Policy transfer routes: an evidence-based conceptual model to explain policy adoption

Although studies on policy transfer have expanded, a general and comprehensive understanding of policy transfer is lacking. This study offers an evidence-based explanation of policy transfer processes. We extracted constraining and facilitating factors from 180 empirical studies using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis) and aggregated these factors into a conceptual framework. We synthesize our findings in four “transfer routes”. We conclude that actors could shape a subset of those factors by taking certain decisions regarding transferability, adoptability and process design, albeit within the boundaries of the environment.     

Importing Workfare: Policy Transfer of Social and Labour Market Policies from the USA to Britain under New Labour

Britain's New Labour government has put welfare reform at the top of its political agenda. It has followed a radical “workfare” agenda in relation to labour and social market policies and no longer aims to secure full employment mainly through direct job creation or Keynesian demand management. Instead, it promotes equal opportunity for all based on a contract between benefits claimants and the employment service. The New Deal is at the heart of British activation programmes for the unemployed. American policy paradigms have influenced the design of the New Deal. Policy transfer in activation policies from the USA to Britain is due to institutional similarities in British and American welfare states on the one hand, and to the comparable structure of their labour markets on the other hand. The influence of the European social model on British labour market policies thus remains limited.     

Learning by doing: the case of administrative policy transfer in China

This article explores of the role of policy transfer in facilitating the rise and consolidation of the ‘Reform and Open Door Policy' in China. It builds upon the seminal Dolowitz and Marsh [Dolowitz, D., and D. Marsh. 1996. “Who Learns What From Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature.” Political Studies 44: 343–357; Dolowitz, D., and D. Marsh. 2000. “Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making.” Governance 13 (1): 5–23] framework to provide an examination of processes of administrative policy transfer which it argues are broadly indicative of the dynamics of change underpinning the incremental process of reform. It is observed that the reforms under study have not been characterized by rational policy design underpinned by evidence-based policy-making in which issues of cultural assimilation were emphasized. Rather, the implementation process itself has been used to affect processes of adaptation. Policy transfer in China can best be described as learning by doing.     

社会政策的新范式:从规范性社会政策到发展型政策

本文提出发展型社会政策作为一种社会政策的新范式,是经历了规范性社会政策到发展型社会政策的转变而逐步确立。文章首先阐述了政策范式的概念,然后从对规范性社会政策的分析过渡到对发展型社会政策的阐释,阐释围绕有关发展型社会政策的理论视角和发展型社会政策的内容而展开,最后在对发展型社会政策的思考中结合我国实际简单论述了发展型社会政策对当前我国社会发展的启示。     

广西华侨在东盟各国的分布情况及对当地和广西的贡献

广西是中国第三大侨乡,具有对接东盟国家的人文亲缘优势,有华人华侨300多万,大部分在东盟各国定居。广西籍华侨向以其自身的勇敢、智慧和勤劳,在越南、马来西亚、泰国、印尼、新加坡等国家,与当地人民一道披荆斩棘,开垦山岭,开发矿藏,兴办工业,从事商贸和科技文教事业,有力地促进了当地经济的发展和社会的进步。同时广西华人华侨为广西的建设也做出了很大贡献。     

Policy transfer and role of policy entrepreneur in international aid: exploring international development cases of Korea and Vietnam

This paper looks at how an innovative policy comes to be transferred to another country and be successfully implemented. We explore three key dimensions (time, location, and people) in policy transfer studies using two cases of international aid (Saemaul Undong and e-Government projects). Utilizing a case study method, this paper upholds the predominant role of the policy entrepreneur over the environment (different time frame and different social, political, economic systems). The stakeholder analysis shows that policy entrepreneur’s role is critical in making policy transfer successful. In part, this argument is in line with previous “Advocacy Networks” studies, such as that of Keck and Sikkink (1998), highlighted the importance of policy entrepreneurs being able to navigate in the networks of international development. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by applying Dolowitz and Marsh’s policy transfer framework in the international aid context and calls for further empirical research employing the network analysis method.     

Rolling Out Anti‐social Behaviour Families Projects in England and Scotland: Analysing the Rhetoric and Practice of Policy Transfer

In both Scotland and England, reducing anti‐social behaviour (ASB) and building a culture of respect are key central government priorities. Accordingly, since 1997 both jurisdictions have seen the introduction of a raft of punitive legislation. Over recent years, however, there have been signs that the official ASB agenda has shifted away from a reliance on ‘enforcement measures’ towards a more balanced approach incorporating measures to address the underlying causes of problem behaviour. With their emphasis on ‘whole family’ approaches and parenting interventions, ASB family projects, pioneered by the Dundee Families Project (DFP), are seen to respond to official concerns about social exclusion and have been promoted as an effective and sustainable response to ASB. In both Scottish and English jurisdictions official endorsement of the DFP model has been marked by government‐funded programmes to ‘roll out’ this concept more widely. Drawing on findings from a recent evaluation of ASB family projects operating in Scotland combined with scrutiny of evidence from a number of English studies, this article explores, in a comparative manner, the differences and similarities in the policy discourses and models of practice employed by Scottish and English projects. More specifically, we critically appraise the role played by sanctions in evoking service user engagement.     

