Jonathan Craft – författare

In turbulent environments and unstable political contexts, policy advisory systems have become more volatile. The policy advisory system in Anglophone countries is composed of different types of advisers who have input into government decision making. Government choices about who advises them varies widely as they demand contestability, greater partisan input and more external consultation. The professional advice of the public service may be disregarded. The consequences for public policy are immense depending on whether a plurality of advice works effectively or is derailed by narrow and partisan agendas that lack an evidence base and implementation plans. The book seeks to addresses these issues within a comparative country analysis of how policy advisory systems are constituted and how they operate in the age of instability in governance and major challenges with how the complexity policy issue can be handled.

This handbook comprehensively reflects, presents and summarises both first and second wave scholarship into policy advisory systems (PAS). Bringing together leading scholars to engage persistent as well as emergent themes, the handbook provides a single volume highlighting both classic and new directions for PAS research, summarising both existing knowledge and outlining possible future findings.Covering the activities of a range of advisory system members from think tanks to public services, this handbook examines a broad set of administrative traditions and institutions affecting such systems in democratic, developing, authoritarian political regimes, and in supranational and transnational governance arrangements. It focusses on the systematic interactions of the supply, demand and brokerage of policy advice in different jurisdictions, and shows how these systems operate and evolve.The Routledge Handbook of Policy Advisory Systems is essential reading and an authoritative reference for scholars, students, researchers and practitioners of public policy, public administration, and public management. Those interested in comparative politics and government, international and public organisations and the use, influence and impact of policy advisory systems in a range of policy domains will find its comprehensive scope and coverage of great benefit.

In turbulent environments and unstable political contexts, policy advisory systems have become more volatile. The policy advisory system in Anglophone countries is composed of different types of advisers who have input into government decision making. Government choices about who advises them varies widely as they demand contestability, greater partisan input and more external consultation. The professional advice of the public service may be disregarded. The consequences for public policy are immense depending on whether a plurality of advice works effectively or is derailed by narrow and partisan agendas that lack an evidence base and implementation plans. The book seeks to addresses these issues within a comparative country analysis of how policy advisory systems are constituted and how they operate in the age of instability in governance and major challenges with how the complexity policy issue can be handled.

Though they serve in many roles and under many titles, no one doubts that political staffs now wield substantial influence in the making of government policy. Backrooms and Beyond draws on interviews with ministers, senior public servants, and political advisers to offer the first detailed Canadian treatment of how that influence is gained and exercised in the policy making process.A comparative analysis of case studies from three Canadian jurisdictions, including the federal Prime Minister’s Office, two premier’s offices, and ministers’ offices, the book presents a detailed account of partisan advisers’ involvement in policy work and a new theoretical framework for understanding this work and its impact. As Jonathan Craft shows, partisan advisers often engage in policy work with public servants, outside stakeholders, and often in types of policy work that public servants cannot.Backrooms and Beyond is a rich and rigorous look at an important aspect of contemporary Canadian politics, essential reading for scholars and practitioners, journalists, students of the Westminster system from around the world, and those wanting to understand just how policy is made today.