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Article 4 - Craft. The dual dynamics of policy advisory systems

4 important questions on Article 4 - Craft. The dual dynamics of policy advisory systems

Policy advisory system dynamics

Considers how actors and their relationships change over time, so not only how advisory systems operate. 2 dimensions of change are:
- Externalization: extent to which actors outside government exercise influence
- Politicization: extent to which partisan-political aspects have replaced non-partisan policy advice

Early model of advisory system -externalization

Advisors inside or outside the government have different levels of influence
3 general sets of members of advice systems (early model of advisory systems)

- Proximate decision makers – consumers of policy analysis and advice, make policy decisions
- Knowledge producers – provide scientific, economic and social scientific data, decisions based on this information

- Knowledge brokers – intermediaries between knowledge generators and proximate decisions makers, decision makers that repackage data and information into usable form

Halligan - new model of externalization

Dimension of government control was added:
- Only some actors are able to influence policy-making because governments are able to more readily exercise control over internal actors than external ones

- But this has been challenged in recent years due to increased use of external consultants
- Now, a plurality of policy advice suppliers outside the government are providing input

New models of advisory systems

There has been a shift from technical policy advising towards a fragmented policy advising
- recognizes the significance of both technical and political types of policy advice
- policy advisory monopoly was once held by professional public services is no longer assured

More important to determine the temporal nature of the advice that is provided than to distinguish between political and non-political content
- Cold advice: long term and proactive
- Hot advice: short term and crisis driven

Spatial and temporal comparisons are more useful to use when differentiating between types of policy advice content than conceptualizing the activities of PAST

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Management Consultancy & Policy Advice

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