International Series on Public Policy

This book assesses how governance has evolved in six nations – England, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands – between 1970 and 2018. More specifically, it examines how the governance approaches and the sets of policy tools used to govern have altered with respect to four public policy sectors that represent core responsibilities of the modern OECD state: education, energy, environment and health. To structure this analytical approach, the book harnesses sociological institutionalism in the area of ‘policy sequencing’ to trace both the motivations and the consequences of policy-makers’ altering governance approaches and the resulting policy tools. Combining a comparative and international focus, this book will appeal to scholars and students of public policy and governance.

This open access book is the first monograph to systematically apply the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) in a comparative analysis of public policy in two institutionally different countries. The PAF seeks to explain long-term policy change by examining the shared biographies of policy actors who, to foster their careers, coalesce around policy programs which they promote throughout the policy process. Comparing health policy-making in France and Germany between 1990 and 2020, the book sheds light on the institutional settings that are necessary for programmatic action to occur. It will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, public administration, and health policy.

This edited book explores the link between institutional reforms, governance and services delivery in the Global South, mapping how and to what extent resource-poor governments deliver public services to their citizens. The book concludes that delivery of public services responsibly and efficiently remains largely unachievable because of weaker institutions and poor quality of governance in the Global South countries. Reforms to governance and institutions are generally considered fitting measures to overcome public service delivery challenges.

This book assesses the management and performance of networks in light of the rising popularity of collaborative approaches in public service delivery. It does so by examining the case of smoking-prevention networks in Switzerland. The book considers how network managers can be distinguished based on work-context related factors, and analyses how the interaction of these factors leads to either active or non-active network management within collaborative policy delivery arrangements. It also empirically investigates the effects that network management and other network-level and project-level factors have on the policy output performance of these networks. Adopting a multi-method approach combining a qualitative comparative analysis, case studies as well as Bayesian regressions, the book will appeal to academics and students of public policy, public administration, and public management. It will also be of use to practitioners responsible for the design and the management of policy delivery networks.

This book examines the history of the French welfare state from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. The French social security system has changed profoundly over the last few decades. The Bismarkian model of governance and social protection inherited from the Second World War has progressively faded away in favor of a reinforcement of the state’s capacity to intervene on policies and the implementation of national health insurance coverage. In order to understand this major transformation, this book draws on rich original sources to offer a historical and sociological perspective on elite policymakers and policy change. In doing so, it identifies correlations between the changing social backgrounds and career paths of elites in charge of social insurance policies since the 1940s, and the development of health policy programs. It will appeal to all those interested in public policy, health policy, social studies and French history and politics.

This open access book examines the diverse strategies implemented by national and local European governments to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than focus on individual national case studies, it brings together leading scholars and policymakers to analyse the wide range of containment policies utilised across the continent at various levels of government. In doing so, the volume assesses Covid-19 crisis-management experiences to identify good practices based on comparative and fine-grained evidence. It argues that such a stock-taking exercise is crucial to better prepare European polities and societies for future crises, including climate change and environmental disasters. The book will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, crisis-management, public administration, international relations and comparative law.