Where does policy change come from? Context, ideas and people

In this chapter, we look at various factors that explain the policy choices made by policy-makers. We recall from our discussion in Chapter 2 that policy-makers may not evaluate all the policy options available to them. In this chapter, we review concepts in the public policy literature that explain policy choice. These concepts help us understand why certain policy choices are favoured by policy-makers. If policy-makers have a number of options to choose from, what factors decide why some options will be eliminated and some will prevail? In other words, what is the process of the narrowing of policy space? Policy choices can be seen to have their genesis in certain ideas or streams of thought called development discourses or in stories called narratives. These narratives or discourses provide legitimacy to policy choices and lead policymakers to choose certain options over others. In Chapter 2, we reviewed different theories that explain the role of groups in the policy process. In this chapter, we look at how specific groups called epistemic communities, advocacy coalitions or policy networks affect policy development, along with individuals and organisations called change agents. These individuals and groups provide a mechanism through which narratives and discourses enter the policy process and lead governments to make certain choices. First, however, we examine the global context of policy-making, and review two important trends that are shaping this context: the emergence of the ‘good governance paradigm’ and the globalisation of governance. Both these trends have had an important impact on recent policy developments in India and abroad and can be seen as influencing policy choice in several areas of public policy. These provide the broader context in which policy processes take shape. The organisation of this chapter is thus: we start with a review of the global context of policy-making. In this regard, we review two important concepts, namely, the good governance paradigm and the globalisation of governance. We examine the trends shaping the globalisation of governance. Having discussed the global context of policy-making, we review the factors that shape policy choice. Policy changes can be seen to be located in certain ideas or streams of thought called discourses or certain stories that establish causality and acquire the status of established wisdom called narratives.