Omweri, F. S
Lecture, Kampala International University, Dept. Public Administration and Development Studies, Western Campus-Uganda
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v7-i03-42Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT:
The UN established the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address a variety of social, economic, and environmental issues in order to ensure a more equitable future for all. These issues are to be addressed through policy and various relevant programs. However, some policy problems are hardly fixed despite the fact that many public policies are ostensibly being developed to address them. Wicked problems keep on piling up. Policy issues such as road safety, corruption, poverty and inequality, unemployment, land disputes, environmental degradation, gender equality, and so on have drawn a growing number of policies in an effort to address them, but these issues are recognized as being essentially amorphous and stubborn, hence creating policy dilemmas. This article offers a greater grasp of the alternatives for fixing wicked problems. It considers policy networks, policy entrepreneurship, collaborative governance, data-driven decision-making, policy diffusion, decentralization, and strategic placement of street-level bureaucrats as key strategies for tackling complex policy issues. This article makes the case that an integrated policy package is best suited to address wicked policy issues. This implies that addressing wicked problems requires a multifaceted and adaptive approach, as no single problem-solving technique can consistently and reliably provide a wide-ranging result.
KEYWORDS:Wicked Problem, Policy Diffusion, Policy Network, Collaborative Governance, Policy Entrepreneurship.
REFERENCES1) Adam, S., & Kriesi, H. (2019). The Network Approach. In Theories of the Policy Process, Second Edition (pp. 129-154). Routledge.
2) Adam, S., & Kriesi, H. (2019). The network approaches. In Theories of the Policy Process, Second Edition (pp. 129-154). Routledge.
3) Aernoudt, R. (2020). Evidence-and foresight-based policy: dichotomy or overlap? World Complexity Science Academy Journal, 1(2).
4) Al-Ubaydli, O., Lee, M. S., List, J. A., & Suskind, D. (2021). The science of using science: A new framework for understanding the threats to scaling evidence-based policies. In The Scale-Up Effect in Early Childhood and Public Policy (pp. 104-125). Routledge.
5) Bayu, T. B. (2021). Ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: Federalism as a cause and solution. Religación: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 6(30), 1.
6) Behague, D., Tawiah, C., Rosato, M., Some, T., & Morrison, J. (2009). Evidence-based policy-making: the implications of globally-applicable research for context-specific problem-solving in developing countries. Social Science & Medicine, 69(10), 1539-1546.
7) Béland, D. (2016). Kingdon reconsidered: Ideas, interests and institutions in comparative policy analysis. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 18(3), 228-242.
8) Béland, D., & Howlett, M. (2016). The Role and Impact of the Multiple-Streams Approach in Comparative Policy Analysis, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 18:3, 221-227, DOI: 10.1080/13876988.2016.1174410.
9) Berger, L. M., & Carlson, M. J. (2020). Family policy and complex contemporary families: A decade in review and implications for the next decade of research and policy practice. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 478-507.
10) Bingmark, E., & Lodén, K. (2022). Governance of wicked problems.
11) Carlsson, L. (2000). Policy networks as collective action. Policy studies journal, 28(3), 502-520.
12) Eden, L., & Wagstaff, M. F. (2021). Evidence-based policymaking and the wicked problem of SDG 5 Gender Equality. Journal of International Business Policy, 4, 28-57.
13) Ferlie, E., Fitzgerald, L., McGivern, G., Dopson, S., & Bennett, C. (2011). Public policy networks and ‘wicked problems’: a nascent solution? Public administration, 89(2), 307-324.
14) Fitch-Roy, O., Fairbrass, J., Fitch-Roy, O., & Fairbrass, J. (2018). The Politics Stream. Negotiating the EU’s 2030 Climate and Energy Framework: Agendas, Ideas and European Interest Groups, 87-97.
15) Fowler, L. (2019). Problems, politics, and policy streams in policy implementation. Governance, 32(3), 403-420.
16) Frisch Aviram, N., Cohen, N., & Beeri, I. (2020). Wind (ow) of change: A systematic review of policy entrepreneurship characteristics and strategies. Policy Studies Journal, 48(3), 612-644.
17) Frisch-Aviram, N., Beeri, I., & Cohen, N. (2021). How policy entrepreneurship training affects policy entrepreneurship behavior among street-level bureaucrats–a randomized field experiment. Journal of European Public Policy, 28(5), 698-722.
18) Gerbrands, P., Unger, B., Getzner, M., & Ferwerda, J. (2022). The effect of anti-money laundering policies: an empirical network analysis. EPJ Data Science, 11(1), 15.
19) Glass, L. M., & Newig, J. (2019). Governance for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: How important are participation, policy coherence, reflexivity, adaptation and democratic institutions. Earth System Governance, 2, 100031.
20) Hannigan, B., & Coffey, M. (2011). Where the wicked problems are: the case of mental health. Health policy, 101(3), 220-227.
21) Harrison, R. T. (2023). W (h) ither entrepreneurship? Discipline, legitimacy and super-wicked problems on the road to nowhere. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 19, e00363.
