Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70027
Assel Mussagulova, Jaime Padilla, Andy Asquith
This article examines how public servants use empathy in their work by distinguishing between empathy as a frame or a way of defining phenomena, and empathy as a practice or a concrete way through which care, understanding, and responsiveness are enacted. Drawing on survey data from the public service of New South Wales, Australia, the study identifies five categories of empathetic practice: helping clients, improving communication, facilitating teamwork, decision-making, and program design. Our findings show that while empathy is often framed by public servants as a feeling or an emotional state, it is also used in practice as a cognitive and political tool, enabling public servants to frame problems, engage with lived experience, and challenge dominant assumptions embedded in policy settings. This article contributes to our understanding of empathy as a distinct practice in public servants’ work which can inform the design of institutional settings that enable empathy in public service.
Points for practitioners
Empathy can be a strategic skill, not just a soft skill. It can help public servants interpret evidence, understand diverse perspectives, and make decisions that lead to better outcomes for clients.
Empathy should be supported across a variety of roles, not just at the frontline. Public service leaders should create space for empathetic engagement in policy and organisational processes.
Lived experience should inform policy design and advice. Practising empathy means going beyond consultation to meaningfully incorporate the experiences of people affected by policy in program design.
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Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70031
Bishoy L. Zaki
<div> <section> <p>Policy learning literature acknowledges the importance of accounting for how learning aggregates across three different analytical levels—micro, meso, and macro—to better understand learning's contribution to policy change. Yet, a missing link in this causal architecture persists, particularly concerning how public organisations undertake policy learning aiming to influence policymaking and governance, a process rarely studied yet often conflated with frequently researched, albeit fundamentally different, ‘organisational learning’ processes. To address this issue, this article conceptualises ‘organisational policy learning’ as a process by which public organisations seek and process information and knowledge about policy and governance issues with the aims of updating understandings of viable solutions, influencing policymaking, and defending, maintaining, or advancing particular policy-related, political, or value preferences within an evolving public context. Then, it identifies the key triggers, processes, dimensions, and outcomes of organisational policy learning, illustrating how they differ from often-studied organisational learning processes. Doing so offers several contributions, including the development of a conceptual and analytical device for understanding the often-overlooked organisational policy learning process, particularly in relation to the enigmatic process of policy change, stimulating the development and testing of propositions by future research, and pointing practitioners’ attention to the factors that could influence organisational policy learning.</p> </section> <section> <h3> Points for practitioners</h3> <div> <ul> <li>While public organisations engage in organisational learning to enhance their internal procedures, routines, cultures, performance, and viability, they also engage in organisational ‘policy learning’ aimed at defending, maintaining, or advancing preferred policy and value positions and influencing policymaking and governance.</li> <li>In organisational policy learning, public organisations act as sensemakers and lesson aggregators, synthesising information and knowledge from multiple sources; thus, practitioners should foster collaboration between different organisational layers and external stakeholders to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive approach to policy learning.</li> <li>Organisational learning approaches encourage developing organisational capacities related to enhancing internal organisational processes, leading to improved performance and viability. However, for the outward and more politically engaged organisational policy learning process, practitioners should also focus on developing a broader set of policymaking-
{"title":"Conceptualising organisational policy learning: Triggers, processes, outcomes, and implications for policy and governance change","authors":"Bishoy L. Zaki","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Policy learning literature acknowledges the importance of accounting for how learning aggregates across three different analytical levels—micro, meso, and macro—to better understand learning's contribution to policy change. Yet, a missing link in this causal architecture persists, particularly concerning how public organisations undertake policy learning aiming to influence policymaking and governance, a process rarely studied yet often conflated with frequently researched, albeit fundamentally different, ‘organisational learning’ processes. To address this issue, this article conceptualises ‘organisational policy learning’ as a process by which public organisations seek and process information and knowledge about policy and governance issues with the aims of updating understandings of viable solutions, influencing policymaking, and defending, maintaining, or advancing particular policy-related, political, or value preferences within an evolving public context. Then, it identifies the key triggers, processes, dimensions, and outcomes of organisational policy learning, illustrating how they differ from often-studied organisational learning processes. Doing so offers several contributions, including the development of a conceptual and analytical device for understanding the often-overlooked organisational policy learning process, particularly in relation to the enigmatic process of policy change, stimulating the development and testing of propositions by future research, and pointing practitioners’ attention to the factors that could influence organisational policy learning.