The politics of military procurement: the F-35 purchasing process in Canada and <i>Australia</i> Compared

Howlett, Alexander; Migone, Andrea; Howlett, Michael

doi:10.1080/14702436.2022.2137494

Cited by 5 publications

References 58 publications

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The Significance of Politicization: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Procurement Processes in Canada and Australia, 2000–2022

Migone

Howlett²,

Howlett

2023

Procurement and Politics

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When examining the acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) by most western defence departments, the close historical and military connections between these countries with the United States only go so far in terms of an explanation for why some have adopted this platform and others have not. Adoption is by no means automatic and the features of large military platform procurement processes, which are both long-term and involve very large expenditures, with their idiosyncratic nature, multiple actors and strategic policy directions, have played an important role in this area, just as they have when purchasing warships and other military equipment. In this chapter, we compare how Australia and Canada chose to operate when considering the replacement of their ageing F-18 multirole fighters. Again, this process features two very similar countries and the same weapons system, and the different outcome each has had in this case again reveals the significant factors concerning the processes which led to those decisions, and the impact of politics in explaining both the commonalities and differences in the defence procurement approaches of the two countries.

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The Significance of Politicization: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Procurement Processes in Canada and Australia, 2000–2022

Migone

Howlett²,

Howlett

2023

Procurement and Politics

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The politics of military megaprojects: discursive struggles in Canadian and Australian naval shipbuilding strategies

Migone

Howlett

2023

Policy and Society

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Large-scale military platform procurement is an essential but understudied component of the policy studies of megaprojects. Procurement decisions in this area, from ships to aircraft, are examples of a specific type of often very expensive purchases which feature complex multi-actor and multiyear processes characterized by high degrees of conflict between actors over purchases and planning horizons. This study of military procurement efforts of this type demonstrates the importance of maintaining policy ‘alignment’ between governments and service providers for successful megaproject procurement to occur and suggests several strategies for accomplishing this that can be applied to similar large-scale but nondefense-related projects, ranging from hydroelectric dams to high-speed railway development.

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Paradigmatic stability, ideational robustness, and policy persistence: exploring the impact of policy ideas on policy-making

Migone,

Howlett,

Howlett

2024

Policy and Society

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In the policy world, the idea of ideational robustness deals with why and how policy elements can be maintained over time and the implications this has for government strategy and activity. Past approaches to ideas and their influence on public policy stressed the disparate roles of multiple policy mechanisms such as path dependency or the nature of policy networks in either driving policy change forward or ensuring persistence of a policy. Ideational robustness on the other hand allows for the possibility of some changes occurring in policy environments and components while motivating cognitive and normative policy ideas are adapted and retained. While ideational persistence has often been identified as a source of policy stability, the possibility that some ideas allow lesser or greater levels of change in policy components while basic policy content remains more or less intact (ideational robustness) is much less well understood. The article reviews the literature on policy change and stability which highlights the influence of different policy processes on overall policy dynamics and the role played by policy learning in promoting ideational robustness. Using evidence from military doctrines and procurement in Canada and Australia, the study finds that the two countries drew different defence policy lessons from the end of the Cold War which contributed heavily to the extent of robustness of their defence policy ideas. The case studies show that ideational robustness is important but also that its study must be combined with that of other policy mechanisms and processes in order to explain overall policy change patterns.

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The politics of military procurement: the F-35 purchasing process in Canada and Australia Compared

Cited by 5 publications

References 58 publications

The Significance of Politicization: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Procurement Processes in Canada and Australia, 2000–2022

The Significance of Politicization: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Procurement Processes in Canada and Australia, 2000–2022

The politics of military megaprojects: discursive struggles in Canadian and Australian naval shipbuilding strategies

Paradigmatic stability, ideational robustness, and policy persistence: exploring the impact of policy ideas on policy-making

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