Is there convergence in convergence research? an overview of empirical studies on policy convergence

Heichel, Stephan; Pape, Jessica; Sommerer, Thomas

doi:10.1080/13501760500161431

Cited by 204 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…and democracy~polit-ical liberalization!+ It is important to note, however, that these broad global trends toward liberalism belie substantial variations in the paths pursued by countries in different parts of the world+ Figures 3 to 5 break down the global averages presented in Figure 1 by geographic region+ As students of democracy know well, there have been three waves of democratization in recent decades~see Figure 3!+ Latin American countries began to democratize in the 1970s, to the point where today the region is almost as democratic as North America and Western Europe+ The same kind of pattern, though less pronounced, was apparent in East Asia and the Pacific+ A second wave of democratization centered around the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent velvet revolutions in the former Soviet bloc between 1989 and 1991-but it should also be noted that the pace and extent of democratization was almost 6+ For recent reviews of the "convergence" literature, see Heichel, Pape, and Sommerer 2005;and Knill 2005+ …”

Section: The Spread Of Economic and Political Liberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism

Simmons

Dobbin²,

Garrett³

2006

Int. Org.

733

479

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Political scientists, sociologists, and economists have all sought to analyze the spread of economic and political liberalism across countries in recent decades+ This article documents this diffusion of liberal policies and politics and proposes four distinct theories to explain how the prior choices of some countries and international actors affect the subsequent behavior of others: coercion, competition, learning, and emulation+ These theories are explored empirically in the symposium articles that follow+ The goal of the symposium is to bring quite different and often isolated schools of thought into contact and communication with one another, and to define common metrics by which we can judge the utility of the contending approaches to diffusion across different policy domains+The worldwide spread of economic and political liberalism was the defining feature of the late twentieth century+ Free-market-oriented economic reformsmacroeconomic stabilization, liberalization of foreign economic policies, privatization, and deregulation-took root in many parts of the world+ At more or less the same time, a "third wave" of democratization and liberal constitutionalism washed over much of the globe+ Most economists believe the gains to developing countries from the liberalization of economic policies to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars+ But they also acknowledge the instability and human insecurity sometimes left in liberalization's wake+ 1 Political scientists argue that the rise of democracy has contributed to the betterment of both human rights and international security+ 2 While the precise effects of these twin waves of liberalization are still debated, it is hard to deny that they have had a tremendous impact on the For helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article, the authors wish to thank

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Section: The Spread Of Economic and Political Liberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism

Simmons

Dobbin²,

Garrett³

2006

Int. Org.

733

479

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Heichel et al (2005) identified a strong national influence on the extent to which environmental policies transfer. Kern et al (2007) also supports the notion that policy transfer is more prevalent across close geographic and cultural neighbours (sometimes referred to as policy diffusion).…”

Section: From Where Are Policy Lessons Learnt?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Academics and practitioners alike are interested in studying new policies, programmes and projects and reporting on their actual or anticipated performance, successful or otherwise (Pressman and Wildavsky, 1984;Rye et al, 2008). In contrast there is little tradition of studying the process of the development and transfer of policy ideas (Heichel et al, 2005;Van den Bergh et al, 2007). This is particularly important given the recent heightened focus at all levels of government on sustainability and climate change in an era of constrained financial resources, mounting traffic congestion and deteriorating transport infrastructure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do cities approach policy innovation and policy learning? A study of 30 policies in Northern Europe and North America

Frick²,

et al. 2011

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a b s t r a c tThis paper reports on a study of current practice in policy transfer, and ways in which its effectiveness can be increased. A literature review identifies important factors in examining the transfer of policies. Results of interviews in eleven cities in Northern Europe and North America investigate these factors further.The principal motivations for policy transfer were strategic need and curiosity. Local officials and politicians dominated the process of initiating policy transfer, and local officials were also the leading players in transferring experience.A range of information sources are used in the search process but human interaction was the most important source of learning for two main reasons. First, there is too much information available through the Internet and the search techniques are not seen to be wholly effective in identifying the necessary information. Secondly, the information available on websites, portals and even good practice guides is not seen to be of mixed quality with risks of focussing only on successful implementation and therefore subject to some bias. Officials therefore rely on their trusted networks of peers for lessons as here they can access the 'real implementation' story and the unwritten lessons. Organisations which have a culture that is supportive of learning from elsewhere had strong and broad networks of external contacts and resourced their development whilst others are more insular or inward looking and reluctant to invest in policy lessons from elsewhere. Solutions to the problems identified in the evidence base are proposed.City to city policy transfer is a very active process in the field of transport. Not enough is yet understood about its benefits or the conditions under which it is most effective. Such understandings should help to promote and accelerate the uptake of effective and well matched policies.

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“…On the other hand, it is important not to overemphasize convergence, as a focus on such broad trends can mask a variety of geographically scaled governance forms (Marsh and Sharman, 2009;Heichel et al, 2005;Peck et al, 2009). Jarvis's study of the Hong Kong education system revealed that it is possible to subvert convergence processes to produce "forms of regulatory or even organizational performativity that 'comply' without complying" (p. 250) because, drawing on Weiss (2012), neo-liberal competition states and developmental regulation states may exist simultaneously.…”

Section: Institutional Isomorphismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evans (2009) and Heichel et al (2005) identify several differences in the research approaches applied by scholars in the study of policy and discuss the implications for drawing firm conclusions with regard to policy transfer and diffusion. For example, the difficulties selecting the limited field of study to a policy area, a single policy goal or single instrument, or the difficulty of interpreting results when some aspects (e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy transfer or policy churn? Institutional isomorphism and neoliberal convergence in the transport sector

Monios

2016

Environ Plan A

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While the features of successful policy transfer are well known, there is some evidence that increase in policy transfer is associated with convergence of not just policies but institutional and organisational forms. Institutional isomorphism is often a result of copying organisational form as a way of securing legitimacy rather than seeking successful policy outcomes. It is also influenced by the convergence of the neoliberal paradigm over recent decades which decreases the likelihood of selecting or implementing disruptive policies. This paper interrogates policy transfer as both a normative process of sharing "best practice" and a mimetic process of copying organisational form in order to secure legitimacy. There is a danger that, rather than focusing on good implementation of existing policies, new policies are continually sought, which is often encouraged by isomorphic institutional forms driven by political motivations to reduce public responsibilities for unsuccessful or unpopular policies.The aim of this paper is to develop the conceptual tools for analysis of how and when policy transfer becomes policy churn and the role of institutionally isomorphic tendencies in this transition.

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Is there convergence in convergence research? an overview of empirical studies on policy convergence

Cited by 204 publications

References 67 publications

Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism

Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism

How do cities approach policy innovation and policy learning? A study of 30 policies in Northern Europe and North America

Policy transfer or policy churn? Institutional isomorphism and neoliberal convergence in the transport sector

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