Policy transfer and convergence within the UK: The case of local government performance improvement regimes

Policy and politics

Volumn 40, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 193-209

  Nutley, Sandra ^a   Downe, James ^a,b   Martin, Steve ^a,b   Grace, Clive ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH BUSINESS SCHOOL   (United Kingdom)

^b CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Local government; Performance frameworks; Policy convergence; Policy transfer

Indexed keywords

CONVERGENCE; GOVERNMENT RELATIONS; IDEOLOGY; LOCAL GOVERNMENT; PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT; POLICY IMPLEMENTATION;

ENGLAND; SCOTLAND; UNITED KINGDOM; WALES;

EID: 84865113041     PISSN: 03055736     EISSN: 14708442     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1332/147084411X581880     Document Type: Article

References (54)

1. Adams, J. and Schmuecker, K. (eds) (2006) Executive summary, devolution in practice 2006: Public policy differences within the UK, London: IPPR.
2. Andrews, R. and Martin, S.J. (2010) 'Regional variations in public service outcomes: the impact of policy divergence in England, Scotland and Wales', Regional Studies, 44 (8): 919-34.
3. Asare, B., Cairney, P. and Studlar, D. (2009) 'Federalism and multilevel governance in tobacco policy: the European Union, the United Kingdom and the devolved UK institutions', Journal of Public Policy, 29 (1): 79-102.
4. Bennett, C.J. (1991) 'What is policy convergence and what causes it?', British Journal of Political Science, 21 (2): 215-33.
5. Bennett, M., Fairley, J. and McActeer, M. (2002) Devolution in Scotland: The impact on local government, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
6. Berry, F. and Berry, W. (1999) 'Innovation and diffusion models in policy research', in P. Sabatier (ed) Theories of the policy process, Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press.
7. Bradbury, J. (2003) 'The political dynamics of sub-state regionalisation: a neofunctionalist perspective and the case of devolution in the UK', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 5 (4): 543-75.
8. Cairney, P. (2009a) 'Has devolution changed the " British policy style" ?', British Politics, 3: 350-72.
9. Cairney, P. (2009b) 'The role of ideas in policy transfer: the case of UK smoking bans since devolution', Journal of European Public Policy, 16 (3): 471-88.
10. Cairney, P., Keating, M. and Hepburn, E. (2010) 'Policy convergence, transfer and learning in the UK under devolution', Paper presented at the Seminar on Policy Learning and Policy Transfer in Multilevel Systems, Edinburgh, 22-23 January.
11. Clarke, J. and Newman, J. (1997) The managerial State, London: Sage Publications.
12. Cook, I.R. (2008) 'Mobilising urban policies: the policy transfer of US business improvement districts to England and Wales', Urban Studies, 45 (4): 773-95.
13. Crerar, L. (2007) The Crerar Review: The report of the Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints handling of public services in Scotland, Edinburgh: Scottish Government.
14. Devolution and Constitutional Change (2006) Final report of the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme, Edinburgh: ESRC Devolution Programme, www. devolution.ac.uk/final_report.htm
15. Dolowitz, D. and Marsh, D. (1996) 'Who learns what from whom: a review of the policy transfer literature', Political Studies, 44 (2): 343-57.
16. Dolowitz, D. and Marsh, D. (2000) 'Learning from abroad: the role of policy transfer in contemporary policy making', Governance, 13 (1): 5-24.
17. Downe, J., Grace, C., Martin, S.J. and Nutley, S.M. (2008) 'Best Value audits in Scotland: winning without scoring?', Public Money & Management, 28 (1): 77-84.
18. Downe, J., Grace, C., Martin, S.J. and Nutley, S.M. (2010) 'Theories of public service improvement: a comparative analysis of local performance assessment frameworks', Public Management Review, 12 (5): 663-78.
19. Dwyer, P. and Ellison, N. (2009) '" We nicked stuff from all over the place" : policy transfer or muddling through?', Policy & Politics, 37 (3): 389-407.
20. Evans, M. and Davies, J. (1999) 'Understanding policy transfer: a multi-level, multidisciplinary perspective', Public Administration, 77 (2): 361-85.
21. Gallagher, J., Gibb, K. and Mills, C. (2007) Rethinking central-local relations in Scotland: Back to the future?, Hume Occasional Paper 70, Edinburgh: The Dave Hume Institute.
22. Gilardi, F. and Füglister K. (2008) 'Empirical modelling of policy diffusion in federal states: the dyadic approach', Swiss Political Science Review, 14 (3): 413-50.
23. Gow, J. (1992) 'Diffusion of administrative innovations in Canadian public administrations', Administration and Society, 23 (4): 430-55.
