University of Northern British Columbia: Open Journal Systems
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A case of design-enabled public policy formulation process
Full text linkGovernments are increasingly applying design practices to address public challenges. While the study of these practices evidences their utility for designing public services, the specific design activities and their value for policy formulation are rather unclear. To shed light in this direction, this paper presents a case study on the collaboration of LABgobar and SENASA in reforming the Bovine Tuberculosis regulations in Argentina. By analysing the project’s documentation and interviewing project members, this study illustrates design practices that complement traditional policy formulation processes. These practices include methods for problem understanding and reframing, idea generation, and collaborative policy prototyping. Interestingly, these adapt elements coming from multiple disciplines. Despite the potential value of design in policy formulation processes, real adoption remains tied to local -and often small scale- experiments. This paper adds further studies for a more robust understanding of design's contribution to addressing policy challenges
On the importance of an enlarged ‘design for policy’ framework within the public policy cycle
Full text linkThis paper aims to reinforce the importance of looking at ‘design for policy’ in an enlarged perspective, encompassing the entirety of the public policy cycle. This is substantiated with a re-examination of ‘design for policy’ foundational literature, by highlighting a narrative which we argue to have set its expectations mostly on pro- cesses for (co-)creating new policies. In turn, the later stages of the policy cycle have not been getting sufficient attention, leading to an unbalanced ‘design for policy’ ap- proach. We also contrast this interpretation with recent literature, further attesting to its fragmentation. Furthermore, this is analysed considering evidence emerging within the New European Bauhaus policy, while also seeing it as an opportunity to further strengthen a ‘design for policy’ approach. Ultimately, this fragmentation seems to lie both on the incipient nature of ‘design for policy’, but also on how design is under- stood, and is translated to the policy making process
The Thermostat is Rising Again: Canadian's Belief in Anthropogenic Climate Change
Full text linkAbstractCanadian public opinion surveys from five Canadian polling firms in 29 separate surveys from 2007 to 2021 are used to measure changes in belief in anthropogenic climate change in Canada. By applying Stimson’s (1991) Dyad Ratio Algorithm to the surveys an index is created which shows a single trend line tracking belief in climate change over time. Belief in climate change declined from 2007 to 2011, then gradually increased to 2021. The research note concludes by suggesting there is an opportunity in Canada for action to address climate change which will continue to solve the problem even when public interest once again declines.ResuméVingt-huit sondages de l’opinion publique canadienne emmenée par cinq maisons de sondages canadiens de 2007 à 2019 sont utilisés pour mesurer le changement de la croyance au changement climatique anthropique au Canada. En appliquant l'Algorithme du rapport dyadique de Stimson (1991) aux sondages, on crée un index montrant une unique ligne de tendance suivant l'évolution de la croyance au changement climatique au fil du temps. De 2007 à 2011, la croyance au changement climatique a diminué, suivie d’une augmentation graduelle jusqu’en 2018. La conclusion de l'article de recherche suggère qu’il y a des opportunités au Canada pour agir contre le changement climatique et qu'ils continueront à résoudre le problème même si l'opinion publique s'en désintéresse.Key Words: Canada, public opinion and public policy, belief in climate changeMots-clés : Canada, opinion publique et les politiques publique, croyance dans le changement climatiqu
Tuition Policy Instruments in Canada Public Policy Choices for What Problems
Full text linkAbstractUsing policy instruments as the unit of analysis and employing an instrument typology, this study considers policymaker goals and the effects of different policy actors and their influence strategies on selection. This study builds upon conceptions of choice approaches to policy instruments, using an analytical lens to describe policy actor perceptions and policy instrument use in three Canadian provinces to shed new light on the nature of higher education policy design.RésuméEn utilisant les instruments de politique comme unité d'analyse et en employant une typologie d'instruments, cette étude considère les objectifs des décideurs politiques et les effets des différents acteurs politiques et leurs stratégies d'influence sur la sélection. S’appuyant sur les conceptions des approches de choix des instruments de politique et utilisant une lentille analytique pour décrire les perceptions des acteurs politiques ainsi que les instruments de politique dans trois provinces canadiennes, cette étude servira de tremplin afin de jeter un nouveau regard sur la nature de la conception des politiques d'enseignement supérieur.Key Words: policy instruments; higher education; provincial policy; tuition policyMots-clés : instruments de politique; enseignement supérieur; politique provinciale; politique de scolarit
The politics of policy design