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>While public organisations engage in organisational learning to enhance their internal procedures, routines, cultures, performance, and viability, they also engage in organisational ‘policy learning’ aimed at defending, maintaining, or advancing preferred policy and value positions and influencing policymaking and governance.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>In organisational policy learning, public organisations act as sensemakers and lesson aggregators, synthesising information and knowledge from multiple sources; thus, practitioners should foster collaboration between different organisational layers and external stakeholders to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive approach to policy learning.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Organisational learning approaches encourage developing organisational capacities related to enhancing internal organisational processes, leading to improved performance and viability. However, for the outward and more politically engaged organisational policy learning process, practitioners should also focus on developing a broader set of policymaking- ","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"85 3","pages":"644-666"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149258249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70028
Christian Eva
<div> <section> <p>Launched in 2015, the Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) has generated significant public procurement spend towards Indigenous-owned businesses in Australia. With government agencies exceeding their targets for Indigenous procurement, the Indigenous business sector growing, and the IPP maintaining bipartisan support, the IPP appears to stand out as an isolated area of success in federal Indigenous economic policymaking. Yet, despite operating for a decade, there has been almost no analysis of the IPP and the distribution of contracts across the Indigenous business sector. Without this analysis, it is challenging to understand the full scope of the IPP's impact and the degree to which broader aspirations for the IPP are being fulfilled. This paper analyses the distribution of Commonwealth public procurement contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses in the first 8 financial years of the IPP (2015–16 to 2022–23), using contract data provided under Freedom of Information. Though the IPP has generated procurement contracts for over 3900 Indigenous businesses, this analysis finds that over 50% of the number of contracts valued over $10,000 have been awarded to just 11 businesses, with 50% of the accumulative value of contracts over $10,000 awarded to 18 businesses. Contract flows are heavily skewed to businesses located in major cities, primarily Canberra, and to businesses in select industries. This analysis also finds that approximately three quarters of the accumulative value of contracts over the lifespan of the IPP have been awarded to businesses with 50%–51% or unreported Indigenous ownership rates. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates the need for amendments to the IPP—including the development of a more robust and culturally accountable definition of an Indigenous business—that ensures that the economic and social outcomes of the policy match the expectations and aspirations as defined by those in the Indigenous business community.</p> </section> <section> <h3> Points for practitioners</h3> <div> <ul> <li>This paper analyses public procurement contract data on Indigenous-owned firms for the first 8 years of the IPP.</li> <li>Fifty per cent of all contracts of over $10,000 have been awarded to just 11 businesses, and 50% of the total value of all contracts have been awarded to 18 businesses. Forty-seven per cent of the total value has been awarded to businesses of between 50% and 51% Indigenous ownership, with an additional 27% to businesses with unidentified Indigenous ownership status. Over 40% of the number and 30% of the value of contracts have been awarded to businesses in Canberra.</li> <li>Though the IPP has been successful in exceeding its Indigenous procurem
{"title":"Who defines success? A critical analysis of the Indigenous Procurement Policy in Australia","authors":"Christian Eva","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Launched in 2015, the Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) has generated significant public procurement spend towards Indigenous-owned businesses in Australia. With government agencies exceeding their targets for Indigenous procurement, the Indigenous business sector growing, and the IPP maintaining bipartisan support, the IPP appears to stand out as an isolated area of success in federal Indigenous economic policymaking. Yet, despite operating for a decade, there has been almost no analysis of the IPP and the distribution of contracts across the Indigenous business sector. Without this analysis, it is challenging to understand the full scope of the IPP's impact and the degree to which broader aspirations for the IPP are being fulfilled. This paper analyses the distribution of Commonwealth public procurement contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses in the first 8 financial years of the IPP (2015–16 to 2022–23), using contract data provided under Freedom of Information. Though the IPP has generated procurement contracts for over 3900 Indigenous businesses, this analysis finds that over 50% of the number of contracts valued over $10,000 have been awarded to just 11 businesses, with 50% of the accumulative value of contracts over $10,000 awarded to 18 businesses. Contract flows are heavily skewed to businesses located in major cities, primarily Canberra, and to businesses in select industries. This analysis also finds that approximately three quarters of the accumulative value of contracts over the lifespan of the IPP have been awarded to businesses with 50%–51% or unreported Indigenous ownership rates. