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Lost in translation?
Why policy makers struggle to see their policies implemented
Policy makers can make policies, but it is far harder to ensure that these policies are implemented and achieve the desired results. Policies are not delivered by policy
makers but by those working face to face with the public such as police officers. Clearly a gap exists between policies being made and those policies being successfully implemented. Why is this?
Researchers will trace the chain of steps which occur between devising a policy and delivering it ‘on the ground’. They will follow policies along this chain of decision-making in three contrasting policy areas: the process of providing work permits; reducing street crime; and the issuing of passports. They will then examine some of the new incentives and mechanisms (such as targets and performance indicators) which have been introduced by government to ensure that policies are delivered successfully and consider how well they are working.
What the research means for policy makers and the wider community
- How do policy goals translate into policy outcomes? Findings will provide a better understanding of why blockages (or misinterpretations) occur in the chain of delivery between policy making and policy implementation. Researchers will then highlight any potential ways of reducing these blockages. They will also assess how well existing incentives and mechanisms work in improving standards of delivery and explore the types of incentive which could work better.
- Those who make policy and those working on the front line to deliver policy may have a very different interpretation of what a policy means. This study will highlight ways in which both parties may understand policies differently and the implications of this for policy implementation.
- Researchers will assess whether policies translate more or less successfully in three contrasting policy areas: providing work permits, reducing street crime and issuing passports. This will highlight whether different forms of organisation and different incentive structures influence success in delivery.
- The study will identify the kinds of rules and alternative institutions and patterns of authority that bureaucrats can draw on to change the original intentions of policy makers. Research will
also explore whether any links exist between the levels of autonomy held by those involved in delivering policies and the ways in which services are delivered.
Research methods
Researchers will interview policy makers within the Home Office and hold focus groups with those responsible for delivering those policies ‘on the ground’, for example, police officers. As policies pass through a number of hands before they can be implemented, researchers will interview all those involved in the process of translating policies into action. For example, police authorities, chief constables and senior police officers as well as Home Office policy makers and police officers ‘on the beat’.
Further Information: Project Posters
Updated Project Poster 2009
Below is a summary of this project’s provisional findings. It was originally presented as a dissemination poster, which is available here as a pdf document. All figures can be found at the bottom of this poster summary as thumbnails, which one should click to view full-size images. Alternatively, where figures are reffered to in the text, click the linked text for a full-size version.
LOST IN TRANSLATION?
Background
The link between policies made at the centre and delivery of services on the ground is one of the perennial problems of public service management, and of central concern in an age of ‘delivery’. Failure to deliver policy on the ground has long been blamed on selective implementation by street-level bureaucrats with too much scope for discretion. Yet, many governments also advocate the detachment of delivery agencies from policy-makers and more local autonomy. Do such developments effectively nullify government’s potential to deliver, or can new incentives and partnership arrangements ensure that local actors successfully deliver central policies?
Aims
We aimed to:
» map delivery chains for selected crime and security practices in England;
» identify the management mechanisms actually used to diffuse policy through the delivery chain, distinguishing command, partnerships and incentive relationships among the players;
» assess how far the rhetoric of a shift away from command had been realised and if so, what effect such a shift had on the way that street-level bureaucrats delivered services;
» explore whether there was a single mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, most likely to result in effective policy delivery.
What We Did
» We selected three case studies within the Home Office; one immigration policy involving the allocation of work permits, and two crime reduction policies, the street crime initiative (SCI) and anti-social behaviour (ASB) policy. This allowed us to compare different management mechanisms and map the delivery chains involved in each case study (Figures 1 and 2 show the maps of street crime initiative and anti- social behaviour policy respectively).
» To discover the mix of management mechanisms involved, we conducted 63 interviews with people at all stages of each of those delivery chains, from policy-makers in Whitehall to police officers ‘on the beat’.
Provisional Findings
» Elements of all three management mechanisms were found in both the cases illustrated, even though at first sight the SCI was a case of incentive-driven management through PSA targets and ASB was partnership-driven using ‘trailblazer’ areas.
» When central targets were successfully delivered, local autonomy disappeared and street-level bureaucrats were exposed to command and control from the centre.
» While command appeared to be the most successful mechanism for ensuring short-term delivery, it seemed an unreliable way of achieving long- term delivery since it depended on an unsustainably high level of top-level political attention.
Figures
Click on the figures to enlarge
