LIST OF WORKSHOPS

The present workshop proposal aims to open a debate on the way policy implementation studies have evolved in recent years by integrating the context of countries in the Global South. We will structure our workshop in two parts. On one hand, we will focus on the way the decentralization of public policy analysis that many scholars (Darbon & Provini, 2018 ; Barrault-Stella, Maillet, Vommaro, 2019 ; de Sardan, 2017, 2021) call forth allows the production of new analytical frameworks to better understand policy implementation in the Global South, here to designate emerging and developing countries. On the other hand, we will take an interest in the study of development projects from a policy analysis perspective (Lavigne Delville, 2017). Development projects present some specificities in terms of stakeholders configuration (public/private sector, multi-level decision making,...), international policy circulation, power relations and shorter cycles that may set aside public authorities to the benefit of NGOs, local civil society, etc. 

Our objective here is to dedicate this workshop to the theoretical, empirical and methodological debate of policy making and implementation processes at the margins.

Policy implementation literature is quite prolific yet ambiguous. Scholars of this subdiscipline have long sought to develop a general theory from top-down (Wildavsky & Pressman, 1973 ; Bardach, 1977 ; Mazmanian & Sabatier,1980) and bottom-up perspectives (Lipsky, 1971). The debates have also concerned the elusive concept of implementation gap (Hill & Hupe, 2014 ; Barrett & Fudge, 1980), and the importance of strengthening implementation theory by building a contingency model (ambiguity/conflict) to help policy makers and designers in their decision process (Matland, 1995).  

Our stance is that the policy implementation process is as political as the policy making. Public policy is implemented through multi level negotiations between stakeholders that are embedded in historical, social and economic situations (Hall, 2016). Scholars have posited that current public policy theories seem blind to other contexts specificities in terms of geography (Tarrow and Tilly, 2015; de Sardan 2021) or local governance practices (Eisenger 1973; Tarrow, 2016; Sabatier, 2005; De Sardan 2021). There is then an urgency in questioning the methods and theory that so far are used to study public policy in the Global South, and in producing new methods and theories emanating specifically from these contexts. Within this framework, we set out the following hypotheses :

1. Solving public problems presents a paradox between the flexibility and thoroughness of policy-making. This paradox questions the adaptability of policy models in different territories, and social, economic and historical contexts. Any planned intervention, any public policy, any development program is subjected to a test when it arrives on the concrete ground of its implementation (de Sardan, 2021). Scientific and case evidence shows how the effectiveness of public policy cannot be independent of context and culture but rather is profoundly shaped and molded by it (Harris and Jones 2017). Therefore, there is a necessity in developing and balancing strong specific empirical research with rigorous theorization directly from the Global South.
2. In the development aid field, the organisation by project leads to new power configurations between the local stakeholders, central authorities, civil society, and international institutions. Moreover, policy cycles are also shortened as they are often confused or directly assimilated to projects. There is then a disjunction between projects and policies as systems and operational logics dominate the implementation process (Laville Delvigne, 2017).
3. Evidence has demonstrated that the “policy-implementation gap” has been enriched in recent years by complex frameworks of analysis through concepts of unpredictability and nonlinearity. There are overarching influences contributing towards implementation gaps within policy making across the different countries of the Global South, which include issues like multiple stakeholders, discretionary powers, political resources, governance and socio-cultural appropriation.

This workshop represents an opportunity to contribute to empirical, methodological and theoretical knowledge about the policy implementation process in the Global South, and to assess the new approaches and debates to explain political changes in the region. Therefore, it shall be developed in a single session, in which a general introduction to the main topic will be given, followed by a dialogue on the basis of the papers received. Subsequently, the session will be developed in three main sub-themes based on the expected proposals: Theoretical approaches, case studies, and proposals for new perspectives. Each presentation will be followed by a short discussion with the audience, and at the end of the session there will be a general discussion based on the works presented, which will allow us to think about new lines of analysis and to propose new contours for public policy theorization and methodology.

Cited Literature:

Bardach E. (1977). The Implementation Game: What Happens After a Bill Becomes a Law, Cambridge Mass: MIT Press, Pp. 336.