22) Hayek, F. A. (2013). The use of knowledge in society. In Modern Understandings of Liberty and Property (pp. 27-38). Routledge.
23) Head, B. W. (2022). Coping with wicked problems in policy design. Research Handbook of Policy Design. Edward Elgar Publishing, 155-575.
24) Herweg, N., Zahariadis, N., & Zohlnhöfer, R. (2023). The multiple streams framework: Foundations, refinements, and empirical applications. In Theories of the policy process (pp. 29-64). Routledge.
25) Herweg, N., Zohlnhöfer, R., & Zahariadis, N. (2019). From policy theory to application: Best practices for operationalizing the multiple streams framework. In of the International Conference on Public Policy, Montreal, Canada.
26) Hill, H. C. (2003). Understanding implementation: Street‐level bureaucrats' resources for reform. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13(3), 265-282.
27) Howes, S., Betteridge, A., Sause, L., & Ugyel, L. (2018). Evidence-based policy making in the tropics: are developing countries different? In Hybrid Public Policy Innovations (pp. 253-271). Routledge.
28) Jiang, M., Paudel, K. P., & Zou, F. (2020). Do microcredit loans do what they are intended to do? A case study of the credit village microcredit program in China. Journal of International Development, 32(5), 763-792.
29) Johanna Lönngren & Katrien van Poeck (2021) Wicked problems: a mapping review of the literature, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 28:6, 481-502, DOI: 10.1080/13504509.2020.1859415.
30) Juma, T. O., & Arudo, E. O. (2016). The Urgency for Federalism in Africa: As A Panacea for Ethnic Conflicts and Development in Kenya. International Journal of Innovative Research and Advanced Studies (IJIRAS), Volume 3, Issue 8, July 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2817876
31) Kanyinga, K. (2019). Political economy of Kenya & the 2017 general elections.
32) Kivoi, D. L., Odhiambo Yogo, K., Luseno, S., & Malicha, W. (2022). Negative Ethnicity, Identity and Political Corruption: A Kenyan Perspective. Identity and Political Corruption: A Kenyan Perspective (June 27, 2022).
33) Kivuva, J. M. (2021). Different Paths, Similar Destination. African Governance, Security, and Development, 1.
34) Klasche, B. (2021). After COVID-19: What can we learn about wicked problem governance? Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 4(1), 100173.
35) Knoke, D. (2019). Organizing for collective action: The political economies of associations. Routledge.
36) Lim, E. (2015). Behind the scenes: What led to separation in 1965. Nanyang Technological University, www.straitstimes.com 15/06/2016.
37) Locatelli, B., Pramova, E., Di Gregorio, M., Brockhaus, M., Chávez, D. A., Tubbeh, R., ... & Perla, J. (2020). Climate change policy networks: connecting adaptation and mitigation in multiplex networks in Peru. Climate Policy, 20(3), 354-372.
38) Locatelli, B., Pramova, E., Di Gregorio, M., Brockhaus, M., Chávez, D. A., Tubbeh, R., ... & Perla, J. (2020). Climate change policy networks: connecting adaptation and mitigation in multiplex networks in Peru. Climate Policy, 20(3), 354-372.
39) Lutz-Ley, A. N., Scott, C. A., Wilder, M., Varady, R. G., Ocampo-Melgar, A., Lara-Valencia, F., ... & Martín, F. (2021). Dialogic science-policy networks for water security governance in the arid Americas. Environmental Development, 38, 100568.
40) May, P. J., & Winter, S. C. (2009). Politicians, managers, and street-level bureaucrats: Influences on policy implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(3), 453-476.
41) McConnell, A., 2015. What is policy failure? A primer to help navigate the maze. Publ. Policy Adm. 30 (3–4), 221–242.
42) McGann, J. G., & Whelan, L. C. (2020). Global think tanks: Policy networks and governance. Routledge.
43) Mueller, B. (2020). Why public policies fail: Policymaking under complexity. EconomiA, 21(2), 311-323.
44) Munro, E. (2014). Evidence-based policy. Philosophy of social science: a new introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 48-67.
45) Nutley, S., & Davies, H. (2000). Making a reality of evidence-based practice. In What works? (pp. 317-350). Policy Press.
46) Okolie, U. C., & Edo, Z. O. (2023). Issues and failure of infrastructure project implementation in Nigeria. Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Journal (SHE Journal), 4(3), 580-596.
47) Omweri, F. S., Muna, W., & Njoroge, J. (2023). An analysis of how politics stream affects the implementation of road safety policy measures in Nyanza Region, Kenya. Reviewed Journal International of Business Management [ISSN 2663-127X], 4(1), 13-29.
48) Oronje, R. N., Murunga, V. I., & Zulu, E. M. (2019). Strengthening capacity to use research evidence in health sector policy-making: experience from Kenya and Malawi. Health Research Policy and Systems, 17, 1-13.
