Resolving Messy Policy Problems - Handling Conflict in Environmental, Transport, Health and Ageing Policy (Hardcover, New)

Our lives increasingly take place in ever more complex and interconnected networks that blur the boundaries we have traditionally used to define our social and political spaces. Accordingly, the policy problems that governments are called upon to deal with have become less clear-cut and far messier. This is particularly the case with climate change, environmental policy, transport, health and ageing-all areas in which the tried-and-tested linear policy solutions are increasingly inadequate or failing. What makes messy policy problems particularly uncomfortable is that science and scientific knowledge have themselves become sources of uncertainty and ambiguity. Indeed, what is to count as a "rational solution" is itself now subject of considerable debate and controversy. For policy makers this raises a number of tough questions: Given scientific uncertainty, how are policy-makers to tackle messy issues? What should policy-makers do about the intractable and persistent policy conflicts that seem to accompany messy issues? How can policy-makers structure policy processes in order to better understand, deal with and learn from messy policy issues? This challenging book seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the intractable conflict that characterizes policy debate about messy issues. In the first part of the book, the author develops a framework for analyzing intractable policy conflict about messy policy issues. In the second section, he applies the conceptual framework to four very different policy issues: the environment-focusing on climate change-as well as transport, ageing and health. Using evidence from Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific, the chapters compare howpolicy actors construct contending narratives or stories in order to make sense of, and deal with, messy challenges. In the final section, the author discusses the implications of the analysis for collective learning and adaptation processes. The aim is to contribute to a more refined understanding of policy-making in the face of uncertainty, and most importantly to provide practical methods for critical reflection on policy and to point to sustainable adaptation pathways and learning mechanisms for policy formulation.

General

Imprint:	Earthscan
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	The Earthscan Science in Society Series
Release date:	April 2009
First published:	April 2009
Authors:	Steven Ney
Dimensions:	234 x 156 x 23mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	224
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-1-84407-566-9
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Public administration Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Social impact of environmental issues > General Books > Earth & environment > Regional & area planning > Transport planning & policy > General Promotions
LSN:	1-84407-566-4
Barcode:	9781844075669

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