251 TWELVE Debates on the role of experimentation Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Nick Tilley Introduction As the preceding chapters show, different service areas adopt very different approaches towards identifying what works. On the one hand, the health sector has in general adopted a research culture in which it is accepted that the services provided should in principle be exposed to rigorous scientific evaluation (see Chapter Three). Central to this culture is the notion of experimentation, usually taken to mean randomised controlled trials. In practice many
253 ELEVEN Czechia: political experimentation or incremental reforms? Tomáš Sirovátka Introduction In this chapter, we shall assess the dynamics of labour market policies and regulations during 2008–14 in Czechia. A primary focus will be developments in the unemployment benefit scheme (income replacement for insiders), active labour market policies (ALMPs) (including labour market training) and employment protection legislation. Second, we shall analyse needs-based income support (minimum income protection) and activation policies related to the minimum
23 2 Co-production as experimentation: the research forum as method Sue Cohen, Tim Cole, Morag McDermont and Angela Piccini Introduction Experiment NOUN 1. A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact. 1.1. A course of action tentatively adopted without being sure of the outcome. Oxford English Dictionary The experimental approach to research is characterised by an interest in learning rather than judging. To treat something as a social experiment is to [be] open to what it has to teach us, very
grew into a year-long trajectory that started with a kick-off day, followed by pre-workshop preparatory meetings as well as post-workshop reflection and progress review sessions. As an environment for learning, experimentation and innovation, the OCFL facilitated the design process of the 18 collaborations and generated significant qualitative and quantitative data. In a quasi-experimental action research framework, we observed collaborations and surveyed and interviewed individuals about the challenges they encountered. We used this data both to improve our
programme grew into a year-long trajectory that started with a kick-off day, followed by pre-workshop preparatory meetings as well as post-workshop reflection and progress review sessions. As an environment for learning, experimentation and innovation, the OCFL facilitated the design process of the 18 collaborations and generated significant qualitative and quantitative data. In a quasi-experimental action research framework, we observed collaborations and surveyed and interviewed individuals about the challenges they encountered. We used this data both to improve our
In recent years, the United Kingdom's Home Office has started using automated systems to make immigration decisions. These systems promise faster, more accurate, and cheaper decision-making, but in practice they have exposed people to distress, disruption, and even deportation.
This book identifies a pattern of risky experimentation with automated systems in the Home Office. It analyses three recent case studies including: a voice recognition system used to detect fraud in English-language testing; an algorithm for identifying ‘risky’ visa applications; and automated decision-making in the EU Settlement Scheme.
The book argues that a precautionary approach is essential to ensure that society benefits from government automation without exposing individuals to unacceptable risks.
This important book is a response to crises of public policy. Offering an original contribution to a growing debate, the authors argue that traditional technocratic ways of designing policy are inadequate to cope with increasingly complex challenges, and suggest co-production as a more democratic alternative. Drawing on 12 compelling international contributions from practitioners, policy makers, activists and actively engaged academics, ideas of power are used to explore how genuine democratic involvement in the policy process from those outside the elites of politics can shape society for the better. The authors present insights on why and how to generate change in policy processes, arguing for increased experimentation in policy design. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students in public policy, public administration, sociology and politics.
Cities across the globe face unprecedented challenges as a result of ever-increasing pressure from climate change, migration, ageing populations and resource shortages. In order to guarantee a sustainable global future, these issues demand radical new approaches to how we govern our cities.
Providing new research and thinking about cities, their governance and innovative models of planning reform, this timely and important book compares the UK with an array of international examples to examine cutting-edge experimentation and innovation in new models of governance and urban policy.
The flagship text of the Urban Policy, Planning and Built Environment series, this broad but accessible volume is ideal for students and provides an authoritative single point of reference for teaching.
Policy analysis in Canada brings together original contributions from many of the field’s leading scholars. Contributors chronicle the evolution of policy analysis in Canada over the past 50 years and reflect on its application in both governmental and non-governmental settings.
As part of the International Library of Policy Analysis series, the book enables cross-national comparison of public policy analysis concepts and practice within national and sub-national governments, media, NGOs and other institutional settings.
Informed by the latest scholarship on policy analysis, the volume is a valuable resource for academics and students of policy studies, public management, political science and comparative policy studies.
“Growing up with risk” provides a critical analysis of ways in which risk assessment and management - now a pervasive element of contemporary policy and professional practice - are defined and applied in policy, theory and practice in relation to children and young people.
Drawing on conceptual frameworks from across the social sciences, the book examines contrasting perspectives on risk that occur in different policy domains and professional and lay discourses, discussing the dilemmas of response that arise from these sometimes contested viewpoints - from playground safety to risks associated with youthful substance use. The contributors address issues of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status which impact on definitions and responses to risk, and consider related concepts, such as ‘risk-resilience’, care-control’ and ‘dependence-autonomy’.
Written in an accessible manner, each chapter provides a specific policy case study to illustrate the cross-cutting themes and issues that will make it a key text for researchers and students. It also offers policy makers and practitioners a valuable insight into the complexities of balancing responsibility for protecting the young with the benefits of risk taking and the need to allow young people to experiment.
