Rationalising the Policy Mess? Ex Ante Policy Assessment and the Utilisation of Knowledge in the Policy Process

Hertin, Julia; Turnpenny, John; Jordan, Andrew; Nilsson, Måns; Russel, Duncan; Nykvist, Björn

doi:10.1068/a40266

Cited by 155 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Whereas the ecosystem goods and services concept aims for a better consideration of ecological and social complexities in environmental management (among others, see Fischer et al 2007), the majority of ex-ante assessment tools actually used in policy processes are of a rather simple and modest type (Nilsson et al 2008, Hertin et al 2009). More complex tools, on the other hand, have often remained black boxes to policy makers rather than transparent analytical tools that could effectively inform policy decisions (De Smedt 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Policy Network and Model-Based Scenario Analyses: An Assessment of Future Ecosystem Goods and Services in Swiss Mountain Regions

Hirschi¹,

Widmer²,

Briner³

et al. 2013

E&S

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ABSTRACT. We argue that the often-proclaimed disregard of ex-ante assessments of the provision of ecosystem goods and services in policy-making processes is not only due to a neglect or a misinterpretation of the results of such assessments in the relevant political processes, but also due to an inaccurate inclusion of political variables into those assessments. To address this weakness, we combine a model-based scenario analysis with a policy network analysis. Analyzing the structure of the policy network and taking into account the policy preferences of the individual network actors allows us to assess the feasibility and likelihood of policy developments as derived from scenario-based modeling assessments. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach in an analysis of potential policy measures aimed at maintaining crucial ecosystem goods and services in Swiss mountain regions, with a specific focus on agriculture, which is arguably one of the most important sectors for various ecosystem goods and services in those regions. Our results show that a production-oriented agricultural policy still has strong political support and, consequently, a status-quo protection scenario is very likely. In contrast, a more environmentally friendly agricultural policy is unlikely if it leads to extensive new regulations for agricultural production. Even with a greening scenario performing best within a set of ex-ante model-based assessments of future policy options, our policy network analysis suggests that changes in agricultural policy would have to reconcile the support of the provision of nonmarketable ecosystem goods and services with market deregulation policies in order to become politically feasible.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Policy Network and Model-Based Scenario Analyses: An Assessment of Future Ecosystem Goods and Services in Swiss Mountain Regions

Hirschi¹,

Widmer²,

Briner³

et al. 2013

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Rationality requires consistent behaviour in accordance with an individual's cognitive construct. A recent study looks at Impact Assessments as typically informed by an instrumentally rational model of problem solving, which assumes that knowledge is collected, evaluated and then translated straightforwardly into 'better policies' (Hertin et al 2009). This model has, according to the authors, been little affected by more than three decades of academic research, which has demonstrated that the reality of every-day policy-making is far messier.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent empirical studies explored the reliance of Impact Assessments on the knowledge and expertise of those individuals responsible for carrying them out. For instance, it has been demonstrated that the educational background of officials can determine the Impact Assessment output (Hertin et al 2009). Those European Commission officials with an educational background in disciplines characterised by qualitative methods may encounter more difficulty in dealing with quantitative assessment techniques than those whose educational background embraces quantitative methods, e.g.…”

Section: Setting Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unsustainable rationality of Impact Assessment

Torriti

2010

Eur J Law Econ

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The idea behind evidence-based instruments for policy-making is to provide objective information regarding the costs, benefits and risks involved in legislative proposals. An example of these instruments is the integrated Impact Assessment system, which has been in place in EU policy-making since 2003. Impact Assessments are designed according to rational decision models and aim to enhance the neutrality and objectivity of policy-making. This paper draws a comparison between the rational paradigm emerging from the EU template and the empirical evaluations carried out to date on Impact Assessments. It questions the conventional concept of Impact Assessments as rational policy-making instruments, because of the influential roles played by individual knowledge and data quality.

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“…Among these, Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIA) is a major approach fostered by the European Union for assessing economic, social and environmental impacts of policy or rules-measures changes, as well as to assist decision-makers in sustainability contexts (Kirkpatrick and Lee 2002;George and Kirkpatrick 2003;Ness et al 2007). SIA experience has been gained in the past decade (Pope et al 2004;Nilsson et al 2008;Weaver and Jordan 2008;Hertin et al 2009) particularly as regards the use of indicators in SIA (Dilly and Hüttl 2009;Paracchini et al 2011).…”

Section: Introduction: Role Of Indicators In Sustainability Impact Asmentioning

confidence: 98%

Indicator development in sustainability impact assessment: balancing theory and practice

et al. 2011

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In this article, the development and operationalisation of forestry-wood chain indicators within the frame of sustainability impact assessment are discussed. The analytical framework follows a distinction between indicator definition and selection in a first phase, and a second operational phase of indicator application in terms of interconnecting material flows, calculation of chain performance and utilisation within evaluation components. A clear boundary drawing effort in terms of the development of indicator definitions, related subclasses, and measurement units as well as the creation of conversion factors between indicator values and individual chain stages supports this. Economic, social and environmental indicators have to respond to data collection needs on individual process levels (that correspond to sub-divisions of the forestry-wood chain). For the usage of indicators within evaluation tools, a functional hierarchy has to be provided that supports clear preference elicitation as well as information on related externalities. In total, this paper aims at demonstrating an enhanced spectrum in the use of sustainability indicators, and the challenges that arise from a developing and applying multi-functional indicators in sustainability impact assessment.

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Rationalising the Policy Mess? Ex Ante Policy Assessment and the Utilisation of Knowledge in the Policy Process

Cited by 155 publications

References 17 publications

Combining Policy Network and Model-Based Scenario Analyses: An Assessment of Future Ecosystem Goods and Services in Swiss Mountain Regions

Combining Policy Network and Model-Based Scenario Analyses: An Assessment of Future Ecosystem Goods and Services in Swiss Mountain Regions

The unsustainable rationality of Impact Assessment

Indicator development in sustainability impact assessment: balancing theory and practice

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