Full text linkDetermining where politics sits in scholarship on policy design might potentially start from first principles with three ontological questions: What is policy? What is design? What is politics? It should then be self-evident that given we are far from convincingly clear answers to any of these questions individually, answering them in combination presents a tricky task. In what follows, I try to pull apart how politics has been conceived in regard to policy design. I have also chosen to follow a conceptual approach because, in an important sense, policy design pertains to general questions about politics and policy in all their aspects (Simon, 1969; Peters, 2018). Therefore, the significance of policy design research is important beyond this one area of inquiry. There are three sections. In the first, I tease out six different ways in which politics has been conceptualized in policy design. Some of these approaches could easily be situated in more than one category, so I have not attempted to render them mutually exclusive. My aim is to identify the political dimensions of the approaches to encourage further concep- tual reflection. Section 2 develops a heuristic for policy design, depicted in a two-vector figure that maps the field of scholarship along policy and politics dimensions, while also distinguish- ing orientations towards scholars from those aimed at practitioners. The final section considers potential routes for cross-fertilization between perspectives
Designing an effective climate-policy mix: accounting for instrument synergy
Full text linkWe assess evidence from theoretical-modelling, empirical and experimental studies on how interactions between instruments of climate policy affect overall emissions reduction. Such interactions take the form of negative, zero or positive synergistic effects. The considered instruments comprise performance and technical standards, carbon pricing, adoption subsidies, innovation support, and information provision. Based on the findings, we formulate climate-policy packages that avoid negative and employ positive synergies, and compare their strengths and weaknesses on other criteria. We note that the international context of climate policy has been neglected in assessments of policy mixes, and argue that transparency and harmonization of national policies may be key to a politically feasible path to meet global emission targets. This suggests limiting the complexity of climate-policy packages
Conceptualising policy design in the policy process
Full text linkThe study of policy design has been of long-standing interest to policy scholars. Recent surveys of policy design scholarship acknowledge two main pathways along which it has developed; one in which the process of policy designing is emphasised and one in which the output of this policy designing process – for example, policy content – is emphasised. As part of a survey of extant research, this article discusses how scholars guided by different orientations to studying policy design are addressing and measuring common policy design concepts and themes, and offers future research opportunities. The article also provides a platform for considering how insights stemming from different orientations of policy design research can be integrated and mapped within the broader public policy process. Finally, the article raises the question of whether a framework that links different conceptualisations of policy design within the policy process might help to advance the field
A framework to conceptualize innovation purpose in public sector innovation labs
No full textPublic sector innovation labs (PSI labs) are a rapidly proliferating experimental response to the growing complexity and urgency of challenges facing the public sector. This research examines ways in which PSI labs are currently being conceptualized in relation to their values, purpose, ambition, definitions of innovation, methods, and desired impacts. Distinctions between PSI labs that work within dominant systems and paradigms to make them more efficient, effective, and user-oriented and PSI labs that have a more transformative intent, are made and problematized. This research used a constructivist grounded theory and participatory action research methodology, working with lab practitioners as well as with literature, to build a framework to support stronger conceptualization of PSI lab purpose and intended impact. This framework provides a structure for researchers and practitioners to engage in richer description, thinking, and comparison when designing, studying, and evaluating PSI labs. Although this research focused on labs in the public sector, the findings and framework are relevant to other types of innovation labs working in multiple sectors
The 2018 Provincial Election in Quebec
Full text linkThe 2018 election in Quebec marked an important turn in the province’s political history with the victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)—the first time since 1966 that a party other than the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) or the Parti Québécois (PQ) formed a government. The incumbent QLP suffered from voter fatigue and a backlash against its austerity measures while the PQ had been struggling for several years due to the declining popularity of its sovereignty option, especially among younger generations of voters. The CAQ had been leading in the polls for over a year, although the campaign proved to be more competitive than expected in its second half. The battle for third place was hard fought between the PQ and the insurgent Québec Solidaire (QS). The election’s outcome, and the CAQ government’s success, suggest that the new party system configuration that came into place in 2018 may be a lasting one
Measuring design diversity: A new application of Ostrom's rule types
Full text linkWe draw on the Institutional Grammar Tool's rule types to empiricallyanalyze the design of four major procedural regulatoryinstruments in the 27 member states of the European Union andthe UK. They are: consultation, regulatory impact assessment,freedom of information, and the Ombudsman. By adopting theInstitutional Grammar Tool as conceptual lens we end up witha single measurement template applicable to a variety of actionsituations. We derive measures that are conceptually robust andsuitable for comparative analysis. With original data gathered onthe official legal base in the 28 cases, we carry out principal componentsanalysis. We identify design patterns across countriesand instruments; the specialization of each instrument in termsof rule type; and the components that best explain cross-countryvariation. In the conclusions we argue that to reframe the designfeatures of the four instruments in conceptual, theoreticalcategories is not simply a taxonomical exercise but it extends tothe territory of comparative policy analysis, practice and reform