Policy Capacity: A Scoping Review of Definitions, Conceptual Frameworks, Applications, and Future Research Directions
Keywords:
policy capacity, scoping review, public policy process, public policyAbstract
The concept of policy capacity emerges as a pivotal approach for improving the efficacy and flexibility of public policies. Despite its significance, ambiguity surrounds its definitions and applications within research. Therefore, this paper aims to explore definitions, conceptual frameworks, measurement tools, case examples, and propose future research directions on policy capacity. A scoping review was conducted to search for articles in the SCOPUS database, yielding 213 relevant articles, out of which 29 were screened and included in this review. The analysis is divided into two parts: the first part focuses on definitions, conceptual frameworks, and the measurement of policy capacity, covering 15 articles, while the second part deals with the practical application of concepts across four main categories—public health systems, environmental governance, public administration and social policy, and inter-organizational collaboration, encompassing a total of 14 articles. The research findings indicate that the definition of policy capacity extends beyond the policy implementation phase, covering all stages in the public policy process. The framework for analyzing policy capabilities comprises three dimensions of government sector capability—analytical, operational, and political capacities—integrated across three levels: individual, organizational, and structural, to collectively drive policy towards achieving its objectives. It was also found that there are at least two analytical frameworks that researchers can apply: the policy capability analysis framework, from the studies of Wu et al. (2017) and Brenton et al. (2023), and the policy capability measurement framework of Hartley and Zhang (2018), which presents a method for measuring capacity that is useful for more empirical analysis of policy capacity levels. Finally, this article presents research directions on policy capacity to guide researchers towards a deeper understanding and effective application of policy capacity frameworks in diverse contexts.
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