49) Phan, C. T., Vo, T. T., & Vo, D. T. H. (2023). Can microcredit reduce vulnerability to poverty? Evidence from rural Vietnam. Review of Development Economics, 27(1), 608-629.
50) Ritchey, T. (2013). Wicked Problems. Modelling Social Messes with Morphological Analysis, AMG Vol. 2 No. 1 (2013).
51) Rittel, H.J. & Webber, M.M. (1973) Dilemmas in the general theory of planning, Policy Science, 4, pp. 155–169.
52) Roberts, N. (2000). Wicked problems and network approaches to resolution. International public management review, 1(1), 1-19.
53) Santori, D., & Jin, J. (2023). Globalization, policy mobilities, and the method of network ethnography. ECNU Review of Education, 20965311231198254.
54) Segovia-Vargas, M. J. (2021). Money laundering and terrorism financing detection using neural networks and an abnormality indicator. Expert Systems with Applications, 169, 114470.
55) Setegn, M. (2018). Street-Level Bureaucrats in Policy Implementation: The Case of Addis Ababa City Administration Land Bank and Transfer Office. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
56) Sunarmi, D. S., & Lubis, T. M. (2020). Implementing Customer Due Diligence Principle on Financial Services Corporation in Order to Prevent and Eliminate Money Laundering.
57) Sutcliffe, S., & Court, J. (2005). Evidence-based policymaking: what is it. How does it work, 1-11.
58) Sydelko, P., Espinosa, A., & Midgley, G. (2024). Designing interagency responses to wicked problems: A viable system model board game. European Journal of Operational Research, 312(2), 746-764.
59) Tan, E. (2022). Decentralization and Conflict Prevention. In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies (pp. 279-286). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
60) Termeer, C. J., Dewulf, A., & Biesbroek, R. (2019). A critical assessment of the wicked problem concept: relevance and usefulness for policy science and practice. Policy and Society, 38(2), 167-179.
61) Thum, P. T. (2019). Independence: The further stage of colonialism in Singapore. The Limits of Authoritarian Governance in Singapore's Developmental State, 49-69.
62) Tucker, D. A., Hendy, J., & Chrysanthaki, T. (2022). How does policy alienation develop? Exploring street-level bureaucrats’ agency in policy context shift in UK telehealthcare. human relations, 75(9), 1679-1706.
63) Tummers, L., & Bekkers, V. (2014). Policy implementation, street-level bureaucracy, and the importance of discretion. Public Management Review, 16(4), 527-547.
64) Turnbull, N., & Hoppe, R. (2019). Problematizing ‘wickedness’: a critique of the wicked problems concept, from philosophy to practice. Policy and Society, 38(2), 315-337.
65) Urquhart, J., Ambrose-Oji, B., Chiswell, H., Courtney, P., Lewis, N., Powell, J., ... & Williams, C. (2023). A co-design framework for natural resource policy making: Insights from tree health and fisheries in the United Kingdom. Land Use Policy, 134, 106901.
66) Visintin, E. P., Bonvin, J. M., Varone, F., Butera, F., Lovey, M., & Rosenstein, E. (2021). Can street-level bureaucrats be nudged to increase effectiveness in welfare policy? Policy & Politics, 49(1), 121-139.
67) Wang, H., & Ran, B. (2023). Network governance and collaborative governance: A thematic analysis on their similarities, differences, and entanglements. Public management review, 25(6), 1187-1211.
68) Watts, D. J. (2011). Everything is obvious: Once you know the answer. Currency.
69) Wright, G., Cairns, G., O'Brien, F. A., & Goodwin, P. (2019). Scenario analysis to support decision making in addressing wicked problems: Pitfalls and potential. European Journal of Operational Research, 278(1), 3-19.
70) Zahariadis, N. (2019). The multiple streams framework: Structure, limitations, prospects. In Theories of the Policy Process, Second Edition (pp. 65-92). Routledge.
Volume 07 Issue 03 March 2024
There is an Open Access article, distributed under the term of the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
Our Services and Policies
Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the instructions given in the authors' guidelines. Manuscripts which do not conform to the format and style of the Journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected.
The Journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the Journal.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis will publish 12 monthly online issues per year,IJMRA publishes articles as soon as the final copy-edited version is approved. IJMRA publishes articles and review papers of all subjects area.
Open access is a mechanism by which research outputs are distributed online, Hybrid open access journals, contain a mixture of open access articles and closed access articles.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis initiate a call for research paper for Volume 07 Issue 11 (November 2024).
PUBLICATION DATES:
1) Last Date of Submission : 26 November 2024 .
2) Article published within a week.
3) Submit Article : editor@ijmra.in or Online
Why with us
1 : IJMRA only accepts original and high quality research and technical papers.
2 : Paper will publish immediately in current issue after registration.
3 : Authors can download their full papers at any time with digital certificate.
The Editors reserve the right to reject papers without sending them out for review.
Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to the instructions given in the authors' guidelines. Manuscripts which do not conform to the format and style of the Journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected. The Journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the Journal.