This book assesses how governance has evolved in six nations – England, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands – between 1970 and 2018. More specifically, it examines how the governance approaches and the sets of policy tools used to govern have altered with respect to four public policy sectors that represent core responsibilities of the modern OECD state: education, energy, environment and health. To structure this analytical approach, the book harnesses sociological institutionalism in the area of ‘policy sequencing’ to trace both the motivations and the consequences of policy-makers’ altering governance approaches and the resulting policy tools. Combining a comparative and international focus, this book will appeal to scholars and students of public policy and governance.
Author(s): Giliberto Capano, Anthony R. Zito, Federico Toth, Jeremy Rayner
Series: International Series on Public Policy
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 330
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction: The State and Public Policy After the Neoliberal Wave—Instruments and Governance Dynamics
1 Setting the Scene
1.1 Neoliberalism and the Evolution of the State
1.2 Governance Change and Policy Instruments
1.3 Aims
1.4 The Research Questions
2 Defining Governance: How Policies Are Steered
3 Operationalizing Governance: Policy Instruments
3.1 Policy Instruments
3.1.1 The Policy Instrument Puzzle: Three Different Perspectives
3.1.2 Classifying Policy Instruments
4 Explaining Governance Shifts: A Multi-dimensional Framework
4.1 Convergence Towards Where and What?
4.2 Temporal Sequences and Critical Junctures
4.3 The Institutional, Political and Ideational Condition of Governance Shifts
4.3.1 The Institutional Conditions
4.3.2 Political Conditions
4.3.3 The Ideational Condition
4.4 Other Contingent Factors
4.4.1 Environmental Factors External to the Policy Sector
4.4.2 Specific Sectoral Characteristics
4.5 Framework Overview
4.6 Reconstructing the Sequence of Policy Development in Six Different Countries and Four Policy Sectors
4.6.1 Sectoral Comparison
4.6.2 Country Comparison
4.6.3 Diachronic Analysis and Comparison
5 Research Propositions
6 The Structure of the Book
References
Chapter 2: Comparing the Country Contexts
1 Introduction
2 The Multi-Level Institutional Analysis
3 Political Parties and Governments
4 Transnational Ideas and Ideologies
4.1 Neoliberalism
5 Comparative Summary
References
Chapter 3: The Education Policy Sector
1 Introduction
2 Policy Instruments in Education Policy: Going Beyond the Neoliberal Rhetoric?
3 Australia
3.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
3.2 1983: The Neoliberal Turning Point—Corporate Federalism in Education
3.3 The Difficult Implementation of the Hawke Reforms
3.4 The Introduction of National Evaluation and Coordination Instruments
3.5 The Actual Governance Mode
4 Canada
4.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
4.2 The Attempts to Coordinate the Dualistic System and the Waves of Provincial Reforms
4.3 The Actual Governance Mode
5 Germany
5.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
5.2 The Nationalization of German Education
5.3 The PISA-Driven Reforms
5.4 The Actual Governance Mode
6 England
6.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
6.2 The Thatcher Storm
6.3 The Process of Academization
6.4 The Actual Governance Mode
7 Italy
7.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
7.2 The Long Way to the Autonomistic Reforms
7.3 The ‘Good School’ Reform
7.4 The Actual Governance Mode
8 The Netherlands
8.1 The Premises of the Governance Developments: Constitutional Provisions, Starting Points and Critical Junctures
8.2 The Attempts of Centralizing the Pillarized System
8.3 The Autonomistic Counter-Wave
8.4 The Rise of the Inspecting State
8.5 The Actual Governance Mode
9 Current Educational Governance Modes in Six Countries and Drivers of Change
9.1 Different Shopping of Policy Instruments
9.2 Drivers of Policy Change: A Tentative Minimal Assessment
References
Chapter 4: The Healthcare Sector
1 Introduction
1.1 The ‘Healthcare Triangle’
1.2 Different Modes of Healthcare Governance
1.3 Neoliberal Ideas and Waves of Reform in Recent Decades
2 Policy Instruments in Healthcare
3 Australia
3.1 The Establishment of Medicare in 1984
3.2 No Major Turning Points
3.3 The Regulation of Private Healthcare Insurance
3.4 The Current Governance Modes
4 Canada
4.1 The Decentralized Structure of Medicare