24. Hall, P.A. (1993) 'Policy paradigms, social learning and the state: the case of economic policy-making in Britain', Comparative Politics, 25 (3): 275-96.
25. Heichel, S., Pape, J. and Sommer, T (2005) 'Is there convergence in convergence research? An overview of empirical studies on policy convergence', Journal of European Public Policy, 12 (5): 817-40.
26. Hood, C. (2007) 'Public service management by numbers: why does it vary? Where has it come from? What are the gaps and the puzzles?', Public Money & Management, 27 (2): 95-102.
27. Jeffery, C. (2006a) 'Devolution and local government', Publius, 36: 57-73.
28. Jeffery, C. (2006b) 'Devolution and divergence: public attitudes and institutional logics', in J. Adams and K. Schmuecker (eds) Devolution in practice 2006: Public policy differences within the UK, London: IPPR.
29. Jeffery, C. (2009) 'Devolution, public attitudes and social citizenship', in S. Greer (ed) Devolution and social citizenship in the UK, Bristol: The Policy Press.
30. Karch, A. (2007) Democratic laboratories: Policy diffusion among the American states, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
31. Keating, M. (2005) 'Higher education in Scotland and England after devolution', Regional and Federal Studies, 15 (4): 423-35.
32. Keating, M. (ed) (2007) The government of Scotland: Public policy-making after devolution, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
33. Keating, M., Cairney, P. and Hepburn, E. (2009) 'Territorial policy communities and devolution in the UK', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2: 51-66.
34. Keating, M., Stevenson, L., Cairney, P. and Taylor, K. (2003) 'Does devolution make a difference? Legislative output and policy divergence in Scotland', Journal of Legislative Studies, 9 (3): 110-39.
35. Kern, K. (2010) 'Policy transfer and learning among regions: experiences from federal systems', Paper prepared for the Seminar on Policy Learning and Policy Transfer in Multilevel Systems, Scottish Policy Innovation Forum and University of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-23 January
36. Knill, C. (2005) 'Introduction: cross-national policy convergence: concepts, approaches and explanatory factors', Journal of European Public Policy, 12 (5): 764-74.
37. Laffin, M. (2004) 'Is regional centralism inevitable? The case of the Welsh Assembly', Regional Studies, 38: 213-23.
38. Lenschow, A., Liefferink, D. and Veenman, S. (2005) 'When the birds sing: a framework for analysing domestic factors behind policy convergence', Journal of European Public Policy, 12 (Oct): 797-816.
39. McGarvey, N. and Cairney, P. (2008) Scottish politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
40. Marsh, D. and McConnell, A. (2010) 'Towards a framework for establishing policy success', Public Administration, 88 (2): 564-83.
41. Marsh, D. and Sharman, J.C. (2009) 'Policy diffusion and policy transfer', Policy Studies, 30 (3): 269-88.
42. Martin, S.J. (2000) 'Implementing Best Value: local public services in transition', Public Administration, 78 (1): 209-27.
43. Martin, S.J. and Webb, A. (2009) 'Citizen-centred public services: contestability without consumerism', Public Money & Management, 29 (2): 123-30.
44. Martin, S.J., Downe, J., Grace, C. and Nutley, S.M. (2010) 'Validity, utilization and evidence-based policy: the development and impact of performance improvement regimes in local public services', Evaluation, 16 (1): 31-42.
45. Pemberton, S. (2009) 'Editorial', Policy & Politics, 37 (3): 313-16.
46. Radaelli, C.M. (2005) 'Diffusion without convergence: how political context shapes the adoption of regulatory impact assessments', Journal of European Public Policy, 12 (5): 924-43.
47. Raffe, D. (2006) 'Devolution and divergence in education policy', in J. Adams and K. Schmuecker (eds) Devolution in practice 2006: Public policy differences within the UK, London: IPPR.
48. Rose, R. (1991) 'What is lesson-drawing?', Journal of Public Policy, 11 (1): 3-30.
49. Rose, R. (1993) Lesson-drawing in public policy: A guide to learning across time and space, Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
50. Rose, R. (2004) Learning from comparative public policy: A practical guide, London: Routledge.
51. Shortridge, J. (2009) 'Debate: ten years of devolution', Public Money & Management, May, 142-3.
52. Stone, D. (2000) 'Non-governmental policy transfer: the strategies of independent policy institutes', Governance, 13 (1): 45-62.
53. Stone, D. (2004) 'Transfer agents and global networks in the " transnationalisation" of policy', Journal of European Public Policy, 11 (3): 545-66.
54. Wolman, H. and Page, E. (2002) 'Policy transfer among local governments', Governance, 15 (4): 477-501.