Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

11-2014

Abstract

Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their ownagents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policygoals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more,or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematicprocesses. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms throughwhich policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from known or learned relationships betweenmeans and outcomes. This includes both design in which means are selected in accordance with experience andknowledge and that in which principles and relationships are incorrectly or only partially articulated or understood. Policydecisions can be careful and deliberate in attempting to best resolve a problem or can be highly contingent anddriven by situational logics. Decisions stemming from bargaining or opportunism can also be distinguished from thosewhich result from careful analysis and assessment. This article considers both modes and formulates a spectrum of policyformulation types between “design” and “non-design” which helps clarify the nature of each type and the likelihoodof each unfolding.

Keywords

non-design, policy design, public policy

Discipline

Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation | Policy History, Theory, and Methods

Research Areas

Political Science

Publication

Politics and Governance

Volume

2

Issue

2

First Page

57

Last Page

71

ISSN

2183-2463

Identifier

10.17645/pag.v2i2.149

Publisher

Cogitatio Press

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v2i2.149

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