Policy entrepreneurs engage in collaborative action to promote broad societal changes. They distinguish themselves from other political actors through their willingness to promote policy innovations that are new within specific contexts. Policy Entrepreneurship: An Asian Perspective showcases an exciting collection of new research studies. Previous studies of policy entrepreneurship within specific contexts across this vast region have confirmed the explanatory power of the concept, even though the political systems under investigation are distinct from the political system in the United States, where the notion of policy entrepreneurship was coined. This book is the first ever comprehensive compilation of research on policy entrepreneurship in Asia, and focused on policy change in China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. All the studies gathered here assess the agency of policy entrepreneurs within broader structures that present them with both opportunities and constraints. In their different ways, each chapter explores how structural changes, specific strategies used by policy entrepreneurs, and the practice of boundary spanning shape policy agendas. The scholarship on display offers an inspiring treasure trove of ideas, insights, concepts, and research strategies. This book will prompt newer scholarship on policy entrepreneurs and the crucial role they play in contemporary politics, in Asia and globally. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Policy entrepreneurs engage in collaborative action to promote broad societal changes. They distinguish themselves from other political actors through their willingness to promote policy innovations that are new within specific contexts. Policy Entrepreneurship: An Asian Perspective showcases an exciting collection of new research studies. Previous studies of policy entrepreneurship within specific contexts across this vast region have confirmed the explanatory power of the concept, even though the political systems under investigation are distinct from the political system in the United States, where the notion of policy entrepreneurship was coined. This book is the first ever comprehensive compilation of research on policy entrepreneurship in Asia, and focused on policy change in China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. All the studies gathered here assess the agency of policy entrepreneurs within broader structures that present them with both opportunities and constraints. In their different ways, each chapter explores how structural changes, specific strategies used by policy entrepreneurs, and the practice of boundary spanning shape policy agendas. The scholarship on display offers an inspiring treasure trove of ideas, insights, concepts, and research strategies. This book will prompt newer scholarship on policy entrepreneurs and the crucial role they play in contemporary politics, in Asia and globally. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Despite its impressive economic growth, East Asia is facing daunting challenges in mitigating its social problems, including chronic poverty and worsening social inequality. The past decade has seen growing scholarly interest in the development of East Asian social policies not only because of the sheer size of the population and its global impact, but also due to the stark contrast between this region's economic prosperity and the ongoing issue of severe social inequality. This book presents a collection of studies on aspects of social protection in East Asian Chinese societies, including Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Contributions by leading social policy scholars working in and on the region aim to promote scholarly understanding of the pressures facing social protection systems in East Asia, identify existing gaps and emerging social policy issues and review the effectiveness of existing programmes. The evidence presented and insights generated will promote further debate and facilitate meaningful comparative social policy studies in the region and beyond. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Five years have elapsed since the Chinese government announced its ambitious health care reform programme. The fact that both the United States and China unfolded their gigantic national health care reforms almost simultaneously is reflective of the daunting health policy challenges that most national governments are grappling with. While Obamacare has barely survived the obstruction from Congress and remains controversial, its Chinese counterpart has concluded its first phase at a fairly smooth pace. Having had three trillion RMB invested into it within five years, this landmark reform stands out as one of the biggest health policy interventions in modern history in terms of both scale and scope. A critical juncture in the reform process has been reached and it is time to assess its performance to date. This book provides an interim evaluation of China's ongoing national health care reform from interdisciplinary perspective. Insights generated are not only valuable to inform next phase of the reform, but also relevant to health policy reformers in other developing and transitional countries. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Five years have elapsed since the Chinese government announced its ambitious health care reform programme. The fact that both the United States and China unfolded their gigantic national health care reforms almost simultaneously is reflective of the daunting health policy challenges that most national governments are grappling with. While Obamacare has barely survived the obstruction from Congress and remains controversial, its Chinese counterpart has concluded its first phase at a fairly smooth pace. Having had three trillion RMB invested into it within five years, this landmark reform stands out as one of the biggest health policy interventions in modern history in terms of both scale and scope. A critical juncture in the reform process has been reached and it is time to assess its performance to date. This book provides an interim evaluation of China's ongoing national health care reform from interdisciplinary perspective. Insights generated are not only valuable to inform next phase of the reform, but also relevant to health policy reformers in other developing and transitional countries. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Asian Public Policy.