Policy making has traditionally been viewed as a linear, top-down approach with two distinct phases: formulation and implementation. Academics have been criticising this approach for many years, arguing that policy development is a dynamic, open and highly political process, which involves multiple actors and negotiations. This page explores why policy-making is important for development, how policy processes can be pro-poor and provides toolkits to assist with policy analysis and reform.
Page contents
Pro-poor policy
Pro-poor policy reform does not just mean including the poor in policy development. It also means ensuring that political elites and political systems are structured so that the ‘voices’ of the poor are heard at all levels.
Kosack, S. (2013). The logic of pro-poor policy making: Political entrepreneurship and mass education. British Journal of Political Science, 44(2), pp. 409-444
Do democratic governments make pro-poor policies? This article finds that countries that have expanded education for the poor tend to be autocratic rather than democratic. Moreover, it finds that these governments were always clearly associated with political entrepreneurs. Political entrepreneurs can help poor citizens organise and attain power with their support. Political entrepreneurs are incentivised to maintain poor citizens’ support with pro-poor policies in order to stay in power.
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Bird, K., Pratt, N. et al., 2004, ‘Fracture Points in Social Policies for Chronic Poverty Reduction’, Chronic Poverty Research Centre Working Paper no. 47 / ODI Working Paper no. 242, Overseas Development Institute, London
Why are the needs of the chronically poor not being fully addressed? Why are they left off the policy agenda? This document by the Overseas Development Institute examines the fracture points in social policy formation and suggests why it is that policy responses are weak. It shows that the issues relevant to the chronically poor rarely get onto policy agendas and even when they do failure to legitimise new policy commonly hampers implementation. Drawing on five cases in India and Uganda, the paper illustrates the political barriers undermining pro-poor policy innovation and implementation.
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Participation in policy making
The stimulus for policy change often comes from outside the government. Allowing wide participation in policy development is regarded as good practice, but why and how should it work in reality? For example, how many and which groups should be included in policy development and how can broad participation work in a resource constrained environment?
Khan, M. A., 2008, ‘Civic Engagement in Policy Development’ in The World Public Sector Report 2008, People Matter: Civic Engagement in Public Governance, 2008, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), New York, pp 50-74
How have states attempted to bring civil society organisations into policy discussions and policy development? What lessons can be learned from these attempts? This chapter from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs World Public Sector Report 2008 examines initiatives to promote civic engagement in policy development. It argues that political leadership, institutional changes and capacity-building are of crucial importance for the success of participatory initiatives.
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United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2004, ‘Technocratic Policy Making and Democratic Accountability’, Research and Policy Brief no. 3, UNRISD, Geneva
Aid donors have promoted the view that democratisation improves the quality of public policies and services. But what are the effects of technocratic styles of policy making on democratic institutions, especially in developing and transition societies? This study by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development suggests that pressure to adopt neo-liberal macro-economic policies, as countries attract international development finance, may encourage governments to insulate key institutions from public scrutiny and grant policy-making powers exclusively to experts.
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Chattopadhyay, R. and Duflo, E., n.d., ‘Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India’, Econometrica, Vol 72, No5
Relative to their share in the population, women are under-represented in all political positions. Political reservations are often proposed as a way to rapidly enhance women’s ability to participate in policymaking. This paper from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Economics compares the type of public goods provided in reserved and unreserved Village Councils. The analysis is based on a data set collected from 265 Village Councils in West Bengal and Rajasthan.
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Toolkit
Keeley, J., 2001, ‘Influencing Policy Processes for Sustainable Livelihoods: Strategies for Change’, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton
This paper from the Institute of Development Studies explores new approaches to understanding policy processes, drawing on case studies from sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh. When policy processes are seen as non-linear, political and haphazard, new factors need to be taken into account. In identifying these factors, policy processes can be influenced more effectively.
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Useful websites
- Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) explores the concept of evidence-based policy.