State Structure and the Asymmetrical Society: An Approach to Public Policy in Britain

Sacks, Paul M.; Dorfman, Gerald A.; Grant, W. L.; Marsh, David; Hečlo, Hugh; Moran, Michael; Panitch, Leo

doi:10.2307/421931

Cited by 44 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Heclo's contribution was enthusiastically taken up by two branches of policy researchers. On one side, state‐centric theorists saw the policy learning approach as congruent with contemporary theories of the state, thus confirming their suggestions that policy is generally made by public officials that act with considerable independence from those organizations that transmit societal demands (Sacks, 1980; Evans et al ., 1985).…”

Section: Policy Learning and Changementioning

confidence: 65%

From Rhetorical Action to Policy Learning: Understanding the European Commission's Elaboration of the Flexicurity Concept

Klindt

2011

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies

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During the policy process ahead of the 2008 renewal of the European Employment Strategy (EES), the European Commission's introduction of Flexicurity policies aroused much criticism. Researchers and trade unionists claimed that the Commission's embracing of the concept was a rhetorical manoeuvre rather than a genuine attempt to substantially revise the strategy. This article challenges these claims. Drawing on policy learning theory and discourse analysis, the Commission's policy recommendations prior to and past the introduction of Flexicurity are analysed. The main finding is that one of the policy components subsumed by the EES -modern social security systems -has undergone considerable revision. Moreover, the article argues that this revision possibly stems from a learning process. In relation to the literature on the open method of co-ordination (OMC), the study therefore adds that the OMC's learning effects should be assessed not only on the national level. The European institutions -in this case, the Commission -can also be subject to learning.

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Section: Policy Learning and Changementioning

confidence: 65%

From Rhetorical Action to Policy Learning: Understanding the European Commission's Elaboration of the Flexicurity Concept

Klindt

2011

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies

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“…Rather, we posit that first and second-movers are fundamentally 9 For example, see discussions in Sacks, 1980;Young, 1991;Hall, 1993;Williamson, 1993;Denzau and North, 1994;Ostrom et al, 1994;Pierson, 2000. It is not our goal in this paper to explain patterns of international diffusion.…”

Section: Theory: First-mover Disadvantagementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 9 For example, see discussions in Sacks, 1980; Young, 1991; Hall, 1993; Williamson, 1993; Denzau and North, 1994; Ostrom et al ., 1994; Pierson, 2000.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Politics of Financial Crisis Response in Japan and the United States

Lipscy¹,

Takinami²

2013

Japanese Journal of Political Science

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We examine the politics of financial crisis response in Japan and the United States. Many existing accounts of Japan's 'lost decade' of the 1990s have emphasized Japanspecific factors, such as structural problems, policy errors, and political dysfunction. We argue that Japan may have been subject to a form of first-mover disadvantage. Like innovation in the private sector, developing effective solutions to novel policy problems requires a messy process of discovery, experimentation, and repeated failure. Much as late-industrializing countries adapted the methods and technologies of early developers, second-movers can apply effective policies demonstrated by first-movers in a more targeted, efficient, and rapid manner. We show that the behavior of Japan and the United States during their respective financial crises is broadly consistent with this theory. In addition, policy adoption in the United States most clearly reflected lessons from Japan in areas where the lessons were considered clear and implementation was less politicized.Periodic financial crises have been a recurrent feature of capitalism for centuries.

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“…It has been argued that policymaking is a form of reflection by policymakers on "what to do" on society's behalf in the face of uncertainty [28]. This in turn implies that policy is the output of a learning process and where, in pursuing the national interest, state actors "decide what to do without serious opposition from external actors" [29]. The concept of social learning asserts that ideas are central to policymaking and that policymakers work within an interpretive framework of ideas and mental models that specify the goals, instruments, and nature of the problems they are trying to address.…”

Section: Social Learning Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Japan’s 2014 Strategic Energy Plan: A Planned Energy System Transition

Kucharski

Unesaki

2017

Journal of Energy

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This study is a review and analysis of the Japanese government's 2014 Strategic Energy Plan (SEP). As the first plan to be issued after the Fukushima disaster of March 2011, the 2014 plan incorporates policies that represent the most comprehensive and systematic changes ever proposed for Japan's energy system. The study reviews the key elements of the plan, employing a framework that explains the nature and magnitude of the changes planned for Japan's energy system and related institutions. The analysis demonstrates that the shock of the triple disaster opened up a window of opportunity in Japan's policy environment for a fundamental change in energy policy, allowing for major reforms to the energy industrial structure and energy institutions. A unique aspect of this study is that it draws upon in-person interviews conducted with key government officials who were directly involved in the formulation of the SEP, providing new insights into Japan's energy policy planning process and the drivers behind the planned reforms. Given the nature and magnitude of the potential changes implied in the SEP, this paper concludes that the 2014 SEP is best understood as a comprehensive blueprint toward a major planned transition of the Japanese energy system.

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State Structure and the Asymmetrical Society: An Approach to Public Policy in Britain

Cited by 44 publications

References 0 publications

From Rhetorical Action to Policy Learning: Understanding the European Commission's Elaboration of the Flexicurity Concept

From Rhetorical Action to Policy Learning: Understanding the European Commission's Elaboration of the Flexicurity Concept

The Politics of Financial Crisis Response in Japan and the United States

Japan’s 2014 Strategic Energy Plan: A Planned Energy System Transition

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