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates the need for amendments to the IPP—including the development of a more robust and culturally accountable definition of an Indigenous business—that ensures that the economic and social outcomes of the policy match the expectations and aspirations as defined by those in the Indigenous business community.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>This paper analyses public procurement contract data on Indigenous-owned firms for the first 8 years of the IPP.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Fifty per cent of all contracts of over $10,000 have been awarded to just 11 businesses, and 50% of the total value of all contracts have been awarded to 18 businesses. Forty-seven per cent of the total value has been awarded to businesses of between 50% and 51% Indigenous ownership, with an additional 27% to businesses with unidentified Indigenous ownership status. Over 40% of the number and 30% of the value of contracts have been awarded to businesses in Canberra.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Though the IPP has been successful in exceeding its Indigenous procurem","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"85 3","pages":"516-545"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149258017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-11-13DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70032
Heath Pickering
In May 2025, the City of Melbourne hosted the M2050 Summit, one of the largest deliberative democracy initiatives in Australian local government history. The Summit engaged over 1000 participants, including policymakers, community leaders, and residents, through a three-stage process: a pre-summit survey, a full-day citizens’ summit, and a post-summit People's Panel. As someone closely involved in the Summit's origins, operations, and outcomes, I aim to share insights with the academic community and senior public service practitioners on what worked well—and to argue that M2050 offers a scalable model for cities and national governments seeking to rebuild public trust, co-produce policy, and define long-term strategic goals. To that end, practitioners and public administration scholars could enhance the process. Participants would gain substantial value from explicit guidance that delineates strategic, long-term aspirations from more immediate policy problems. Moreover, cultivating stronger partnerships with universities and philanthropic bodies would further enhance the methodological robustness of the exercise. Ultimately, the Summit's framework provides a robust blueprint for advancing deliberative governance, provided the necessary political will exists.
Points for practitioners
Deliberative summits like ‘Melbourne 2050′ offer a practical model for transforming community input into policy proposals while strengthening democratic legitimacy.
From a summit design perspective, closer collaboration between academics and senior public servants would strengthen the quality and policy relevance of community-generated policy proposals.
From a data perspective, such collaboration would support the collection of more robust civic engagement data to better understand community trust in institutions and policy processes.
Tying local deliberative outcomes to national policy conversations can help elevate city-level priorities into tangible federal reforms.
{"title":"The Melbourne 2050 Summit: A scalable model for deliberative governance and lessons learned","authors":"Heath Pickering","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>In May 2025, the City of Melbourne hosted the M2050 Summit, one of the largest deliberative democracy initiatives in Australian local government history. The Summit engaged over 1000 participants, including policymakers, community leaders, and residents, through a three-stage process: a pre-summit survey, a full-day citizens’ summit, and a post-summit People's Panel. As someone closely involved in the Summit's origins, operations, and outcomes, I aim to share insights with the academic community and senior public service practitioners on what worked well—and to argue that M2050 offers a scalable model for cities and national governments seeking to rebuild public trust, co-produce policy, and define long-term strategic goals. To that end, practitioners and public administration scholars could enhance the process. Participants would gain substantial value from explicit guidance that delineates strategic, long-term aspirations from more immediate policy problems. Moreover, cultivating stronger partnerships with universities and philanthropic bodies would further enhance the methodological robustness of the exercise. Ultimately, the Summit's framework provides a robust blueprint for advancing deliberative governance, provided the necessary political will exists.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>Deliberative summits like ‘Melbourne 2050′ offer a practical model for transforming community input into policy proposals while strengthening democratic legitimacy.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>From a summit design perspective, closer collaboration between academics and senior public servants would strengthen the quality and policy relevance of community-generated policy proposals.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>From a data perspective, such collaboration would support the collection of more robust civic engagement data to better understand community trust in institutions and policy processes.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>Tying local deliberative outcomes to national policy conversations can help elevate city-level priorities into tangible federal reforms.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"85 3","pages":"673-679"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149258090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26DOI: 10.1177/01492063261487366
