Improving Public Policy

Effective governance is the essential mission of the public sector. Good policy management is crucial if effective governance is to take place. This revised text successfully combines the theory and practice of public policy.

"Essentially, good governance is the primary mission of the public sector. Effective policy management is a crucial component of good governance if the desired improvements in society are to be achieved. A thorough understanding of the nature, content, processes and outcomes of public policy is not only imperative for continually improving public sector governance, but also vital for establishing good public management on a daily basis. The fourth edition of Improving public policy for good governance has been updated and revised substantially. It focuses on integrating the functionally specialised agencies of government, business, labour and civil society into a holistic and efficient policy network. This is necessary in an attempt to deal with the complexities of transformational leadership while addressing optimal development and public services delivery in society, amidst an ever advancing digital era that is under increasing resource constraints. This book bridges the theory and practice of public policy by linking them in a user-friendly manner. It explains what public policy is and should be, why and how it is created, and how public policy content, processes, outputs and outcomes can be improved to promote optimal good governance. Furthermore, it shows how to achieve sustainable developmental goals in the information society of the 21st century, particularly in complex developing countries. This edition also contains a new chapter on competing values and the ethics of public policy. Among other issues, it addresses the intractable problems of corruption and nepotism that are endemic to any policy system. Each chapter also includes references to the latest published South African and international resources on various aspects of public policy. Improving public policy for good governance is essential reading material for all students, researchers and practitioners in the field of public policy who require knowledge, insight and/or practical skills in this important field. All contributors are experienced public policy educators, practitioners and evaluators."--Back cover.

This report examines the influence of trust on policy making and explores some of the steps governments can take to strengthen public trust.

A calculation of the social returns to innovation /Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers --Innovation and human capital policy /John Van Reenen --Immigration policy levers for US innovation and start-ups /Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr --Scientific grant funding /Pierre Azoulay and Danielle Li --Tax policy for innovation /Bronwyn H. Hall --Taxation and innovation: what do we know? /Ufuk Akcigit and Stefanie Stantcheva --Government incentives for entrepreneurship /Josh Lerner.

Policymakers and public managers around the world have become preoccupied with the question of how their goals can be achieved in a way that rebuilds public confidence in government. Yet because public policies and programs increasingly are being administered through a complicated web of jurisdictions, agencies, and public-private partnerships, evaluating their effectiveness is more difficult than in the past. Though social scientists possess insightful theories and powerful methods for conducting empirical research on governance and public management, their work is too often fragmented and irrelevant to the specific tasks faced by legislators, administrators, and managers. Proposing a framework for research based on the premise that any particular governance arrangement is embedded in a wider social, fiscal, and political context, Laurence E. Lynn Jr., Carolyn J. Heinrich, and Carolyn J. Hill argue that theory-based empirical research, when well conceived and executed, can be a primary source of fundamental, durable knowledge about governance and policy management. Focusing on complex human services such as public assistance, child protection, and public education, they construct an integrative, multilevel "logic of governance," that can help researchers increase the sophistication, power, and relevance of their work.