Laura Polverari’s Post

📝 Out Now: ENSURED's Conceptual Framework! In the ENSURED project, we want to know: How can the EU transform and defend global governance to make it more robust, effective and democratic? To find out, Ha Eun Choi, Hylke Dijkstra, Andrea Liese, Thomas Sommerer, Clara Weinhardt & other ENSURED researchers developed a conceptual framework to serves as the project's intellectual backbone. It constitutes the basis for ENSURED's core outputs, including: 🔹 15 empirical case studies of the ongoing reforms in international institutions; 🔹 Comparative and cross-sectional analyses of the robustness, effectiveness, and democracy of international institutions; 🔹 An expert survey on likely scenarios for global governance. In the framework, we define key concepts and explore the trade-offs and synergies in the interplay between robustness, effectiveness and democracy. We also introduce a framework to identify the positions of major IOs on global governance and develop scenarios for global governance transformation. As a part of this, we lay out the distinct role that the EU and member states play in defending and transforming global governance. Want the fine print? Check out the publication on the ENSURED website: https://lnkd.in/dWQMC8uz You can also check out the full conceptual framework 👇 #GlobalGovernance #ENSURED

Which factors influence public sector innovation? Find out in another article from Vol. 102, Issue 2! "Which managerial reforms facilitate public sector innovation?" by Ringa Raudla, Zach Mohr, & James W. Douglas tackles this key question in public administration scholarship and practice. Using survey data from 19 European countries, the study examines how the main types of managerial reforms and different features of public sector reform strategies influence public sector innovation. The findings demonstrate that New Public Governance-style reforms have a more positive influence than NPM-type reforms and indicate that reforms initiated by public administrations are more conducive to public sector innovation. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gFJFVHvd

How can UK government be more effective when addressing chronic problems like inequalities or crises like climate change? This idea of ‘effective government’ has no clear, coherent, or agreed definition. Rather, advocates of reform identify multiple principles to which to aspire, including to: - Hold to account the people and organisations responsible for policy. - Anticipate and prevent policy problems rather than react to crisis. - Avoid power hoarding at the ‘centre’. - Co-produce policy with citizens. - Ensure policy coherence and policymaking integration. - Foster evidence-informed policymaking. - Mainstream equity, fairness, or justice across all policy. - Ensure that public services deliver public value. There is no technical way to combine these principles or resolve their trade-offs. Rather, policymakers make political choices to signal rhetorical support for all of these aims but demonstrate strong support for some. This tension between effective government principles is at the heart of a dominant and pessimistic academic story of UK policymaking in which the principle of Westminster-style accountability overshadows all others. Consequently, policymaking is inevitably short-termist, elitist, and centralist, and other reform efforts are doomed to failure. We recognise this problem but present a cautiously optimistic account about future prospects, grounded in new efforts to promote ‘Positive Public Policy’ (PoPP). We describe the potential to reinvigorate a range of approaches including: - Strategic state approaches to encourage more policy coherence and policymaking integration. - Systems thinking and place-based approaches to situate holistic government in more local decision-making contexts. - Evidence-informed government, to reflect massive UK government investment in research for policy. - Renewed forms of public participation to boost democratic legitimacy and inform policy. - Behavioural public policy, to understand how people think and behave and support behavioural change. What is a more positive account of the limited progress of these reforms? First, although rather ambiguous, they are all sufficiently clear to prompt debate and collaboration on how to translate abstract aims into concrete change. Second, although we may witness short-term setbacks, repeated reform efforts often have a cumulative effect. Third, although there is limited financial capacity to support major reforms, these initiatives support the new government’s focus on reforms that offer tangible rewards from low investment. This new reality provides an important window of opportunity for learning and applying the lessons of Positive Public Policy. Full article: Paul Cairney, John Boswell, Sarah Ayres, Catherine Durose, Dr Ian C Elliott, Matthew Flinders, Steve Martin, Liz Richardson (2024) ‘The state of British policymaking: How can UK government become more effective?’, Parliamentary Affairs, https://lnkd.in/edXQadDY

Hot of the press: New Article in Policy Studies Journal! Co-authored by prof. Joris Voets, the study presents the first taxonomy of partisan political advisers developed for the local government level. This second study within my PhD originates from one of the first concrete ideas, I am very proud to see it published. The presence of 300 partisan political staffers ('kabinetsmedewerkers') is a unique feature of the main cities in Flanders. Making use of Q methodology, we asked the chiefs of cabinet ('kabinetschefs') to assess their policymaking role. The resulting taxonomy consists of three types of chiefs of cabinet, each with a different role and impact on both policymaking and the administration. “The Whip” adopts an intervening and coordinating role regarding the administration, while trying to bridge two distinct spheres. “The Negotiator” possesses a degree of policymaking autonomy, and is active within 'inter-cabinet working groups'. “The Streamliner” plays a more supportive role, making sure both politics and administration are informed well, to facilitate optimal political deliberations. The results add valuable insights to debates on the desired institutional setting of urban local governments. Interested in more detailed conclusions, and discussion of the results? Find out more via: https://lnkd.in/eg923N9d Interested in the 1st published study of the PhD, focusing on barriers for policy integration and coordination? See: https://shorturl.at/MTQOc

