In Introduction
Arjen Boin and Martin Lodge | April 2024, Sage Publications
Never has good policy been so important. The challenges we face are complex and global, from unemployment and a lack of affordable housing to regulating cryptocurrencies and protecting against cybersecurity threats. The text explains how policymaking works, using examples from around the world, from the emergence of policy ideas to deciding between cutting-edge solutions, from evaluating policies to improving policymaking practices.
Open up the black box of government to see where policies are made. This introductory text takes you beyond theory and into the messy world of policymaking, offering a toolkit for making better policy. Drawing from insights earned through years of interactions with policymakers and extensive teaching experience, Boin and Lodge offer a comprehensive introduction to the inner workings of government and how to produce policies that address societal problems of today and tomorrow.
The Politics of Policymaking teaches you the connections between policies, their effects, and the society they impact. It explores the interplay between citizens, policymakers and politicians, and the intricate web of policy decisions.
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- Reflective questions help to engage readers with the key themes and to reflect on the challenges of policymaking in practice.
- A global perspective enables you to learn from diverse viewpoints and see examples from around the world.
- Timely and cutting-edge, this book tackles contemporary policy issues—platform economies, climate change, and more – while delving into crucial theoretical tools like political legitimacy and reform.
- An assignment feature provides you with the opportunity to consolidate your learning and put it into practice.
This text is an essential companion for any undergraduate or postgraduate student of Politics, International Relations, and Public Administration and for anyone aspiring to work in public policy.
Preface [Quote]
Academics have written many books, articles and reports on the venerable topic of public policymaking. This scholarly attention makes sense, for any government governs through the policies it formulates and maintains. If you want to understand what governments do and why (to paraphrase James Q. Wilson, 1989), understanding the policy process is an excellent start.
Many students in universities all over the world take courses to learn about the policy process. Unfortunately, many of the existing textbooks are not written for absolute beginners. When we say beginners, we refer to those students who are thinking about entering the world of policy but have no idea what to expect; we are thinking about students who must take a class on policy or public administration but have no inkling what these terms mean and why they might matter.
Many of these textbooks are written with the aim to explain the theories of the policy process. There is also a strand of books specifically written for a particular group of advisors (they are called policy analysts) who want to improve their craft and become better policy analysts.
We love those books and we learned a lot from studying them (as you will see throughout the pages of our book). But we think most of the existing textbooks underserve the large group of students who might want to work in a policymaking organization and are less interested in the specifics of this or that theory. They simply wish to understand how government works and how policies are made. This book seeks to fill that gap. Its aim is to explain how policymakers govern through policymaking. It is a road map for the world of policy – the world where ‘everyday policies’ are created and delivered.
We do not start at the political apex of the system, which grants a central place to politicians in the policymaking process. Our world of policy is quite a distance from the White House or Whitehall. We don’t mean to suggest that politics are not important. Politicians make critical choices that give rise to policies – or fail to do just that. But we are interested here in the machine room, where policies are actually made. It’s the realm where the political rubber hits the societal road. It is where political ideas get legs; it’s also the place where political ideas die. It’s the place where young people can make a real difference.
It is a deeply political world. Choices are made that affect the shape and effects of a policy, for better or worse. Most people in this world are not elected, but together they exercise an outsized influence over the fate of a political promise. Intriguingly, and perhaps alarmingly, there is very little politicians can do to control this world of policy. It is a political world in which elected politicians have surprisingly little sway.
In the work of policy scholars, there is a longstanding tradition of noting trends that make it harder to govern. We will also describe a few of these trends and developments. But it is good to remember that policymaking has always been a challenging task. Political ambitions have been rather grandiose, and it’s been up to policymakers to turn these ambitions into workable rules, budgets and actions that together make up policy. The products of policymaking have been scrutinized and criticized by both their recipients and the leaders who formulated the goals. We should take note of these constraints and keep an eye out for potential game-changers without losing sight of the patterns and processes that define the world of policy.
To provide an understanding of this world, we draw heavily from classic works of political science, public administration, and policy studies. We use and explain theoretical insights that will help students understand the workings of the policy world, the effects of policies, and how citizens and politicians relate to this world and its products. We do not list each and every theory that policy scholars may find important. Moreover, we won’t talk much about the difference between this or that definition, problems of conceptualizations in this or that theory, theoretical weaknesses and convergences between theoretical approaches, the use of proper research methods or future research agendas. To be sure, we draw on these theories and we hope that students interested in the topics that we discuss will venture to the back of the book, consult the reference list and start studying the literature that helped us write this book.
The book is also based on our own insights, earned through years of interacting with policymakers as both researchers and consultants. In addition, we build on years of teaching undergraduate and graduate students.
We are writing for people who have an interest in the workings of government and the policy process. Policymakers can change the world, which is what many students want to do. We do not presume any beforehand knowledge. We sketch the rules and regularities of this peculiar world, using plenty of examples. Above all, we write for people who have a – perhaps latent – interest in working for the government to make the world a better place. We want to provide a road map, identifying the barriers but also the destinations – creating a sense of enthusiasm for starting that journey.
We have written the book with teachers in mind. Each chapter can serve as the basis for a class. Teachers can teach the various topics in a different order than the one we use in this book. Each chapter has been written in such a way as to enable a modular use of the book.
We were raised and educated in European liberal democracies. We realize that policy systems differ across the world. We have studied other policymaking systems (and worked in different countries). It is inevitable, however, that this book reflects our own unique experiences with governance and policymaking. This book does not present a definitive statement on the world of policy. The world changes constantly and all too often quite dramatically. Constant change imposes a continuing stream of new challenges for policymakers. This book, therefore, can only be a work in progress. It’s an ongoing project. We would love to hear feedback: fresh insights, new and better examples, and things we missed or misunderstood. [Unquote].
Bibliography
Boin, A. and Lodge, M. (2024) The Politics of Policymaking: An Introduction. London: Sage Publications.
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