Policy Learning and Policy Failure

“How do we know if policies have failed and in what way? Do we really want to learn, or to bury our heads in the sand? This marvellous collection of insights and case studies tackles the intersection of these issues in innovative and thought-provoking ways.” Allan McConnell, University of Sydney

“This book brings together two aspects of policy analysis in interesting and creative ways. Policy learning is often treated as a remedy for policy failures, but we find that learning can have its own pathologies. And failures may be a source of learning and improvement if considered properly. The analytic and empirical work in this book make significant contributions to our understanding of both failure and success in public policy.” B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh

Claire A. Dunlop is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Exeter, UK. A public policy and administration scholar, her main fields of interest include the politics of expertise and knowledge utilization; risk governance; policy learning and analysis; impact assessment; and policy narratives.

Policy learning and policy failure: definitions, dimensions and intersections ~ Claire A. Dunlop

Pathologies of policy learning: what are they and how do they contribute to policy failure? ~ Claire A. Dunlop

Overcoming the failure of 'silicon somewheres': learning in policy transfer processes ~ Sarah Giest

Between policy failure and policy success: bricolage, experimentalism and translation in policy transfer ~ Diane Stone

British Columbia's fast ferries and Sydney's Airport Link: partisan barriers to learning from policy failure ~ Joshua Newman and Malcolm G. Bird

Policy failures, policy learning and institutional change: the case of Australian health insurance policy change ~ Adrian Kay

Policy myopia as a source of policy failure: adaptation and policy learning under deep uncertainty ~ Sreeja Nair and Michael Howlett