Barrault-Stella Lorenzo, Maillet Antoine, Vommaro Gabriel, « Étudier les transformations de l’action publique en Amérique latine. De terrains « exotiques » à la fécondité conceptuelle d’enquêtes situées », Gouvernement et action publique, vol 8, n°1, 2019, p. 9-28.

Darbon, Dominique & Provini, Olivier. (2018). « Penser l’action publique » en contextes africains : Les enjeux d'une décentration. Gouvernement et action publique, OL7, 9-29. 

Eisinger, Peter. K. (1973). The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities. The American Political Science Review, 67(1), 11–28. 

Hall, Peter « Politics as a Process Structured in Space and Time » In The Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism, eds Orfeo Fioretos, Julia Lynch, Adam Steinhouse New York: Oxford University Press, 2016: 31-50

Harris, Alma & Jones, Michelle. (2017). Leading educational change and improvement at scale: Some inconvenient truths about educational reform. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 20(5), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2016.1274786.

Hassenteufel , Patrick. (2011). Chapitre 4. La mise en œuvre de l’action publique. In: P. Hassenteufel, Sociologie politique: l'action publique (pp. 93-114). Paris: Armand Colin. 

Hill, M., and P. Hupe. (2014). Implementing Public Policy. 3rd ed. London: Sage.

Lavigne Delville, Philippe. (2017.  “Pour une socio-anthropologie de l’action publique dans les pays ‘sous régime d’aide’”, Anthropologie & développement, n° 45,  33-64.

Lipsky, Michael. (1971). Street-Level Bureaucracy and the Analysis of Urban Reform. Urban Affairs Quarterly, 6(4), 391–409. 

Matland Richard E. (1995). Synthesizing the Implementation Literature: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 5(2): 145-174.

Olivier de Sardan Jean-Pierre, (2021). La revanche des contextes. Des mésaventures de l’ingénierie sociale, en Afrique et au-delà, Paris, Karthala.

Olivier de Sardan Jean-Pierre, Diarra Aissa et Moha Mahaman. « Travelling Models and the Challenge of Pragmatic Contexts and Practical Norms: The Case of Maternal Health », Health Research Policy and Systems, vol. 15, n° 1, 2017 

Sabatier Paul, Mazmanian, Daniel. (1980). The implementation of public policy: a framework of analysis, Policy Studies Journal, Volume 8, Issue 4. 

Sabatier Paul. (2005). From Policy Implementation to Policy Change: A Personal Odyssey. In: Gornitzka Å., Kogan M., Amaral A. (eds) Reform and Change in Higher Education. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. 

Tarrow, Sidney. (2016). Cosmopolites enracinés et militants transnationaux. Lien social et Politique, (75), 202–217. 

Tilly Charles and Tarrow Sidney. (2015). Contentious Politics, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press.

Wildavsky, Aaron B., Pressman, Jeffrey L. (1973). Implementation : How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland, or, Why It's Amazing That Federal Programs Work at All, University of California Press.

This call for papers covers the broad field of contextualised policy implementation. First, we seek papers that have developed new policy making and implementation theories and methods in “decentralized” contexts in terms of institutions, stakeholders configurations, central and local power relations and implementation gaps. Our interests are on papers that approach this analysis from a regional perspective, studying public policy woven from the particularities, dynamics and contexts of geographic areas such as Africa, Latin America or Asia, regions more traditionally approached from a “western-centric” framework.

Second, we seek papers on policy making and implementation process in the context of the development projects, its impact on stakeholders configuration (public/private sector, multi-level decision making,...), international policy circulation, power relations and shorter cycles that may set aside public authorities to the benefit of NGOs, local civil society ...etc. 

We welcome works including analysis “of contexts” as well as works discussing methodological approaches for the study of policy making from an implementation policy perspective. We expect proposals from the disciplines of political science, anthropology, sociology, public management, public administration, sociology, but we are open to other disciplinary approaches. Our ambition is to pierce the hermeticism between the different disciplines from which we believe the contribution strengthens and widens the debate. 

