Capacity and resources for implementing social policy
Capacity and resources for implementing social policy
Notwithstanding the differences between specific policy domains and welfare regimes, it is generally acknowledged that governments need to deploy appropriate and adequate resources and possess certain capacity to ensure the effectiveness of social policies they introduce. Drawing on the literature on social policy, policy studies and public administration, this chapter offers a historical review and critical assessment on what these resources and capacity are and how the answer to this question has evolved over the past few decades. It reveals that the first-generation view, associated with the classic debates between top-down versus bottom-up implementation, framed the discussion largely around implementers’ fidelity and compliance. The subsequent comprehensive view expands the understanding of policy capacity as existing at multiple levels for various policy functions. The final approach attempts to further advance the comprehensive view in a more nuanced manner to better understand and address implementation challenges in a more turbulent setting. Our analysis suggests the need for increasing the capacity of implementers, taking seriously the policy capacity framework and insights from the literature on agility and robustness in public policy.
policy capacity, analytical capacity, operational capacity, political capacity, VUCA, top-down implementation, bottom-up implementation
Capano, Giliberto
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Yan, Yifei
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Capano, Giliberto
8b9a041c-f50c-457e-96ac-7805a9be506c
Yan, Yifei
58cf8978-8af4-4efb-ba84-2437ee5fca11
Capano, Giliberto and Yan, Yifei
(2024)
Capacity and resources for implementing social policy.
In,
Handbook of Social Policy Implementation.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
(In Press)
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Book Section
Abstract
Notwithstanding the differences between specific policy domains and welfare regimes, it is generally acknowledged that governments need to deploy appropriate and adequate resources and possess certain capacity to ensure the effectiveness of social policies they introduce. Drawing on the literature on social policy, policy studies and public administration, this chapter offers a historical review and critical assessment on what these resources and capacity are and how the answer to this question has evolved over the past few decades. It reveals that the first-generation view, associated with the classic debates between top-down versus bottom-up implementation, framed the discussion largely around implementers’ fidelity and compliance. The subsequent comprehensive view expands the understanding of policy capacity as existing at multiple levels for various policy functions. The final approach attempts to further advance the comprehensive view in a more nuanced manner to better understand and address implementation challenges in a more turbulent setting. Our analysis suggests the need for increasing the capacity of implementers, taking seriously the policy capacity framework and insights from the literature on agility and robustness in public policy.
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Capacity and resources for implementing social policy ACCEPT VERSION 20241115
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Accepted/In Press date: 15 November 2024
Keywords:
policy capacity, analytical capacity, operational capacity, political capacity, VUCA, top-down implementation, bottom-up implementation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 496535
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/496535
PURE UUID: 18526b7c-b6c5-4040-a2ff-c54dee00dcf2
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Date deposited: 17 Dec 2024 17:49
Last modified: 18 Dec 2024 03:15
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Contributors
Author:
Giliberto Capano
Author:
Yifei Yan
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