Value pluralism, organisational hybridity and the politics of implementation

While there has been a resurgence of interest in policy implementation studies over the last ten years, there is still a lack of attention to process in governance theory and practice and the appropriateness of different... [ view full abstract ]

While there has been a resurgence of interest in policy implementation studies over the last ten years, there is still a lack of attention to process in governance theory and practice and the appropriateness of different conceptualisations of policy-action relationships. Although new public governance recognises the diverse range of actors, and hence interests, involved in the process of implementation, the critical role of value pluralism in policy implementation has yet to be adequately explored. This paper seeks to address this gap by investigating the relationship between value pluralism and organisational hybridity in the broad politics of implementation.

Traditionally, the policy implementation literature has largely side-stepped questions of how politics drives or disrupts implementation, leaving questions of politics in the hands of political scientists who have focused on bureaucratic politics rather than the politics of structural organisation and implementation. Empirical studies of organisational hybridity, a process whereby different types of organisational structures are created in an attempt to manage value conflict and avoid adverse consequences for effective implementation and service delivery, largely focus on the responses of non-government (third sector) organisations to increasing dependence on government funding, with fewer studies focusing on organisational hybridity in public sector organisations.

It is the purpose of this paper to enhance understanding of hybridisation in public sector organisations by exploring the effect of politics on the value choices of senior public servants involved in the design and implementation of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme. In doing so, the paper draws on 26 semi-structured interviews with senior Commonwealth bureaucrats who were closely engaged in various aspects of the implementation process after the relevant legislation was passed.

As a scheme designed to provide a guarantee of life-time care for all eligible Australians through the development of a mature market in disability services and the introduction of more choice and control for service users, Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme is situated in a hybrid policy field and the values that underlie design and implementation reflect a mix of bureaucratic, market and professional provision.

Our analysis shows that politics plays an essential role in facilitating implementation of a complex social policy that contains a number of incommensurable values because it allows these incommensurable values to co-exist, thereby avoiding the creation of a blocked hybrid. Furthermore, successful implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme depends upon continued co-existence because of the interdependence of these incommensurable values.