Satwant Dahiya,Christian Busse
{"title":"“The Minimum Wage Is the Maximum Wage”: How Goal Replacement Perpetuates Means–Ends Decoupling","authors":"Satwant Dahiya,Christian Busse","doi":"10.1177/01492063261487366","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063261487366","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54212,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Management","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149248642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Financial authorities have developed extensive climate‐related policies, but nature‐related financial policy remains less widespread. Using data on individual policy instruments across 116 jurisdictions from 2000 to 2025, this paper compares the adoption, policy areas, binding status, and source of climate‐ and nature‐related policies. Nature‐related policies appear in 27 jurisdictions, compared with 60 for climate‐only policies. National nature adoption is positively associated with a larger existing body of climate and environmental financial policies, mainly through the broader environmental component rather than climate‐specific policy. Climate‐only policies are used more frequently in prudential supervision and credit allocation than policies that combine nature with climate or broader environmental concerns. Nature‐related policies have a higher mandatory share over the full period but a lower share than climate‐only policies in 2023–2025. In the European Union, broad EU‐level coverage coexists with limited national issuance. The paper contributes a common framework for comparing climate and nature policies and distinguishes EU‐level coverage from national policy development. The results show that the climate‐nature gap concerns not only adoption, but also where policies are used, how binding they are, and which level of authority issues them.
{"title":"Climate, Nature, and the Uneven Expansion of Financial Governance","authors":"Paola D'Orazio","doi":"10.1111/rego.70219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70219","url":null,"abstract":"Financial authorities have developed extensive climate‐related policies, but nature‐related financial policy remains less widespread. Using data on individual policy instruments across 116 jurisdictions from 2000 to 2025, this paper compares the adoption, policy areas, binding status, and source of climate‐ and nature‐related policies. Nature‐related policies appear in 27 jurisdictions, compared with 60 for climate‐only policies. National nature adoption is positively associated with a larger existing body of climate and environmental financial policies, mainly through the broader environmental component rather than climate‐specific policy. Climate‐only policies are used more frequently in prudential supervision and credit allocation than policies that combine nature with climate or broader environmental concerns. Nature‐related policies have a higher mandatory share over the full period but a lower share than climate‐only policies in 2023–2025. In the European Union, broad EU‐level coverage coexists with limited national issuance. The paper contributes a common framework for comparing climate and nature policies and distinguishes EU‐level coverage from national policy development. The results show that the climate‐nature gap concerns not only adoption, but also where policies are used, how binding they are, and which level of authority issues them.","PeriodicalId":21026,"journal":{"name":"Regulation & Governance","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149251259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70033
Vindhya Weeratunga, Fiona Buick, Deborah Blackman, Michael O'Donnell
The adoption of a blended workforce model, comprising both ongoing and non-ongoing employees, has become increasingly common in public sector organisations. Despite known challenges, including high turnover and knowledge gaps, its impact on middle managers’ well-being remains understudied. The study addresses this by exploring how the blended workforce model affects middle manager well-being within the Australian Public Service (APS). Using qualitative interviews with 46 middle managers across five locations in Australia within one of the largest Departments in the APS, we reveal that adopting the blended workforce model created unintended consequences, including work intensification and stress among middle managers, adversely affecting both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well-being. Our findings provide insights for organisations adopting similar workforce models and contribute to understanding the well-being impacts of public sector workforce reforms on middle managers.
Points for practitioners
Targeted support mechanisms for middle managers, including mentoring, HR support, training on managing diverse workforce compositions, and creating channels for feedback, should be developed.
Comprehensive transition and integration strategies with clear role definitions and expectations for both ongoing and non-ongoing employees should be created.
Middle managers should be involved in planning and decision-making in people-related changes.
The unintended consequences of blended workforce models, particularly impacts on middle manager well-being, should be considered.
