In a recent PSI article, we argued the greatest challenge presented by the Secretaries' Charter of Leadership Behaviours (DRIVE) is to empower people. If this and other aspirations are to become lived practice, as PM&C secretary Glyn Davis advocates, then APS bosses could benefit from dipping into the policy theory literature.
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"Theory?" you say. "What's the point?"
Certainly, public servants generally learn by doing. They acquire their craft through observation and above all practice.
The idea that academics could help is anathema to many, as summed up by a former public servant who said that you don't need theory, you just go and do it. Australians have highly effective bulls--- meters. And yes, some academics can lose contact with the realities of government.
However, as a recent book written collaboratively by academics and practitioners, Learning Policy, Doing Policy shows, a bit of theory - especially theory grounded in observation and practice - can go a long way.
Good policy theories can point to the questions to ask in a meeting, of a proposed policy, of their bosses. Theory can provide:
- Tools that prompt searching questions, such as whether the problem is sufficiently understood, or whether the time is right, or the option recommended will go beyond being another band-aid for a recurring issue;
- Better understanding of complex issues, within the time constraints and swirling maelstrom of policy conducted so often on the run;
- A focus on community and stakeholders to encourage innovative ways to break out of the narrow, limited decision-making imposed by confidential processes such as the annual budget.
For theory to be used in this applied manner it needs to be in a jargon-free, accessible form and its applicability must be abundantly clear.
That's why two of us developed one-page Policy Theory Bites for the APS Academy, to explain and demonstrate with current examples how four well-known theories of the policy process can prompt questions and offer insights.
For example, the Multiple Streams Approach (Kingdon, Agendas, alternatives, and public policies 2011) argues a policy window for significant policy change can only occur when three separate streams (a well understood problem, a feasible solution, and the political will) come together.
The National Firearms Agreement in 1996 is a classic illustration: the lack of adequate gun control was well known at political and bureaucratic levels; the legislative changes required were understood by officials; and the political will was generated through the leadership of a new prime minister (John Howard) following the Port Arthur gun massacre.
The policy window is a readily understood test of whether the time is right for a policy initiative: you need to determine whether there is a clear problem that sits within the three streams. Is it:
- A concern for the community?
- Able to be solved or at least ameliorated by policy action?
- Able to capture sufficient political support to shift a government towards action?
More recently, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's commitment to the Uluru Statement suggests the three streams may have come together to open a policy window for the constitutional enshrinement of a First Nations voice to Parliament. The planned referendum will be the test of whether this is in fact the case.
The policy window offers a way senior managers can demonstrate to less experienced staff how a window can open - and close - over time.
All public servants need resilience, and a sense of quiet optimism the opportunity for change will come. The policy window offers a way senior managers can demonstrate to less experienced staff how a window can open - and close - over time.
It can empower them to keep their work in a virtual filing cabinet until the time is right.
If you are a public servant, you may also have heard of the "strategic triangle" with its "authorising environment" (Moore, Recognizing Public Value 2013). This is another framework that has gained traction among many managers who've attended the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.
Its core concept is that public servants work to create "public value".
When crafting policy options for ministers, the strategic triangle can be a powerful tool.
It prompts three questions:
- Will the preferred option solve the problem (ie add public value)?;
- Are the operational capabilities available (will we have enough staff, the right IT)?;
- Is the option aligned with the authorising environment (such as political leaders and key stakeholders)?
It would perhaps be impolitic for us not to also mention the policy cycle, given Glyn Davis was, in a past life, an author of an influential handbook on the topic (Althaus, Bridgman and Davis, The Australian Policy Handbook, 6th edition, 2018).
By showing policy issues are amendable to systematic and structured problem-solving, the policy cycle steps out a series of stages that perhaps may not be apparent at all times and in all circumstances, but that can help orient public servants as they navigate the stormy seas of policy work.
As educators, we use policy theory in training workshops for public servants.
Young public servants are often curious and keen to try them out, especially when they can relate theory to their own experiences or observations.
They gain a vocabulary that can help demystify the black box of policy-making, and they learn a questioning habit, becoming more empowered to produce policy that is more effective, especially now, given the authorising environment of a new government.
- Trish Mercer is a visiting fellow at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government; Wendy Jarvie is an adjunct professor at the University of NSW, Canberra; Russell Ayres is an associate professor at the University of Canberra.
