2004

Beyond Good and Evil in Policy Implementation: Instrument Mixes, Implementation Styles, and Second Generation Theories of Policy Instrument Choice ( 313Kb)
Michael Howlett

Abstract: Dichotomous sets of policy alternatives – like market vs state – and metaphors – like carrots vs sticks – lend themselves to blunt thinking about instruments and their modalities. Administrators and politicians need to expand the menu of government choice to include both substantive and procedural instruments and a wider range of options of each, and to understand the important context-based nature of instrument choices. The paper illustrates the origins of the deficiencies of simple models of instrument choice and suggests that, ultimately, both scholars and practitioners are interested in the same thing: designing and adopting optimal “mixes” of instruments in complex decision-making and implementation contexts.

Citation: Howlett, M. 2004. ‘Beyond Good and Evil in Policy Implementation: Instrument Mixes, Implementation Styles, and Second Generation Theories of Policy Instrument Choice.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 1-17.

The Politics of SARS – Rational Responses or Ambiguity, Symbols and Chaos? ( 198Kb)
Tom Christensen and Martin Painter

Abstract: The main focus in this article is on the SARS event as a political process, involving political leaders, administrators and health professionals. How can we understand the reactions to SARS of some of the main actors and institutions? What aspects were they preoccupied with and did their definition of what SARS was all about change during the process? A selection of jurisdictions is chosen – China, the Hong Kong SAR, Canada and the World Health Organization – to explore these questions. The starting point is a view that the reactions cannot primarily be seen as an instrumental, based on rational, standard-operating-procedures (SOPs) and technical expertise, but may be better understood by a garbage can-perspective. From a review of the events as publicly reported, we find, as suggested by garbage can theory, that politicians’ and administrators’ responses to the SARS outbreak were a combination of competing rationalities and overlapping agendas. Critical decisions were triggered by extraneous factors and administrative actions were shaped by dramatic switches from one set of standard operating procedures to another, as events unfolded. The public health issues constantly vied with other agendas and only when compelling alignments among them occurred did professional or technical rationales for “solving the problem” become dominant.

Citation: Christensen, T., and M. Painter. 2004. ‘The Politics of SARS – Rational Responses or Ambiguity, Symbols and Chaos?’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 18-48.

Wage and Labour Regulation in Vietnam within the Poverty Reduction Agenda ( 337Kb)
Caroline Brassard

Abstract: This paper analyses the extent to which current wage and labour regulations can help reducing poverty levels in Vietnam. It begins with an overview of population and employment trends since 1990. It then discusses wage and labour regulation in Vietnam, particularly the 2002 amendments to the 1994 labour code, focusing on the minimum wage regulation in enterprises, farms labourers and female and junior labourers. The paper then analyses labour market imperfections and the provision of safety nets Vietnam, whilst linking with the poverty alleviation strategy. Next, the paper presents data analysis at the commune level, based on the Vietnam Living Standard Survey of 1998, comparing the northern and southern communes. The findings show significant gender differences within regions for daily agricultural wages, and significantly lower wages in the North. As for industrial wages in the state and private sector, we find that northern wages are below the legal minimum wage in the textile industry, and differ significantly between gender and regions, and where children under eighteen tend to earn as little as 25 percent of adults’ salaries. In the formulation of poverty alleviation policies, this paper highlights the importance of recognizing: the regional and sectoral related-characteristics of the labour market; the impact of gender differences in wage labour; and the implications on child labour.

Citation: Brassard, C. 2004. ‘Wage and Labour Regulation in Vietnam within the Poverty Reduction Agenda.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 49-77.

Economic Development, Deregulation and Employment Conditions: The Indian Experience ( 306Kb)
Sarthi Acharya

Abstract: This paper attempts to trace the economic performance in India, first through periods of heavy labour regulation and thereafter, through periods of deregulation. Heavy regulation was accompanied by low economic growth rates while relatively free labour regimes have seen higher growth. However, in none of the periods did labour enjoy high earnings: during the first combination, a relatively small organized group of workers enjoyed high wages, while in the latter, the general wage level has been low. The paper argues that the demand and supply of workers matter much more than regulation and protection in determining employment levels and earnings. It further argues that in flexible labour regimes, it is more meaningful to protect workers through state-sponsored social security systems rather than through regulating employment conditions.

Citation: Acharya, S. 2004. ‘Economic Development, Deregulation and Employment Conditions: The Indian Experience.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 78-100.

Confronting the Reality of a Nuclear North Korea: The Challenge of Shrinking Policy Options ( 220Kb)
Andrew O’Neil

Abstract: This article analyses the narrowing range of policy choices for dealing with a nuclear-armed North Korea. One of the central themes of my argument is that diplomacy has failed to constrain Pyongyang from proceeding across the nuclear threshold. North Korea’s strategic worldview, in particular the regime’s ingrained perception of the US as a threat to its very existence, has meant that it has resisted successfully bilateral and multilateral attempts to stop it going nuclear. Yet while diplomatic efforts have failed, I argue that the widely canvassed option of pre-emptive strikes to neutralise North Korea’s nuclear program is unnecessarily risky and fraught with acute uncertainties. However carefully calibrated, such strikes would raise the likelihood of full-scale war on the peninsula. And, in any event, the complex targeting challenges facing the US mean that it would struggle to nullify Pyongyang’s nuclear capability with any degree of certainty. The final section of the article examines the alternative of simply accepting North Korea’s nuclear capability as a fait accompli. I argue that the advantages of this option have been underestimated and that, given the failure of diplomacy and the dangers associated with using military coercion, it is an alternative that deserves careful deliberation on the part of policy makers.

Citation: O’Neil, A. 2004. ‘Confronting the Reality of a Nuclear North Korea: The Challenge of Shrinking Policy Options.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 101-128.

