Policy transfer

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Policy transfer describes the process in which political ideas and concepts are transferred from one place or time to another place or time.

Basics

Policy transfer can be described by answering the following questions along the entire process:

• Who transferred political ideas and concepts from whom?
• Where are political ideas transferred from?
• What mechanisms and reasons are there for policy transfer?
• What specific content is being transferred?
• In which grades and shades does the transfer of politics take place?
• Which obstacles and restrictions are to be observed regularly?

All of these questions, which by no means constitute a conclusive catalog, are to be presented below. This results in a coherent overview of the topic of policy transfer.

NB: This article uses the feminine form for the sake of simplicity and clarity. However, the wording is to be understood as gender-neutral.

Actors in policy transfer

In principle, all persons and institutions in a political system can transfer politics, although the importance of the individual actors can vary. The following are to be named: The government, individual members of the government, administrative officials (mostly higher ranks), parliaments and members of parliament, courts, political parties and interest groups, media. Outside the political system, international organizations ( UN , World Bank , OECD , WTO , WHO, etc.), think tanks , scientists and advisors can play a role. Individual citizens may also get involved. From a realistic point of view, however, it must then be said that it is not the individual citizen, but rather the citizen who makes himself heard through a party, the media or an interest group.

All of these institutions are conceivable both as senders and receivers of politics. It is quite possible that certain aspects of the program of one political party are adopted by a party in another country. Or the media can adopt an idea that was recently discussed in a parliament abroad. In this way, of course, further combinations can be formed and empirically tested.

Origins - where does politics come from?

Political ideas or concepts can be transferred from one place and / or time to another place and / or time. With regard to the location, other states, sub-national units (e.g. federal states , cantons , municipalities) or supranational institutions such as the European Union or the European Commission in question. With regard to time, the history of a political unit or the history of other political units must be mentioned in particular. So z. For example, it is common to develop implications for the future from past failures. Or one observes that certain policies have not worked in another country. This could apply, for example, to cases of failed privatizations or economic policy measures.

Reasons and Mechanisms of Policy Transfer

A main reason for the transfer is dissatisfaction with the status quo . As soon as political processes are unsuccessful, alternatives are sought. The ideas usually come from abroad or from their own past, possibly also through their own innovations. Second, politicians always strive to find the best possible way to be as successful as possible. A related mechanism is regulatory or systemic competition, which forces political entities to have the most efficient / effective policy instruments possible. However, all of these reasons and mechanisms are voluntary. There are others. Normative reasons can be seen in the fact that certain political programs have to be pursued for overriding reasons, for example when other states exert political pressure. To differentiate from this is the forced transfer of politics. This takes place z. B. takes place in the European Union when a certain political stipulation to the member states is decided at the supranational level. The same applies to the relationship between the federal government, states and municipalities.

A special form that has points of contact with the above is an incentive-based policy transfer. For example, the World Bank only lends loans if the recipient country takes a certain policy measure. Although the country in question is “free” to decide whether it wants to implement the reform, it risks losing development credits. That is why normative or even compulsory elements are added.

Content

The following list is not exhaustive: Political programs, instruments, laws, innovations in public administration, etc. In principle, every idea, every concept that is used in the political process can be the object of policy transfer.

Gradations and shades

Of course, there are different degrees to which politics can be adopted in another country. While it can happen that an almost perfect copy is introduced, it is likely to be an exception. Even the European Union leaves room for certain adjustments by the member states within the framework of its guidelines. It is more likely that practices in other systems are brought together with own ideas or used as a source of inspiration.

Obstacles and restrictions

After all, it is possible that a policy transfer fails due to external restrictions. These can lie in the financial or administrative capacity. This then z. B. When politics is transferred from a highly developed to a less developed country. This is arguably a major problem in the work of international organizations; they always have to adapt concepts to the needs of developing countries. For example, it makes little sense to introduce state-of-the-art IT infrastructures if neither the personnel nor the financial means are available to operate this infrastructure productively in the long term. A second obstacle arises from the political will of the decision-makers. They can lose a lot, especially their mandate, if they introduce concepts that are later unsuccessful. If you are risk-averse, you can block transfer processes. A change of government can also tie back processes that have already been started. An extremely important reason - especially in an international context - lies in the national culture or the organizational culture (e.g. public administration). Because it ensures that the same concepts are either handled differently in two different countries or are simply not practicable in one country because they are e.g. B. are not compatible with the prevailing culture. The (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts at privatization and decentralization in Great Britain could be named symbolically, even if other than cultural reasons also played a role.