Social Policy from Olson to Ostrom: A Case Study of Dutch Disability Insurance

Social policy development and reform in corporatist welfare states often follows a pattern of subsequent collectivization and de‐collectivization. This has to do, the article argues, with the social problems these phases address. Early social policy development forms a response to Olson‐type collective action problems that organized actors (labour and employers' organizations) in the field experience: state‐obliged benefits solve free rider problems, while bipartite administration allows labour and employers' organizations to organize their constituencies. This solution to Olson‐type collective action problems, however, also constitutes an Ostrom‐type collective action problem. Such a system functions as a common pool resource. Individual benefit take‐up is experienced as free and the costs of benefit take‐up are collectivized in the common pool. The article illustrates this pattern with reference to Dutch disability insurance.     

New Policy Spaces: The Impact of Devolution on Third Sector Policy in the UK

The development of third sector policy in the UK since 1997 has seen changes which have been of significance both for analysts and practitioners. This period has seen government engagement with and support for the sector extend far beyond the levels found throughout much of the last century. This has led to a growth in the size and scale of the sector and a closer involvement of sector representatives in political debate and policy planning. These changes have taken place at the same time as third sector policy has been devolved to the new administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This article explores the impact of devolution on these policy developments and assesses the extent to which political devolution has led to policy divergence across the four countries in the UK. The conclusion is reached that policy devolution has created important new space for policy development for the third sector across the UK, but that the direction of travel in all four regimes has remained remarkably similar.     

Elite,exclusive and elusive: transgovernmental policy networks and iterative policy transfer in the Anglosphere

ABSTRACT

The prominent corridor of bilateral policy transfer between Australia and the UK is underpinned by a long-standing cultural and political proximity. While ad hoc cases of transfer have in recent years been the subject to concerted attention from transfer theorists, much less attention has been given to the rise of multilateral, or transgovernmental, policy networks based on similar cultural and political amity amongst the ‘Anglosphere’ group of states including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Populated by policy elites and regularly interacting, these networks represent potentially important modes of policy transfer yet little is known about how they operate, with what purposes or what outcomes. This article therefore sets out research findings that offer an insight into 23 identified networks, suggesting that understanding the emergence of these networks are crucial to explaining any bilateral transfer between Anglosphere states in general, and specifically Australia and the UK. The article contends that a consideration of these networks provides insight into (i) the substantive landscape of Anglosphere policy learning and collaboration, (ii) the attendant dynamics of collaborative policy networks as elite, elusive and exclusive and (iii) iterative policy transfers.     

拜登政府的东北亚政策与东北亚地区关系走向

美国总统拜登上任以来,其对外战略正逐渐成形。拜登政府表示将以同盟关系为基础重建美国的领导力,在东北亚地区继续推进印太战略的实施。美国东北亚政策的调整与变化,被普遍认为战略指向明显,拜登政府将中国视为美国最严峻的竞争对手,将继续利用台湾问题对华进行战略牵制,中美关系仍处于其东北亚政策调整的核心。拜登政府将巩固与日本的盟友关系,这一倾向也得到了菅义伟政权的积极回应。朝鲜半岛问题的走向尚未明朗,缺乏沟通和协作的氛围。受制于国内因素的影响,拜登政府对外修复盟友关系、布局战略重组并非易事。鉴于美国在东北亚的政策调整,中国必须正视可能出现的问题,这不仅直接关系到“一带一路”倡议在这一地区的推进,而且对于中国周边安全稳定也至关重要,中国要积极做好应对。     

Combining Work and Care: Carers' Decision-making in the Context of Competing Policy Pressures

Issues related to paid work and care are of global importance, reflecting the twin pressures of population ageing and efforts to increase labour market participation. Informal carers of sick, disabled or older people can experience tensions between policies aimed at support for care and support for employment. This article discusses a study of carers’ decision‐making around work and care, drawing on evidence from interviews with 80 working‐age carers in England. Carers are not homogeneous; their circumstances and needs differ reflecting age, gender, ethnicity, labour market participation, and the condition and/or needs of the person they support. This diversity is illustrated by contrasting rural and urban carers’ decisions and experiences about work and care. Key factors that impact on carers’ decisions are: current and anticipated financial need; the constraints arising from receipt of carers’ and other means‐tested income maintenance benefits; personal identity; job opportunities and scope for flexibility; social services provision; carers’ own health. Distance, travel times and transport are unique additional challenges for rural carers who (wish to) work. These difficulties are further intensified when they intersect with other factors such as the Carer's Allowance, the local labour market and social services provision. The findings are evaluated in terms of the adequacy of current government policy measures.     

