Realising policy : the who and how of policy production

This paper identifies a number of strategies employed by policy actors in the production of Australian higher education entry policy during the period 1987 to 1996, with a particular focus on the production of Queensland higher education entry policy text in 1990 (Viviani, 1990, The Review of Tertiary Entrance in Queensland, 1990 , Department of Education, Queensland). The paper begins from the premise that while policy is often intended to be read as if spoken with a single voice, suggesting rational debate and (then) consensus among policy producers, it is more cogently understood as the product of struggle and conflict. Informed by 27 semi-structured interviews with politicians, political advisers, bureaucrats, academics, institutional administrators and independent authorities, the paper addresses the temporary settling of these actors' struggles and conflicts in contexts of policy making through strategies of negotiation. Rather than providing a sequential account of higher education policy that weaves its way through these negotiations, as grand narrative, the paper is more sporadic in its representations of strategies, identifying them in 'local' and specific knowledges and practices. Drawing on Foucault, what emerges is both an archaeology and genealogy of policy production (Gale, 2001, Journal of Education Policy , 16(5), pp. 379-393).

Beyond caricature : exploring theories of educational policy production and implementation

Since the mid 1980s there has been a growing interest amongst sociologists in the study of education policy, which has coincided with a decline within the tradition of educational administration - having been subsumed by educational management - of 'detailed historical work, or work concerned primarily with politics or policy content' (Olga 1987. p. 138). While in the past other traditions associated with social policy and social administration, government and politics. and the history of education have also been concerned with education policy. most recent and substantive work (for example. Olga 1987 1990. Dale 1989, 1992, Dale & Olga 1991, 1993. Ball 1990, 1993, Bowe, et al. 1992. Lingard 1991,1993)has come "from within the sociology of education. especially from those working within, or influenced by, the 'new' sociology of education, and, especially, those of a Marxist or neo-Marxist persuasion or at least concerned with the relationship of the state to education as a central problem (Olga 1987. p.139)".

Globalizing policy sociology in education : working with Bourdieu

This paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorizing about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization. Use is made of Bourdieu's concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalization the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross-field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu's concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilizing Bourdieu's late work on the globalization of the economy through neo-liberal politics, we argue that a non-reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided.

The fine line between harm reduction and harm production - development of a clinical policy on femoral (groin) injecting

The femoral region ('groin') appears to be increasingly commonly used by injecting drug users in the UK. With the advent of Britain's first supervised prescribed injectable opioid treatment clinic, unprecedented decisions and judgements were required about the safe supervision of this practice, or whether to permit this behaviour on site at all. This paper reports the reasons for, and outcome of, development of a clinical policy on injecting into the deep femoral vein (groin injecting)

Integrating agriculture and food policy to achieve sustainable peri-urban fruit and vegetable production in Victoria, Australia

Efforts to increase fruit and vegetable consump­tion are a significant aspect of national approaches to preventive health. However, policy frameworks for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption rarely take an integrated food-systems approach that includes a focus on production. In this policy analysis and commentary we examine fruit and vegetable production in peri-urban areas of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and highlight the significance of emerging environmental and eco­nomic pressures on fruit and vegetable production. This examination will be of interest to other locations around the world also experiencing pressure on their peri-urban agriculture. These pressures suggest that the availability and afforda­bility of fruit and vegetable supplies cannot be taken for granted, and that future initiatives to increase fruit and vegetable consumption should include a focus on sustainable production. Threats to production that include environmental pressures, together with the loss and cost of peri-urban agri­cultural land and a cost-price squeeze due to rising input costs and low farm-gate prices, act in combi­nation to threaten the viability of the Victorian fruit and vegetable industries. We pro­pose that policy initiatives to increase fruit and vegetable consumption should include measures to address the pressures facing production, and that the most effective policy responses are likely to be integrated approaches that aim to increase fruit and vegetable availability and affordability through innovative solutions to problems of production and distribu­tion. Some brief examples of potential integrated policy solutions are identified to illu­strate the possibilities and stimulate discussion.

