Making Policies Work: First- and Second-order Mechanisms in Policy Design

Description

Policy design efforts are hampered by inadequate understanding of how policy tools and actions promote effective policies. The objective of this book is to address this gap in understanding by proposing a causal theory of the linkages between policy actions and policy effects. Adopting a mechanistic perspective, the book identifies the causal processes that activate effects and help achieve goals. It thus offers a powerful analytical tool to both scholars and practitioners of public policy seeking to design effective policies. Front Matter Copyright Contents Figures Tables Contributors PART I Introduction: why study policy mechanisms? 1. Disentangling the mechanistic chain for better policy design 2. Policy process research and the causal mechanism movement: reinvigorating the field? PART II First-order mechanisms and cases 3. Structural mechanisms affecting policy subsystems activity: beyond individual and group behavioral propensities in policy design and policy change 4. The mechanisms of food waste prevention: theory, design, and practice for changing behaviours 5. How neglecting policy mechanisms can lead to policy failure: insights from public–private partnerships in India’s health sector 6. Design activation in multi-level settings PART III Second-order mechanisms and cases 7. Policy instruments, policy learning and politics: impact assessment in the European Union 8. Accountability mechanisms: the case of the European banking union 9. Advancing the theory and practice of public sector reform through the analysis of social mechanisms PART IV Using mechanistic methods for policy design and analysis 10. Reverse engineering and policy design 11. Looping to success (and failure): second-order mechanisms and policy outcomes Index