The present workshop proposal aims to open a debate on the way policy implementation studies have evolved in recent years by integrating the context of countries in the Global South. We will structure our workshop in two parts. On one hand, we will focus on the way the decentralization of public policy analysis that many scholars (Darbon & Provini, 2018 ; Barrault-Stella, Maillet, Vommaro, 2019 ; de Sardan, 2017, 2021) call forth allows the production of new analytical frameworks to better understand policy implementation in the Global South, here to designate emerging and developing countries. On the other hand, we will take an interest in the study of development projects from a policy analysis perspective (Lavigne Delville, 2017). Development projects present some specificities in terms of stakeholders configuration (public/private sector, multi-level decision making,...), international policy circulation, power relations and shorter cycles that may set aside public authorities to the benefit of NGOs, local civil society, etc.

Within this framework, we set out the following hypotheses: 1) Solving public problems presents a paradox between the flexibility and thoroughness of policy-making. Any planned intervention, any public policy, any development program is subjected to a test when it arrives on the concrete ground of its implementation (de Sardan, 2021); 2) In the development aid field, the organisation by project leads to new power configurations. Moreover, policy cycles are also shortened as they are often confused or directly assimilated to projects. There is then a disjunction between projects and policies as systems and operational logics dominate the implementation process; 3) Evidence has demonstrated that the “policy-implementation gap” has been enriched in recent years by complex frameworks of analysis through concepts of unpredictability and nonlinearity. There are overarching influences contributing towards implementation gaps within policy making across the different countries of the Global South.

This workshop represents an opportunity to contribute to empirical, methodological and theoretical knowledge about the policy implementation process in the Global South, and to assess the usefulness of approaches and debates to explain political changes in the region.

Key words: Policy Implementation, Context, Development Projects, Global South.

Lorena TORRES BERNARDINO is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at University Lyon. Her Ph.D. study is a comparative analysis around two water conflicts in Mexico and France, analyzing civil society and its influence on policy process. She is currently a Temporary Lecturer in Sciences Po Lyon. She is a holder of a Master’s degree in Government and Public Affairs, at National Autonomous University of Mexico, and a holder in Master's degree in Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. She was a research associate at Center of Global Change and Sustainability, Mexico. Her areas of research are: Environmental Policy, Social Conflict, Water Management, ACF, and Policy Process. Her latest relevant publications: 1) Chapter “Conflictividad asociada a grandes obras hidráulicas: El pantano de Jánovas, España, y la Presa Tenosique, Mexico”, Spain: Tirant-Blanch; 2) Chapter “Openings for Public Policy in the Water Rights'', In: Poupeau F. Et. al. Water Conflicts and Hydrocracy in the Americas. Coalitions, Networks, Policies, Brazil: IEE-USP.

Amal ENNABIH is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at University Lyon Lumière/ Sciences po Lyon, France. She is conducting a comparative analysis of the treated wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation policy process in Morocco and Tunisia. She is a holder of a Master's degree in public policy analysis at Sciences Po Lyon and an MBA degree at Tsukuba University, Japan. Her areas of research are: water, irrigation, and environmental policies, policy process, policy feedback, participation, expertise, projectification of public policy. Her latest publications are: 1) Depoliticizing water quality: ambiguous agreement in a Moroccan water re-use project. With Pierre-Louis Mayaux. Water Alternatives Volume 13 n°2, June 2020; 2) Running out of water. Policy paper. Moroccan Institute of Policy Analysis, September 2020. 

Karol FAYOLLE CORTES is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at University Lyon Lumière/ Sciences Po Lyon. Her research is about professionals of the participation in a context of conflict around the water resource in the Páramo de Santurbán in Colombia. She is a holder of a Master’s degree in International Studies at University of Santiago in Chile. Her areas of research are: quali-quanti analysis of networks, social mobilizations, coalition, brokers, professionalization of activists careers. She is currently a lecturer (ATER) in Sciences Po Lyon where she teaches political sociology and political/social dynamics in contemporary Latin America. She is a member of the research unit Triangle “Action, discourses, economic and political thought”, in Lyon, France.