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		2004 Beyond Good and Evil in Policy Implementation: Instrument Mixes, Implementation Styles, and Second Generation Theories of Policy Instrument Choice ( 313Kb) Michael Howlett Abstract: Dichotomous sets of policy alternatives – like market vs state – and metaphors – like carrots vs sticks – lend themselves to blunt thinking about instruments and their modalities. Administrators and politicians need to expand the menu of government choice to include both substantive and procedural instruments and a wider range of options of each, and to understand the important context-based nature of instrument choices. The paper illustrates the origins of the deficiencies of simple models of instrument choice and suggests that, ultimately, both scholars and practitioners are interested in the same thing: designing and adopting optimal “mixes” of instruments in complex decision-making and implementation contexts. Citation: Howlett, M. 2004. ‘Beyond Good and Evil in Policy Implementation: Instrument Mixes, Implementation Styles, and Second Generation Theories of Policy Instrument Choice.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 1-17. The Politics of SARS – Rational Responses or Ambiguity, Symbols and Chaos? ( 198Kb) Tom Christensen and Martin Painter Abstract: The main focus in this article is on the SARS event as a political process, involving political leaders, administrators and health professionals. How can we understand the reactions to SARS of some of the main actors and institutions? What aspects were they preoccupied with and did their definition of what SARS was all about change during the process? A selection of jurisdictions is chosen – China, the Hong Kong SAR, Canada and the World Health Organization – to explore these questions. The starting point is a view that the reactions cannot primarily be seen as an instrumental, based on rational, standard-operating-procedures (SOPs) and technical expertise, but may be better understood by a garbage can-perspective. From a review of the events as publicly reported, we find, as suggested by garbage can theory, that politicians’ and administrators’ responses to the SARS outbreak were a combination of competing rationalities and overlapping agendas. Critical decisions were triggered by extraneous factors and administrative actions were shaped by dramatic switches from one set of standard operating procedures to another, as events unfolded. The public health issues constantly vied with other agendas and only when compelling alignments among them occurred did professional or technical rationales for “solving the problem” become dominant. Citation: Christensen, T., and M. Painter. 2004. ‘The Politics of SARS – Rational Responses or Ambiguity, Symbols and Chaos?’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 18-48. Wage and Labour Regulation in Vietnam within the Poverty Reduction Agenda ( 337Kb) Caroline Brassard Abstract: This paper analyses the extent to which current wage and labour regulations can help reducing poverty levels in Vietnam. It begins with an overview of population and employment trends since 1990. It then discusses wage and labour regulation in Vietnam, particularly the 2002 amendments to the 1994 labour code, focusing on the minimum wage regulation in enterprises, farms labourers and female and junior labourers. The paper then analyses labour market imperfections and the provision of safety nets Vietnam, whilst linking with the poverty alleviation strategy. Next, the paper presents data analysis at the commune level, based on the Vietnam Living Standard Survey of 1998, comparing the northern and southern communes. The findings show significant gender differences within regions for daily agricultural wages, and significantly lower wages in the North. As for industrial wages in the state and private sector, we find that northern wages are below the legal minimum wage in the textile industry, and differ significantly between gender and regions, and where children under eighteen tend to earn as little as 25 percent of adults’ salaries. In the formulation of poverty alleviation policies, this paper highlights the importance of recognizing: the regional and sectoral related-characteristics of the labour market; the impact of gender differences in wage labour; and the implications on child labour. Citation: Brassard, C. 2004. ‘Wage and Labour Regulation in Vietnam within the Poverty Reduction Agenda.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 49-77. Economic Development, Deregulation and Employment Conditions: The Indian Experience ( 306Kb) Sarthi Acharya Abstract: This paper attempts to trace the economic performance in India, first through periods of heavy labour regulation and thereafter, through periods of deregulation. Heavy regulation was accompanied by low economic growth rates while relatively free labour regimes have seen higher growth. However, in none of the periods did labour enjoy high earnings: during the first combination, a relatively small organized group of workers enjoyed high wages, while in the latter, the general wage level has been low. The paper argues that the demand and supply of workers matter much more than regulation and protection in determining employment levels and earnings. It further argues that in flexible labour regimes, it is more meaningful to protect workers through state-sponsored social security systems rather than through regulating employment conditions. Citation: Acharya, S. 2004. ‘Economic Development, Deregulation and Employment Conditions: The Indian Experience.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 78-100. Confronting the Reality of a Nuclear North Korea: The Challenge of Shrinking Policy Options ( 220Kb) Andrew O’Neil Abstract: This article analyses the narrowing range of policy choices for dealing with a nuclear-armed North Korea. One of the central themes of my argument is that diplomacy has failed to constrain Pyongyang from proceeding across the nuclear threshold. North Korea’s strategic worldview, in particular the regime’s ingrained perception of the US as a threat to its very existence, has meant that it has resisted successfully bilateral and multilateral attempts to stop it going nuclear. Yet while diplomatic efforts have failed, I argue that the widely canvassed option of pre-emptive strikes to neutralise North Korea’s nuclear program is unnecessarily risky and fraught with acute uncertainties. However carefully calibrated, such strikes would raise the likelihood of full-scale war on the peninsula. And, in any event, the complex targeting challenges facing the US mean that it would struggle to nullify Pyongyang’s nuclear capability with any degree of certainty. The final section of the article examines the alternative of simply accepting North Korea’s nuclear capability as a fait accompli. I argue that the advantages of this option have been underestimated and that, given the failure of diplomacy and the dangers associated with using military coercion, it is an alternative that deserves careful deliberation on the part of policy makers. Citation: O’Neil, A. 2004. ‘Confronting the Reality of a Nuclear North Korea: The Challenge of Shrinking Policy Options.’ Policy and Society 23 (2): 101-128.

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