IMPLEMENTING AND DEVELOPING PUBLIC POLICY IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND SOUTH AFRICA

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH RESULTS

South African and Northern Irish societies, despite a range of differences, have been compared as far back as the early 1900s. This research compares the impact of 'transition' on public policy development and implementation in these two societies. Lesson drawing and policy transfer between these jurisdictions and other countries was a particular focus within this broader aim. Two policy areas - victim policy and policing reform - that are typically subject to reform during transition periods were selected for a more detailed analysis.

Owing to the sensitive environments of both societies, a qualitative approach was adopted. In-depth interviews, long-term research relationships, focused workshops and documentary evidence (both academic and grey) comprised the main data collection methods. A complex web of information from these sources was isolated into factors and questions of policy development and implementation.

Policy development
It was clear that transition places enormous strains and constraints on policy makers: high public expectations, change management stresses, stretched resources, and the need for new policy development skills. In addition, co-ordination and liaison of the various policy communities; the participation of civic groups; the energy of change agents, and new skills of politicians remain critical to successful and sensitive development and implementation of policies. It is a complex process to sustain.

The legislative process in Northern Ireland is now much more complex and ambiguous, subject to a wider policy community, is more dependent on networks, more subject to scrutiny and vulnerable to many unresolved tensions particularly between the Assembly and the Executive. In both jurisdictions the maintenance of the civil service has received criticism from within. Unreformed structures have not allowed for cross cutting policies, which can respond to the complexities of transition. Institutions have remained top heavy or inappropriately skilled and resistance exists in key channels of policy making, often from those expected to give up some of their power in the transition process. Policies cannot be driven at a local level as there is not always the capacity. Consultation and participation are also underdeveloped particularly in South Africa. In addition civil society, though previously vibrant has also been less able to direct policy from below. We found that it was difficult to ascertain the degree to which development agencies and external funders operating in South Africa and Northern Ireland influence policy formation and lesson drawing. Similarly there is little information or consensus on the contribution of civil society organizations.

Lesson drawing
Lesson drawing has proved to be one means by which confidence and instrumentality can be fostered. It can decrease uncertainty and tension in a complex and fast changing environment. Where issues are particularly sensitive, for example, policing a divided society, it has enabled players to discuss reforms by alluding to the exporter environment and its parallels without using the highly charged identities and issues of the potential importer country - we came to refer to this as 'surrogate policy making'.

One of the biggest findings has been that learning from abroad may also be at the cost of learning from closer to home. South Africa experienced a great deal of pressure to emulate successful Northern states rather than those in the developing world. Personalities and incentives drove often eclectic lesson drawing. Policies from nearby African states have since been suggested as more appropriate and viable. However overwhelmingly global South-South transfer were not commonly considered by the actors involved, nor popularized. In addition research or evaluation was rarely perceived as significant to organizations engaged in lesson drawing.

The analogy with South Africa continues to have political implications in Northern Ireland. Perceptions of comparability continue to operate in many spheres though more so in Northern Ireland. At the level of public policy development there have been a broad range of lesson drawing exchanges most significantly in community policing. The importance of the South African - Northern Ireland comparison is not whether it is correct, but rather in it having become a real influence on political behavior and useful in so far as it allows issues difficult to discuss in Northern Ireland to be discussed by proxy using South African examples.

Implementation
In South Africa the gap between vision-based policy creation and actual implementation capacity is widening. Difficulty in implementing policy and translating this into service delivery was partly explained by reliance on disaggregated institutions and their long term limitations. Institutions such as commissions of investigation and enquiry, as well as disaggregated institutions such as Human Rights Commissions and Equality Commissions, can articulate innovative new policy idea. However, they are often better at developing than implementing new public policy.

An unexpected and key finding was that policies may be formulated in the knowledge that they will not be implementable. The vision of the policy and the process of developing the policy, especially in deeply divided societies, may in fact be more important than actual delivery.

Transition
In Northern Ireland and South Africa there is increasing polarization of the political parties. Policy making in Northern Ireland continues to be influenced by economic and social legacies, mistrust and atrophication of direct rule, and the context of sectarianism and violence. Most significantly we found that policies in power-share arrangements are typically agreed at the level at which some form of consensus will be reached thus diluting them to meet the consensual requirements - a 'lowest common denominator' factor. Other difficulties include a lack of involvement of the youth sector, and a lack of understanding and communication between between academics, the voluntary sector and the civil service.

In South Africa a lack of capacity - both in finance and in personnel and over-ambitious policy objectives characterise the transition. Current demands based often on large-scale political violence eclipse needs and expectations generated at a grass-roots level as a result of the reconciliation process. Long-term, cross-cutting approaches to policy are needed.

The actual process of transition is complex and unique in both South Africa and Northern Ireland. We argue that a dynamic understanding of transition processes needs to be developed. Transitions are long-term processes and change at an institutional level is generally slower than expectations. Numerous transitions and transformations are in fact made. From our research it is striking that for policy innovation to be effectively implemented in a society in transition there also has to be at some level an active and continuous process of securing public support.