{"title":"The unintended consequences of the blended workforce in the Australian Public Service: Effects on middle manager well-being","authors":"Vindhya Weeratunga, Fiona Buick, Deborah Blackman, Michael O'Donnell","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The adoption of a blended workforce model, comprising both ongoing and non-ongoing employees, has become increasingly common in public sector organisations. Despite known challenges, including high turnover and knowledge gaps, its impact on middle managers’ well-being remains understudied. The study addresses this by exploring how the blended workforce model affects middle manager well-being within the Australian Public Service (APS). Using qualitative interviews with 46 middle managers across five locations in Australia within one of the largest Departments in the APS, we reveal that adopting the blended workforce model created unintended consequences, including work intensification and stress among middle managers, adversely affecting both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well-being. Our findings provide insights for organisations adopting similar workforce models and contribute to understanding the well-being impacts of public sector workforce reforms on middle managers.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Targeted support mechanisms for middle managers, including mentoring, HR support, training on managing diverse workforce compositions, and creating channels for feedback, should be developed.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Comprehensive transition and integration strategies with clear role definitions and expectations for both ongoing and non-ongoing employees should be created.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Middle managers should be involved in planning and decision-making in people-related changes.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The unintended consequences of blended workforce models, particularly impacts on middle manager well-being, should be considered.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"85 3","pages":"568-585"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.70033","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149258162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States","authors":"Jason R. Motsick","doi":"10.1002/pam.70141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.70141","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48105,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Policy Analysis and Management","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149259400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70020
Deborah Blackman, Vindhya Weeratunga, Jade Hart, Helen Dickinson
The Australian Public Service addresses increasingly complex policy problems. There is interest in applying systems theory to such challenges to enable more effective strategies and outcomes. This paper uses examples to offer practical guidance on applying a specific aspect of system thinking: Meadows’ leverage points to shift the system. In doing so, it recommends a revision to the original conceptualisation of leverage points. We argue that feedback loops should not be considered as separate means of exerting leverage, with their inclusion constraining understanding and systems thinking literacy.
Points for practitioners
To best use system thinking to create better government outcomes involves looking holistically at a system, understanding system stocks and flows, and identifying appropriate leverage points to change system behaviour.
Feedback loops are not leverage points but are flows that can be influenced by leverage points to create system change. Hence, we consider there are 10 leverage points that range from lower to higher order of consequence to a system.
System goals are powerful leverage points, but their effectiveness can be undermined when inappropriate proxies are used as measures of success.
{"title":"Leveraging system flows for complex change","authors":"Deborah Blackman, Vindhya Weeratunga, Jade Hart, Helen Dickinson","doi":"10.1111/1467-8500.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.70020","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Australian Public Service addresses increasingly complex policy problems. There is interest in applying systems theory to such challenges to enable more effective strategies and outcomes. This paper uses examples to offer practical guidance on applying a specific aspect of system thinking: Meadows’ leverage points to shift the system. In doing so, it recommends a revision to the original conceptualisation of leverage points. We argue that feedback loops should not be considered as separate means of exerting leverage, with their inclusion constraining understanding and systems thinking literacy.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Points for practitioners</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>To best use system thinking to create better government outcomes involves looking holistically at a system, understanding system stocks and flows, and identifying appropriate leverage points to change system behaviour.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>Feedback loops are not leverage points but are flows that can be influenced by leverage points to create system change. Hence, we consider there are 10 leverage points that range from lower to higher order of consequence to a system.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>\u0000 <p>System goals are powerful leverage points, but their effectiveness can be undermined when inappropriate proxies are used as measures of success.</p>\u0000 </li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47373,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Public Administration","volume":"85 3","pages":"667-672"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8500.70020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149258105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-10-26Epub Date: 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.70021
Rameen Khan, Fiaz Hussain
The study examines the impact of policy capacity at the individual level on policy work in Pakistan. The purposive sample technique collects data from 123 policy professionals associated with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination and its attached departments at the national and sub-national levels. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method is used to analyse the data. The findings show that analytical policy capacity significantly and positively impacts policy work while operational capacity and political capacity do not influence policy work. The paper canvasses recommendations including strengthening the in-house capacity of government organisations through capacity-building and professional development training programs.
Points for practitioners
Strengthening the analytical skills of policy professionals through targeted, long-term training programs at the federal and provincial levels is critical for improving climate change policy outcomes in Pakistan.
The limited impact of operational and political capacities indicates the need for organisational reforms. Increasing the autonomy of policy professionals, allowing them more decision-making flexibility, and reducing administrative burdens can enable more effective policy work, especially in addressing complex issues like climate change.
To overcome the operational capacity challenges, policymakers should focus on improving management skills and technical expertise through specialised training.
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