How well are our institutions equipped for the challenges of the 21st century? Our #RethinkingTheState panel on Public Sector Capacities brought together thought leaders to analyse the political nature of public administration. Catch up on the event ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eEzj_zae

Over the past two days the Public Governance Committee met to discuss policy solutions to address some of today’s most pressing governance challenges, including reinforcing trust and democracy. We were very happy to welcome Mary Beth Goodman, our new OECD Deputy Secretary-General, who will support to achieve our ambitious agenda. We discussed a broad range of ongoing work, notably the development of an OECD Recommendation on Human-Centric Public Administrative Services and countries’ public administration modernization efforts. We also took stock of the great strides we have already made this year, including: ·        The first baseline assessment of governments’ actions in Facts not fakes: Tackling disinformation, strengthening information integrity https://lnkd.in/e3Q3jtAq ·        The first OECD Anti-corruption and Integrity Outlook, which goes beyond perception surveys to look at how countries are doing, objectively in this area, using the OECD Public Integrity Indicators https://lnkd.in/ezAyzAQ4 ·        The launch of Infrastructure for a Climate-Resilient Future, which outlines a comprehensive approach to what governments can do to ensure that infrastructure projects support environmental goals and are resilient to climate-related threats https://lnkd.in/ehhuq45D These milestones and the forthcoming release of the OECD Trust Survey in June are leading us towards the second OECD Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy, which will take place in Milan, Italy, on 21-22 October 2024.  ·        Register now for the 2nd Global Forum: https://lnkd.in/eTq-nJvb We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Committee for their leadership as well as the Public Governance Directorate teams for their hard work to deliver the Committee’s mandate and the OECD Reinforcing Democracy Initiative. #ReinforcingDemocracy #Disinformation #PublicGovernance Dustin Brown Oskar Thorslund Mary Beth Goodman Elsa Pilichowski Gillian Dorner Monica Brezzi Julio Bacio Terracino Tatyana Teplova, PhD Carlos Santiso

New article by institute member Nikoleta Yordanova and Aleksandra Khokhlova, Anastasia Ershova, Fabian David Schmidt & Goran Glavaš in West European Politics: 'Curb EU enthusiasm: how politicisation shapes bureaucratic responsiveness' International institutions are often challenged for being detached from the citizens. Focusing on the European Union, this article studies whether this is the case and, if so, when the European Commission responds to public opinion when pursuing policy integration. It argues that the Commission has legitimacy incentives encouraging it to be responsive but politicisation can suppress responsiveness by transmitting competing demands on the Commission from the member states’ citizens. To test these arguments, the contribution applied automated text analysis to estimate the European Union (EU) authority expansion entailed in the Commission’s legislative proposals between 2009 and 2019 and analysed its correspondence with public preferences over EU policy action across the EU states, measured using the Eurobarometer. The results lend support to the hypotheses and suggest that politicisation can undermine the responsiveness of international institutions. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eYkpyDbE

Dive into the intricacies of EU Decision-Making! Our course provides a concise yet thorough understanding of the EU system, focusing on law-making. Gain essential principles and procedures to navigate the EU landscape effectively. Plus, access an online introductory course for foundational insights! Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/ep_gUPjz #EUInsights #DecisionMakingCourse #ContinuousLearning   

Hugely important and very comprehensive research about public trust by the OECD Public Governance. 1️⃣ Primary recommendation to governments: "Engage better with citizens to enhance trust in both local and national government. There is a significant need for more meaningful and inclusive opportunities for citizen participation and influence in decision-making processes." Full report: https://lnkd.in/duC2P58M

Great to see a recent blog by the Bertelsmann Stiftung/Nathan Crist referring to our review 03/2024, an overview of the assurance framework and the key factors contributing to errors in 2014-2020 cohesion spending. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dRMBsA-z Based on our results, the blog concludes, that poor local administration hampering the effectiveness of #Cohesion policy is a widespread problem, not limited to specific regions. True ❗ We found weaknesses in the work of audit authorities in all member states (see Annex III) and shortcomings at all levels of the assurance pyramid. Room for improvement for all key actors to bring down the error rate below materiality and increase the impact of Cohesion spending. European Court of Auditors will contribute with its audits!