63 FIVE Introducing evidence into policy making in Ireland Frances Ruane Introduction In recent decades, Ireland has followed the trend (increasingly prevalent in the United Kingdom [UK] and the European Union [EU] from the mid-1990s) towards increased use of empirical evidence in policy making. The evidence- informed (rather than evidence-based) approach favoured in Ireland recognises that other less easily measurable factors also come into play in policy formulation. The evidence sources and methods adopted are wide-ranging, reflecting the increased
105 Inclusive policy making SIx inclusive policy making Catherine Bochel and Angela Evans This chapter examines ‘modern’, ‘inclusive’ approaches to policy making, considering in particular what is embraced by these concepts, the degree to which they are significantly different from previous approaches to policy making, and the extent to which it is possible to identify impacts on policy making and policy outcomes. It does this through: • a consideration of the main types/methods of policy making that government have identified as being associated with
FOUR Categorising and policy making Joanne Britton Introduction The task of reconsidering policy requires that we take a closer look at processes of categorisation in policy making. Categorising is integral to the dynamics of the policy-making process so playing a key part in the conception, design and implementation of policies. It demonstrates very clearly how policy is above all a meaning-making process in which categories are symbolically constructed according to the policy- making context (Innes, 2002). Theorising policy entails considering both how
123 NINE Europeanised policy making in Ireland Mary C. Murphy Introduction Ireland’s decision to join the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1973 constitutes the most important foreign policy decision by the Irish state since its foundation in 1921. Ireland’s membership of the EU over a period of near five decades has been punctuated by periods of both volatility and stability: Irish economic fortunes have been mixed, public support for the EU has vacillated, policy developments have sometimes been controversial, structural funds have been welcomed, and
21 2 Evidence and policy making Paul Cairney Introduction The relationship between evidence and policy is far from straightforward. Perspectives range from the idealism of ‘evidence-driven policy making’ (where evidence sets the agenda and drives policy choices) to the pessimism of ‘policy-based evidence’ (where evidence is sought simply to legitimise pre-set policies). Viewing the evidence and policy relationship from either of these extremes tends to result in disillusionment: either the reality does not live up to the ideal, or evidence is considered as
five Contemporary immigration policy making Overview This chapter examines some key features of immigration policy making that will be explored in greater depth in subsequent chapters dealing with Britain. It explores three main issues: first, the specific characteristics of immigration policy making and the complex and conflicting interests involved, which mean that immigration policy may produce unintended results; second, it looks at the impact of migration on different national models of citizenship and the extent to which
47 Outward-looking policy making THREE outward-looking policy making Edward C. Page and Jane Mark-Lawson1 Travel broadens the mind. Thus the appeal of looking at how problems are addressed in other jurisdictions is that it allows the development of policies, procedures, practices or organisational structures that would not have been developed if inspiration or advice had simply been sought from close to home. When setting up a new form of regulation for, say, telecommunications, you do not have to confine yourself to looking at how telecommunications were
125 Joined-up policy making SEVEN Joined-up policy making Richard Parry with Marion Kerr Over the past two decades there have been a variety of approaches by governments to ‘joining up’ their activities, and the period since 1997 has arguably seen added impetus for this, even before the scale of the government’s commitment to the ‘modernisation’ of policy making became fully apparent. This chapter: • examines a variety of influences and approaches on the development of joined-up policy making; • discusses initiatives involving attempts to change cultures and
87 Evidence-based policy making FIVE evidence-based policy making Martin Bulmer, Elizabeth Coates and Louise Dominian This chapter considers the emphasis on ‘evidence-based’ policy, noting its history and its place as a major element of the modernisation process since 1997. It therefore: • examines the roots and development of evidence-based policy making; • explores the ideas underpinning the emphasis on evidence under New Labour; • considers obstacles to the implementation of evidence-based policy making; and • suggests that while the use of evidence in
33 THREE Strategic policy making The structure of a policy analysis The idea of the policy cycle is based on a ‘rational’ model of policy making, sometimes called the ‘rational-comprehensive’ model. Rational decision making follows a process which allows the examination of each stage in a policy, and feedback from results into further decision making. The basic stages look something like this: 1. Assessment of the environment. Decisions have to be taken in the light of existing situations. 2. The identification of aims and objectives. Aims and values have to
