Public policy

Root (linguistics)

Linguistics

Philosophy

Anticipation (artificial intelligence)

Scholarship

Selection (genetic algorithm)

Economics

Computer science

Management science

Politics

Policy analysis

Political science

Public economics

Sociology

Artificial intelligence

Public administration

Policy Sciences

Policy studies

Agency (philosophy)

Social science

Policy and Society

The new design orientation in the policy sciences has placed renewed emphasis on problem-solving and developing effective public policies. In this paper, we contribute to this scholarship by presenting a policy framework on anticipating effective policies. We argue that anticipation – that is, foreseeing the future and preparing for it – must be central to how a policy is designed, executed and assessed. Anticipating policy effectiveness requires a careful understanding of the problem and its root causes, as well as selection and utilization of the most ‘appropriate’ policy instrument(s) to solve it. We consider ‘appropriateness’ along three dimensions – analytical, political and operational – in two different respects: choice of policy tools and the capacity of the implementing agency.

Anticipating and designing for policy effectiveness