Designing Public Policies: Principles and Instruments

429 Pages·2018·6.702 MB·English

by  Michael Howlett

Designing Public Policies
The second edition of this highly regarded book provides a concise and
accessible introduction to the principles and elements of policy design in
contemporary governance. It examines in detail the range of substantive and
procedural policy instruments that together comprise the toolbox from which
governments choose tools to resolve policy problems and the principles and
practices that lead to their use.
Guiding readers through the study of the many different kinds of
instruments used by governments in carrying out their tasks, adapting to,
and altering, their environments, this book:
(cid:129) Discusses current trends in instrument use linked to factors such as
globalization and the increasingly networked, digital and collaborative
nature of modern society;
(cid:129) Considers the principles and practices behind the selection and use of
specific types of instruments in contemporary government and the future
research agenda of policy design studies and practices;
(cid:129) Evaluates in detail the merits, demerits and rationales for the use of
specific organization, regulatory, financial and information-based tools
and the trends visible in their use including recent efforts to develop and
deploy new tools such as nudges and choice architectures, co-production
and crowd-sourcing;
(cid:129) Addresses the issues surrounding not only individual tools but also
concerning the evolution and development of instrument mixes, their
relationship to policy styles and the challenges involved in their (re)design.
Providing a comprehensive overview of this essential component of modern
governance and featuring helpful definitions of key concepts and further
reading, this book is essential reading for all students of public policy,
administration and management.
Michael Howlettis Burnaby Mountain Professor and Canada Research Chair
(Tier 1) in the Department of Political Science at Simon Fraser University
specializing in public policy analysis, political economy and resource and
environmental policy.
Routledge Textbooks in Policy Studies
This series provides high-quality textbooks and teaching materials for upper-
level courses on all aspects of public policy as well as policy analysis, design,
practice and evaluation. Each text is authored or edited by a leading scholar
in the field and aims both to survey established areas and present the latest
thinking on emerging topics.
The Public Policy Primer
Managing the Policy Process
Xun Wu, M. Ramesh, Michael Howlett and Scott Fritzen
Designing Public Policies
Principles and Instruments
Michael Howlett
Making Policy Work
Peter John
Analyzing Public Policy
2nd edition
Peter John
Public Policy and Private Interest
Ideas, Self-Interest and Ethics in Public Policy
J. A. Chandler
The Public Policy Primer
Managing the Policy Process, 2nd edition
Xun Wu, M. Ramesh, Michael Howlett and Scott A. Fritzen
Designing Public Policies
Principles and Instruments, 2nd edition
Michael Howlett
Designing Public
Policies
Principles and Instruments
Second edition
Michael Howlett
Second edition published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Michael Howlett
The right of Michael Howlett to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2011
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Howlett, Michael, 1955– author.
Title: Designing public policies : principles and instruments / Michael
Howlett.
Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY:
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis group, an informa
business, 2019.
Series: Routledge textbooks in policy studies | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018023982| ISBN 9781138293632 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138293649 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315232003 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: policy sciences. | political planning.
Classification: LCC jf1525.P6 H69 2019 | DDC 320.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023982
ISBN: 978-1-138-29363-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-29364-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-23200-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK
I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least
personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having
no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing
our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor and giving some
pleasure to the rich.
(A Modest Proposal – Dr Jonathan Swift, 1729)

Contents
LIST OF FIGURES ix
LIST OF TABLES xi
PREFACE xiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv
PART I INTRODUCTION: POLICY DESIGN AND
GOVERNANCE IN THE MODERN STATE 1
1 Understanding the role of policy design in contemporary
policy-making 3
2 Policy design in the contemporary era: beyond globalization
and governance 23
PART II SYSTEMATICALLY STUDYING POLICY
DESIGN
3 What is policy design?: Key definitions and
concepts in the study of policy design 43
4 Why policy design?: Tools, mechanisms,
behaviours and the logic of policy compliance 71
vii
CONTENTS
PART III POLICY DESIGNING: PROCESS,
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES 93
5 When does policy design occur?: Policy
designing as policy formulation 95
6 Who are the policy designers and where do they work?:
Policy advice, policy advisors and policy advisory systems 111
PART IV THE ELEMENTS OF POLICY DESIGN: POLICY
INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS MIXES 133
7 How do policy designs work?: Policy designs as
implementation tool mixes 135
8 Organizational implementation tools 165
9 Authoritative implementation tools 191
10 Financial implementation tools 211
11 Information-based implementation tools 225
12 Traditional policy styles and contemporary
design trends 237
PART V CONCLUSION: LESSONS FOR POLICY
DESIGNS AND DESIGNERS 255
13 How to assemble and evaluate a policy design:
character and context in policy designs 257
14 Conclusion: the capacity challenges of policy
design over space and time 275
BIBLIOGRAPHY 285
INDEX 405
viii
Figures
1.1 Policy effectiveness as the relationship between process,
design and outcome 13
1.2 Five types of uncertainty designers must face 18
2.1 Modes of governance, including variation by lead actor 30
3.1 The five stages of the policy cycle and their relationship to
applied problem-solving 47
3.2 An example of the range of policy instruments by governance
mode and stage of the policy cycle 53
3.3 A spectrum of design processes 63
4.1 The behavioural expectations of policy design 79
4.2 Links in the policy instrument-mechanism-output chain 80
4.3 Context-related mechanism constraints 80
4.4 Links in the design chain: individual and group level 82
4.5 Links in the design chain: structural level 86
7.1 Analytical steps in social science model-building 139
7.2 Cushman’s three types of policy tools 141
7.3 The Doern continuum 145
7.4 Final model of implementation tool selection process involved
in policy design 151
7.5 State and societal components of ‘governing resource’
effectiveness 154
10.1 Spectrum of interest articulation systems 218
ix