For policy changes to be effective, the implementation process needs to be considered as important as the policy decision-making. Implementing policy change is a complex and difficult process. The policy implementation process is not linear nor does it take place in a closed system. It is politicised and fragmented, involving changes in the structure and rules of institutions. Organisational changes are necessary to implement policy reforms. These changes are difficult to ascertain and lead to resistance. The unpredictable nature of policy implementation means it is necessary to have a monitoring system in place.
This article analyses the nature and organisation of policy implementation. It uses case studies from the Implementing Policy Change Project that assisted in several innovative responses to the organisational challenges of policy implementation in Bolivia, Philippines, Guinea-Bissau and Uganda. The formation of new organisations is seen as an innovative response to the implementation of policy change and an effective bridging mechanism in the process.
The person in charge of the implementation task is rarely obvious, especially when the policy affects multiple agencies. A stakeholder analysis will help to identify the agencies affected by a policy change. Broad policy change will require collaboration between several institutions. The key considerations to implement policy change are:
- New arenas of decision-making can create the necessary legitimacy to move the policy forward. In Bolivia, a macro-economic group composed of the Minister of Planning, Minister of Finance and the Central Bank President was formed to oversee and monitor the implementation of critical short-term reforms.
- Policies require adequate support or will fail. The Uganda National Forum serves to rally the support of the private sector behind economic reform by creating a formal dialogue between the private sector and the Government.
- Agencies will have to be redesigned to meet the needs of policy implementation. In Guinea- Bissau the judicial sector underwent major changes with the implementation of a market-oriented framework, which needs a functional legal system. A Judicial Working Group was set up to manage the transition to an independent judicial sector. The Working Group led a collaborative strategic process to structure a new incentive system and capacity-building programs.
- Duty Drawback Centre (DDC) in the Philippines is a new agency devised to improve the efficiency of the process for granting and delivering tax rebates to exporters. Several departments had to defer functions to this centre for policy to work. As a result, many agencies resisted the DDC, as they lost many of their functions. Organisational development and team-building workshops organised by IPC helped to reduce resistance.
Traditional policy implementation organisations are frequently inappropriate or incapable of responding adequately to tasks required for implementation. Bridging mechanisms created by temporary task forces and implementation units have emerged as a way for agencies to learn new functions and adapt to new mandates and structures.
- Financial resources must be set aside to implement a new policy. The use of loose co-ordination networks can serve to create efficiencies in mobilising scarce resources, e.g. West African Enterprise Network.
- It is important that organisations affected by policy change do not adopt regulations or practices that might impede the policy change process. Agencies should be aware of what others are doing. Co-ordination is necessary.
- Co-ordinating bodies or networks, which meet to exchange information, can be useful to avoid ‘stepping on one another’s toes’ in the implementation process and to dispel any potential threats posed, e.g. Policy Analysis and Co-ordination Unit in Zambia.
- Monitoring implementation is essential. Implementation units can cut across functional boundaries and be effective if they have the capacity to deliver high-quality analysis and experience a low degree of hostility from other agencies.
- Task forces are developed as new arenas of decision-making on policy reform to legitimise and operationalise decisions for implementing policy. (Instead of using traditional policy-making mechanisms which may be slow and inappropriate.)
- New organisations formed not only show new approaches for implementation, but also provide a breathing space for permanent institutions to respond to policy change demands.