Adaptation to climate change in regional Australia : a decision-making framework for modelling policy for rural production

A decision-making framework was developed and applied in regional Australia to identify adaptation issues arising in agricultural systems and rural production as a consequence of climate change. Australian agriculture is very susceptible to the adverse impacts of climate change, with major shifts in temperature and rainfall projected. An advantage of the framework is that it provides a suite of tools to aid in the formulation of strategies for sustainable regional development and adaptation. The decision-making framework uses a participatory approach that integrates land suitability analysis with uncertainty analysis and spatial optimisation to determine optimal agricultural land use (at a regional scale) for current and possible future climatic conditions. It thus provides a robust analytic approach to (i) recognise regions under threat of productivity declines, (ii) identify alternative cropping systems better adapted to likely future climatic conditions and (iii) investigate policy actions to improve the sub-optimal situations created by climate change. The decision-making framework and its methods were applied in a case study of the South West Region of Victoria.

Looking for cultural value: critiques of Australian cultural policy

This paper brings together critiques of contemporary Australian cultural policy from three sources: academic research, arts leaders and public intellectuals. It discusses the discursive shift in cultural policy towards an instrumentalist framework, and reviews academic research on this shift and its implications. It then looks at critiques of policy shifts by public intellectuals and leaders within the arts sector to identify parallels and persistent themes across academic scholarship and public thinking on cultural policy. In particular, it identifies and examines the theme of absence of a place for cultural value and production in policy-making and looks at arguments that call for a reinstatement of policy driven by cultural value.

Land retirement: a biodiversity policy for the rangelands of Western N.S.W.

In this article we examine land retirement as a biodiversity policy option for the rangelands of Western NSW, a region seriously under-represented in biodiversity provision. We argue that the use of policies that rely on moral suasion, education and minimal costsharing will not yield the level of on-farm biodiversity provision demanded by society. Instead, a much greater commitment to the use of monetary incentives to induce the voluntary cooperation and production of biodiversity is required. The analysis explains the importance in policy design of determining transparent, meaningful and achievable objectives in delivering cost-effective environmental outcomes. We propose a land retirement
policy that rakes account of environmental, economic and political criteria. Finally, our land retirement proposal is supported quantitatively by benefit-cost analysis.

Investigating social marketing, benchmarking and public policy development in environmental management

This paper discusses, an application of social marketing relating to pro-environmental awareness and social change. The integration of consumer behaviour theory into social marketing has been highlighted in the literature as requiring greater attention. Social marketing campaigns, like all marketing activities, rely on an understanding of stakeholders' attitudes and motivations in regard to the issue of concern, as well as towards the desired modified behaviour or lack of behaviour. The study highlights the marketing paradigms of benchmarking and social marketing in a not for profit governmental environment. Serrated Tussock has been designated as a weed of national significance and therefore the program has national implications (Thorp 2000). Even though issues associated with introduced species are less publicised than other environmental issues on the world stage, the associated environmental problems are no less severe than those caused by production and consumption activities. Weed control is a widespread problem facing individuals, communities and governments at all levels. A triangulatory approach, involving three distinct phases and incorporating both qualitative and quantitative tools, was used for the research design. The qualitative phase involved focus groups and in depth interviews with landholders, focus groups with professionals in the field and a focus group of key stakeholders. The mail survey resulted in a representative sample of 608 usable responses from the infestation area. The research conducted in this study illustrates how the various stages in the social marketing process were achieved and recommendations consistent with social marketing theory were generated.

Production decisions and lot sizing for automotive stamping

A discrete event model was used to examine the effect of machine downtime and operating policy on the long-run average cost of an automotive stamping line. Operating policy refers to the selection of a target batch size and the circumstances under which a line stoppage will lead to the current batch being abandoned. It is assumed that the abandon/resume decision is based solely on the severity of the problem (i.e., repair cost) and the fraction of the batch completed. A method of identifying low-cost operating policies is presented using data obtained from a real stamping plant. It is found that, within a single part framework, this approach results in significantly lower average costs than are currently achieved. It is also demonstrated that by varying the model parameters it is possible to measure the potential benefits arising from process modifications (e.g., decreased die-set times). This can be used to identify the areas where improvements will have the greatest impact on cost and is particularly useful when assessing the expected return on a potential investment. A multiple-part extension to the model is suggested and the potential benefits discussed.

The harm chain : a public policy development and stakeholder perspective

This paper introduces the concept of a ‘harm chain’ as a mechanism to further broaden the way in which firms and public policy makers consider potential negative outcomes from marketing activities. The purpose of conceptualizing a ‘harm chain’ is to examine specifically the creation of harm within networks of marketing exchanges that might occur throughout preproduction, production, consumption and post-consumption activities. The authors suggest that addressing issues where harm occurs allows both firms and policy makers to identify whether exchanges bring about harm, how relevant parties can address the core cause of harm, as well as how those who are harmed can be protected.