4.2 No Major (Pan-Canadian) Reform After the 1984 Canada Health Act
4.3 The 1984 Canada Health Act and the Establishment of the Regional Health Authorities
4.4 The Current Governance Modes
5 England
5.1 The United Kingdom (UK) NHS: Public, Unitary and Integrated
5.2 Three Major Turning Points
5.3 From the Thatcher to the Cameron Reform
5.4 The Current Governance Modes
6 Germany
6.1 The Legacy of the Bismarckian System
6.2 The Major Reforms of 1993 and 2007
6.3 The Effects of the 1993 and 2007 Reforms on the SHI Scheme
6.4 The Current Governance Modes
7 Italy
7.1 The 1978 Reform and the Establishment of the SSN
7.2 The 1992–1993 Reform
7.3 Regionalization and Corporatization
7.4 The Current Governance Modes
8 The Netherlands
8.1 The Bismarckian Imprint
8.2 The 2006 Reform
8.3 The 2006 Reform and Mandatory Insurance for All Residents
8.4 The Current Governance Modes
9 Conclusions: The Trajectories of Healthcare Governance
9.1 Changing the Governance Model
9.2 Changing Policy Mixes
References
Chapter 5: The Governance of Energy
1 Introduction
1.1 An Overview of Energy Policy
1.2 Neoliberalism in the Energy Sector
1.3 Policy Instruments in the Energy Sector
2 Country Analysis
3 Australia
3.1 Starting Point
3.2 Critical Juncture
3.3 Evolution of Australian Governance, 1972–2018
3.4 Australia Analysis
3.5 Australian Governance Arrangements by 2018
4 Canada
4.1 Starting Point
4.2 Critical Juncture
4.3 Evolution of Canadian Governance, 1975–2018
4.4 Canada Analysis
4.5 Canadian Governance Arrangements by 2018
5 England
5.1 Starting Point
5.2 Critical Juncture
5.3 Evolution of English Governance, 1974–2018
5.4 England Analysis
5.5 English Governance Arrangements by 2018
6 Germany
6.1 Starting Point
6.2 Critical Juncture
6.3 Evolution of German Governance, 1974–2018
6.4 Germany Analysis
6.5 German Governance Arrangements by 2018
7 Italy
7.1 Starting Point
7.2 Critical Juncture
7.3 Evolution of Italian Governance, 1974–2018
7.4 Italy Analysis
7.5 Italian Governance Arrangements by 2018
8 The Netherlands
8.1 Starting Point
8.2 Critical Junctures
8.3 Evolution of Dutch Governance, 1974–2018
8.4 The Netherlands Analysis
8.5 Dutch Governance Arrangements by 2018
9 Conclusion: The Trajectories of Energy Governance
References
Chapter 6: The Environmental Sector
1 Introduction
2 Policy Instruments
2.1 Neoliberal Governance Expectations
2.2 Environmental Policy Instruments
3 Australia
3.1 Starting Point
3.2 Evolving Australian Governance, 1975–2018
3.3 Australia Analysis
3.4 Australian Governance Arrangements, 2018
4 Canada
4.1 Starting point
4.2 Evolving Canadian Governance, 1975–2018
4.3 Analysis
4.4 Canadian Governance Arrangements, 2018
5 England
5.1 Starting Point
5.2 Evolving English Environmental Governance, 1975–2018
5.3 Analysis
5.4 English Governance Arrangements, 2018
6 The EU Level
6.1 Starting Point
6.2 Evolving EU Environmental Governance, 1975–2018
6.3 Analysis
6.4 EU Governance Arrangements, 2018
7 Germany
7.1 Starting Point
7.2 Evolving German Environmental Governance, 1975–2018
7.3 Analysis
7.4 German Governance Arrangements, 2018
8 Italy
8.1 Starting Point
8.2 Evolving Italian Environmental Governance, 1975–2018
8.3 Analysis
8.4 Italian Governance Arrangements, 2018
9 The Netherlands
9.1 Starting Point
9.2 Evolving Dutch Environmental Governance, 1975–2018
9.3 Analysis
9.4 Dutch Governance Arrangements, 2018
10 Conclusions
References
Chapter 7: Comparative Analysis
1 Introduction
2 Magnitude of Change
2.1 Overall Assessment
2.2 Analysis by Country
2.3 Analysis by Sector
3 Change in the Composition of the Instrument Mix
3.1 Overall Assessment
3.2 Analysis by Country
3.3 Analysis by Sector
4 Radical Versus Incremental Change
4.1 Overall Assessment
4.2 Analysis by Country
4.3 Analysis by Sector
5 Conflictual Versus Consensual
5.1 Overall Assessment
5.2 Analysis by Country
5.3 Analysis by Sector
6 Conclusions
References
Chapter 8: The Conclusions: The Changing and Unchanging State
1 Introduction: Overview
2 Core Theoretical Themes
2.1 Neoliberalism and the Findings
2.2 The Role of Institutions
2.3 The Role of Elections
2.4 Sequences and Critical Junctures
2.5 The Interaction of Ideas and Institutions
3 Future Research Directions
3.1 Drilling Down
3.2 Exploring Other Policy Sectors
3.3 Expanding the Comparison to the Global South
3.4 Understanding Instrument Mixes
3.5 Ideological Layering and Hybridity
4 The Future Trajectory of States and Governance After 2018
References
Index
