ICS Seminar Series - Liz Richardson

Date: Thursday 26 February 2015
Time: 11.30am - 1pm
 Venue: EB.2.21, Western Sydney University, Parramatta South campus

Liz Richardson, University of Manchester 

Co-production in Public Policy - Feasibility and Prospects

Abstract

This seminar will present a case for more co-productive approaches to policy, based on the forthcoming book by Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson, Designing Public Policy for Co-production, published November 2015 by The Policy Press. There are many complex public policy issues faced by modern societies, which some have called 'wicked' or 'squishy' problems. Conventional technocratic models of public policy and governance have often failed to handle these in ways that adequately manage competing interests. This has prompted many around the world to attempt to craft better ways of handling collective policy dilemmas. Drawing on twelve compelling international contributions from practitioners, policy-makers, activists and actively engaged academics, we advance co-production as an alternative. Their innovations come in many forms, but have some core common features: value-driven; grounded in experience and a range of forms of expertise; citizen-orientated; flexible and iterative. However, proponents of alternative policy designs face many tensions and dilemmas, including how to manage the risks of co-option, balancing respect for difference with the need for consensus in situations of conflicting values, and whether they can move beyond the category of 'inspiring but marginal'. There are many questions about how we can make co-productive policy alternatives a reality through facilitation, relationships, and institutional structures.  

We use a heuristic framework centred about different notions of power in policy-making, and the contrasting 'visions' and 'grammars' of constituted versus constitutive policy designs. This work explores how genuine democratic involvement in the policy process from those outside the elites of politics can shape society for the better. We present insights on why and how to generate change in policy processes. The aim of the work is to advance experimentation in policy design.

Biography

Liz Richardson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester, and a Visiting Fellow in the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics. Previous roles include Co-ordinator of the research centre, LSE Housing and Communities at the LSE. Liz edits the journal Local Government Studies. She is a Director of two national charities, the National Communities Resource Centre, and the National Association of Neighbourhood Management. Her research interests include: civic participation; neighbourhood governance; local politics and local government; public services; and public policy. Her work is dedicated to trying out ways in which academics, practitioners, and citizens can develop more democratic and participatory ways of doing politics. Liz styles herself as a 'participatory positivist', has an interest in methodological innovation including participatory research approaches, and experimental methods. Published work includes books on Changing local governance, changing citizens, and Nudge, nudge, think, think: experimenting with ways to change civic behaviour, and papers published in journals such as the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Social Science Quarterly, Parliamentary Affairs, and Policy and Politics. Liz's work is policy- and practice-relevant; she advises British central government, and a number of British local governments. Her new book, Designing Public Policy for Co-production, is published by Policy Press in Autumn 2015.