

number of North American and European cases and many countries and sectors outside this

region have received little attention. Similarly many studies have focussed on well-documented, Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:18 PM
Deleted: , especially outside of North America and
Europe, and
high profile, policy sectors such as finance, trade or health and many others still require detailed Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:19 PM
Deleted: policy
examination in order to see how well concepts developed in other sectors travel to them. And Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:19 PM
Deleted: specific
while spatial comparisons are reasonably plentiful, temporal ones lag far behind. While Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:19 PM
Deleted: cases
comparative research has greatly enriched our understanding of policy-making, more and better Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:19 PM
Deleted: others
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:20 PM
Deleted: M
 19  

comparative studies of policy-making over both time and space are still required if the lessons of
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:20 PM
Deleted: the
past studies are to continue to better inform both contemporary policy theorizing and practice.
Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:20 PM
Deleted: y

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Endnotes

                                                                                                                       
i
For similar models based on a similar critique of Hall, see Daugbjerg (1997) and Smith (2000).

These six categories are inspired from much of the work on applied policy analysis that teach

students to break policy down into their “goals,” “operationalized” objectives, and specific

criteria and who likewise take pains to distinguish policy instruments from “on-the-ground”

policy requirements (Weimer and Vining, 1999).

ii
This observation is explicitly raised by Baumgartner and Jones on punctuated equilibrium and Michael Howlett 11/20/12 6:09 PM
Deleted: in every project
 29  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
in Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith’s work on “advocacy coalitions,” as well as being

implicit in the broad field of historical institutionalism (Sabatier, 1988 and 1993; Sabatier and

Jenkins Smith, Mahoney, 2000; Lindner and Rittberger, 2003).

iii
Both incremental and paradigmatic changes generally remain under-specified entities (Berry,

1990; Bailey and O’Connor, 1975; Kuhn, 1974; Capano, 2003).

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