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Abstract Government-based policy labs have established themselves across the Canadian policy landscape. This article argues these labs contribute to public value management. We begin by reviewing the public value management [...]

Introduced by the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at facilitating inclusive sustainable development. Responsiveness to SDGs is considered a key to addressing pressing development problems. The current literature focuses on the responsiveness of varied public organizations to SDGs, whereas SDGs' responsiveness of policy innovation labs (PILs) is understudied. Aiming to address both persistent and emerging social and environmental problems, PILs are aligned with SDGs. On the other hand, PILs seek innovative ways to generate policy solutions in collaboration with citizens through experimental methods and thus are more committed to the local public rather than international organizations. This paper investigates to what extent and in what way PILs respond to SDGs during policy formulation processes, both implicitly and explicitly. Data draws on a database the authors developed, identifying 211 European PILs. Thematic coding of PILs' websites reveals that 62.1% of the PILs implicitly promote at least one SDG. Additionally, sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and good health and well-being (SDG3) are the two SDGs with the highest implicit-response rates, respectively. We apply grounded theory analysis from semi-structured interviews with senior PIL employees of 31 PILs to gauge their explicit views of SDGs. This inductive approach reveals three dimensions to SDGs: levels of responsiveness, different practices, and considerations that guide PILs on whether to comply with SDGs. A better understanding of PILs' response to SDGs provides a more nuanced portrayal of PILs as organizations aiming to craft innovative policy solutions that align with international frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction After Canada committed to the 2016 Paris climate agreement, the federal and provincial governments announced the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. This broad governance document outlined [...]

Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In scarcely a decade, a "labification" phenomenon has taken hold globally. The search for innovative policy solutions for social problems is embedded within scientific experimental‐like structures often referred to as policy innovation labs (PILs). With the rapid technological changes (e.g., big data, artificial intelligence), data‐based PILs have emerged. Despite the growing importance of these PILs in the policy process, very little is known about them and how they contribute to policy outcomes. This study analyzes 133 data‐based PILs and examines their contribution to policy capacity. We adopt policy capacity framework to investigate how data‐based PILs contribute to enhancing analytical, organization, and political policy capacity. Many data‐based PILs are located in Western Europe and North America, initiated by governments, and employ multi‐domain administrative data with advanced technologies. Our analysis finds that data‐based PILs enhance analytical and operational policy capacity at the individual, organizational and systemic levels but do little to enhance political capacity. It is this deficit that we suggest possible strategies for data‐based PILs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite all the attention paid to the topic of policy analysis, the actual work of policy analysts in government is little investigated and little known (Colebatch 2005, 2006a, 2006b; Colebatch and Radin 2006). This is true not only at the national level, which has been the subject of most existing studies, but especially at the sub-national level, where substantial powers rest. In order to address this gap, this article presents evidence from the first, large-scale set of surveys of Canadian federal, provincial and territorial policy analysts, examining the similarities and differences in their policy work. While many similarities exist in areas related to overall governance trends, such as consultation and participation work overtaking more technical policy evaluations, there are significant differences in the nature of policy work and attitudes, which are linked to the lesser autonomy from political masters experienced by sub-national analysts. The results suggest that sub-national policy work must be studied carefully in its own right. Sommaire : Malgre toute l'attention accordee a l'analyse des politiques, le travail des analystes de politiques au gouvernement n'a ete que tres peu etudie et est peu connu (Colebatch 2005, 2006a, 2006b; Colebatch et Radin 2006). Cela est vrai non seulement a l'echelle nationale, ce qui a fait l'objet de la plupart des etudes existantes, mais plus particulierement a l'echelle infranationale, ou les gouvernements detiennent d'enormes pouvoirs. Pour remedier a cette lacune, cet article presente des temoignages de la premiere serie de sondages a grande echelle menee aupres des analystes de politiques federaux, provinciaux et territoriaux du Canada, qui examine les similarites et les differences dans le travail d'eleaboration des politiques. Alors que de nombreuses similarites existent dans les domaines lies aux tendances de gouvernance en general, comme le travail de consultation et de participation depassant des evaluations de politiques plus techniques, il existe egalement d'importantes differences dans la nature du travail d'elaboration de politiques et dans les attitudes, qui sont liees au fait que les analystes infranationaux jouissent de moins d'autonomie que les maitres politiques. Les resultats laissent entendre que les etudes de politiques a l'echelle infranationale doivent etre examinees attentivement en tant que tel., Introduction: Gaps in knowledge of policy work in multi-level states Despite having been a matter of academic attention for over half a century, the working world of policy analysts is [...]