From Subsidiarity to 'Free Choice': Child- and Elder-care Policy Reforms in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands

This article analyses the patterns of reform in care policies in Bismarckian welfare systems since the early 1980s. Based on a comparison of France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, the article shows that these reforms share similar logics and trajectories, which can be explained by the shared conservative and corporatist traits of Bismarckian labour markets and welfare state institutions and their impact on labour market adjustment possibilities and preferences. Indeed, we argue that care policy reforms have been very closely linked to specific employment strategies, and the politics of welfare without work and subsequent attempts to shift away from such a labour-shedding strategy go a long way in explaining both the nature and the timing of child- and elder-care policy reforms in Bismarckian welfare systems. The article also shows how a focus on promoting ‘free choice’ in all four countries has justified the introduction of measures that have simultaneously reinforced social stratification in terms of access to the labour market – meaning that some women have much more ‘free choice’ than others – and weakened certain labour market rigidities. To conclude, we argue that care policy reforms have provided a backdoor for the introduction of labour-cheapening measures and for increasing employment flexibility in otherwise very rigid labour markets.     

Cultural context and social technology transfer: the case of Canton, China

This research examines social technology transfer by taking into account the role of cultural context – the interplay between geography, maritime trade, role of the state and foreign intercourse. The southern port city of Canton, China is the focus, and provides a case study to examine why Western merchants and missionaries came to this particular location to transfer various social technologies, i.e. hospitals, insane asylums, schools, colleges and homes for the blind. The relevance of these institutions to the development of China's social welfare is considered in terms of Canton's shifting welfare mix. Implications of this case study are considered relevant to critical understanding of international social welfare from an East–West perspective.     

Dutch Women are Liberated, Migrant Women are a Problem: The Evolution of Policy Frames on Gender and Migration in the Netherlands, 1995–2005

Over the past decade, there has been a major shift in Dutch gender equality policy to an almost exclusive focus on migrant women. Simultaneously, the focus of ‘minority policies’ has shifted more and more towards gender relations. The appearance of migrant women at the top of the political agenda is remarkable. In this article we examine how this construction of migrant women as a political problem has come about, and consider its implications. As we argue, the dominant policy frames of emancipation and individual responsibility are reinforcing a dichotomy between the autochthonous ‘us’ and the allochthonous ‘them’. As the problem is increasingly defined as a cultural one, it is implicitly stated that there is no problem with the dominant culture and society. Barriers for participation are exclusively located in the migrant (Muslim) culture. In this view, Muslim migrants should first change their culture before they can fully integrate in Dutch society.     

Correcting misconceptions about the development of social work in China: a response to Hutchings and Taylor

Hutchings and Taylor, in their article entitled ‘Defining the profession? Exploring an international definition of social work in the China context’[International Journal of Social Welfare 16: 381–389], no doubt had good intentions in offering their account of the development of social work in China, as the opening and concluding sections of the article show. Within the text, however, their critique of contemporary social work in China is, in my opinion, unfair in relation to, among other things, (i) the undemocratic nature of the Chinese political system, which they say hinders the development of social work in China; (ii) the ideology of the Communist Party, the government, and traditional Chinese culture, which they say are at odds with Western social work's value system and methodology; thus concluding that (iii) it is doubtful whether social work development in China could integrate with that of the international community. In this response, I comment on (i) the information base of the authors; (ii) the disconnection between their conceptualisation and historical facts; and (iii) their use of the international definition of social work.     

The use of social science research to inform policy development: case studies from recent immigration policy

Abstract

This paper explores how social science research has informed recent immigration policy development in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Examples of research use, drawn from in-depth interviews with policy advisors and social science researchers working in the immigration area, are discussed using the stages model of policy development. Intersections between the stages and multiple-streams models of policy development, and Weiss's typologies of research use, are used to examine research use at various stages in the policy development process. The findings suggest that at any point in time there may be any number of policy development stages in action, with research exerting different types of influence, and being used in different ways, within each of these. A two-way conversation between researchers and policy-makers, building mutual understanding and enabling reciprocated influence over research and policy decisions, is shown as critical in bridging the research to policy gap.     

Disabling Ideas – Disabling Policies: The Case of Disability Employment Policy in the Newly Established Israeli State

By integrating a social perspective of disability with an ideational approach to social policy, the present study seeks to illuminate the central role of ideas in shaping disability policy. Using employment policy towards civilian disabled people in the newly established Israeli State (1948–65) as a case study, this examination highlights the key role played by the Israeli welfare system in excluding disabled people and structuring the disability category. This case illustrates how the paradigmatic perception of disability, loaded with patronizing attitudes towards the new Mizrachi immigrants, operated both as ‘cognitive locks’ and as a means for gradual yet transformative change. It is argued that this kind of ideational change is best identified and interpreted by assuming that paradigms are relational in nature.     

Cumulative influence: the case of political settlements research in British policy

The concept of the political settlement has risen to occupy a central place in British policy toward conflict-affected and fragile states. Yet, at around the turn of the millennium, the term was barely mentioned in official circles and the so-called ‘good governance’ approach held sway as the dominant operational mode. So, how had this transformation in policy approach come about and what was the role of research? In this article, we demonstrate that research played a central role in influencing the rhetoric of policymakers through a process we term ‘cumulative influence’. Indeed, the subject of political settlements represents an excellent case study for understanding the dynamics of research utilisation. It allows us to build on existing models and suggest useful ways forward in this important area of public policy analysis.