Thirty-five years ago Arnold Meltsner observed that professional policy analysts in the U.S. government undertook several roles in the policymaking process, the most common of which involved 'technical' information processing while others were more 'political' in nature. Although still prescient, more recent empirical studies of professional policy work have found little evidence of the predominance of technicians in the ranks of analysts employed in public policy bureaucracies. However, only very weak and partial information exists on the situation in most countries, and descriptions of the nature of policy work often remain primarily normative and lacking in empirical referents. This article reexamines the duties and nature of contemporary professional policy analysis in the Canadian bureaucracy. It reveals that contemporary policy work is constituted by more complex and multisided practices than Meltsner and his followers described. These findings are significant for those wishing to understand, and improve, the nature of policy work in contemporary government. Keywords: Public Policy, Theories of Public Policy, Public Administration, Bureaucracy, Policy Analysis, Policy Analytical Capacity. Hace treinta y cinco anos Arnold Meltsner observo que los analistas legislativos profesionales en el gobierno de los Estados Unidos se encargan de diferentes tareas en el proceso legislativo, el mas comun involucraba el proceso de informacion 'tecnica' mientras que otros eran de una naturaleza mas 'politica'. Estudios empiricos mas recientes del trabajo profesional legislativo han encontrado poca evidencia del predominio de tecnicos en puestos analiticos en las burocracias del sector publico. Sin embargo, existe tenue y parcial informacion sobre la situacion de la mayoria de los paises y la descripcion de la naturaleza del trabajo legislativo permanece normativa y carente de referentes empiricos. Este estudio reexamina los deberes y naturaleza de analistas legislativos profesionales en la burocracia Canadiense y revela que el trabajo legislativo contemporaneo esta constituido por practicas mas complejas de las que Meltsner y sus partidarios describieron. Estos hallazgos son significativos para aquellos que deseen comprender y mejorar la naturaleza del trabajo legislativo en la gobernabilidad contemporanea., Studying the Nature of Policy Work Professional policy work in government is a difficult subject to categorize and define (Colebatch, Hoppe, and Noordegraaf 2011). At its heart, policy analysis is [...]

The idea of 'think tanks' is one of the oldest in the policy sciences. Although the topic has been studied for decades, recent works dealing with advocacy groups, policy and behavioural insight labs and into the activities of think tanks themselves have led to discontent with the definitions used in the field, and especially with the way the term may obfuscate rather than clarify important distinctions between the different kinds of knowledge‐based policy influence organisations (KBPIO) operating in the contemporary policy landscape. In this paper, we examine the traditional and current definitions of think tanks utilised in the discipline and point out their weaknesses. We then develop a new framework to better capture the variation in the kinds of knowledge‐based organisations which operate in many sectors. We examine and critique popular academic definitions of think tanks. An additional challenge has been the rise of new kinds of knowledge‐based policy influence organizations (KBPIO) across the policy advice landscape (e.g., research institutes, policy labs, and behavioural insight teams). A diagnostic framework is introduced that captures these distinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both policy entrepreneur and policy implementer play critical roles in the policy process. Little attention has been devoted to how the identity overlap may influence policy change. This paper addresses this gap using a case-study approach and explores the vertical-greening policymaking in Shanghai (1992–2016), China. Three conclusions are advanced. The identity of policy implementer prompts entrepreneurial tactics to remove the implementation barriers. The discrepancy in perception of the policy-goal ambiguity between the policy implementer and policymaker may compromise policy adoption. The dual identity does not prevent the policy entrepreneur from accepting compromises in order to have the policy passed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2006 and 2011, the Canadian Conservative government advocated the concept of ‘open federalism’ which sought to minimize the role of the federal government in areas falling under provincial jurisdiction. Environmental policy-making was particularly impacted with the passage of the highly contentious 2012 omnibus Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, commonly known as Bill C-38. This paper argues that environmental policy needs to ‘bring back federalism’ into their analysis. In order to do so, a mechanisms approach is employed and focuses on the role of both macro and meso level historical institutionalism mechanisms in explaining policy layering and policy dismantling during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The San Bernardino National Forest in southern California experienced an unprecedented bark beetle outbreak in the early 2000s. The outbreak, coupled with a looming threat of catastrophic wildfire, droughts, changing forest management priorities, and a legacy of poor forest management practices coalesced to create a challenge that existing institutions and management agencies could not address. In response, an interagency collaborative effort, the Mountain Area Taskforce (MAST), was initiated. Based on key informant interviews, this paper details how this new governance organization emerged and how it effectively addressed a landscape scale forest challenge. Forest governance analyses often focus attention on macroscales, overlooking the microlevel arrangements that set MAST apart from other responses to bark beetle outbreaks. Interagency collaboration has taken on greater importance in efforts to address forest management at landscape scales and this case study provides important insights into the challenges and opportunities of these new governance arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Political Science Review is the property of Canadian Political Science Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The capacity of large bureaucratic organizations to address climate change issues is an area that many consider to be important yet there is very little empirical evidence available. This article employs a structural equation model (LISREL) from survey data of mid-level public servants in the Province of Alberta, Canada and considers such factors as the extent that they work with climate change information, the use of risk-based tools, risk perception, and broader organizational factors. The results suggest that policy-based staff is more engaged in climate change issues than researchers and are also more likely to employ risk-based tools and techniques. We conclude that structural equation modeling can provide valuable indicators of policy capacity to decision makers who are charged with developing climate change policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract Governments face many challenges in maintaining effective policymaking capacity as their governance activities alter and change. The emergence of a gap between government aspirations and street-level conditions for policy workers can lead to an increased likelihood of poor policy outcomes. Maintaining strong policy capacity in such public services is a critical factor in avoiding various kinds of policy failures. Very little large-scale empirical research has been dedicated to the study of contemporary policy work, however, making it difficult to evaluate competing claims about the impact of changing conditions on practices of policy analysis. Using data derived from three large-scale surveys of Canadian policy analysts conducted during 2007 to 2008, this article develops and tests several key hypotheses about contemporary policy work and its relationship to policy analytical capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares rank-and-file policy-based Canadian federal government employees both in the National Capital Region and in the regions. Data was collected from an online survey, the results find a number of significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographics, tasks, and attitudes. We conclude that regional oriented policy tasks are carried out by a relatively few number of people and this group is, at best, on the margins of what could be considered to policy work. These differences may have a significant impact on the federal government's overall policy capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the results of a study conducted to determine the central issues affecting First Nations forestry in Canada and the implications that this has on the economic development opportunities for the community. It is noted that strict government policies often interfere with the ability of First Nations to expand into forestry.

What are the roles of informal coordination networks, policy-oriented beliefs, and the concern about climate change? Informal networks are considered in addition to the highly publicized strategies and commitments made by government departments and agencies. Based on a survey of agriculture, forestry and water-based policy elites in the Canadian prairies, this article examines the structure and impact of informal networks and policy-oriented beliefs. To do so, a number of testable hypotheses were proposed. The results indicate that respondents looked to the federal government as a potential ally. However, the federal government did not reciprocate by supporting the other major organizational clusters (agriculture and forest industry, provincial government, environment groups and research organizations). A bleak picture of future action on climate change emerges when the gaps between closed and polarized networks are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1995, the government of Nova Scotia has had to develop woodlot owner management programs that encourage timber production without depending on cost-shared Federal-Provincial agreements. These new programs must be as cost-effective as possible. A possible policy tool to overcome these new challenges would be the development of a method of identifying those woodlot owners who would be most willing to participate in management programs. Using data from a province-wide woodlot owner survey, two logit models, based on the woodlot owner's characteristics, determine the likelihood that management and marketing activity will be undertaken. The management logit model identified those owners who had received advice, who sold wood products from their woodlots in the past five years, or owned linger than average-sized woodlots as most likely to engage in management activity. The marketing logit model identified those woodlot owners who were aware of existing programs, who managed, sold Christmas trees, logging contractors, members of group ventures, or owned larger than average-sized woodlots as more likely to sell forest products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]