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Implementation Theory and Practice: Toward a Third Generation
230 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1990
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June 22, 2013
This is an important work in the policy implementation literature. Implementation itself refers to the process by which decisions made are actually put into practice. A bill once passed into law b y Congress is normally a set of words. To make the law real, implementation takes place. This could involve development of regulations, hiring and training of employees, delivery of services, and so on. The subfield within policy studies has been an important element for about forty years now.
This book purports to represent the third generation of implementation studies. The first generation was case studies--such as Pressman and Wildavsky's study of implementation in Oakland, California. The second generation was the development of frameworks that tried to take the lessons from case studies of Gen 1 and create a broader framework. Goggin and colleagues content that they present a third generation view, a much more theoretical perspective. One of my doctoral students, though, made a wise comment many years ago: This is really more like Generation 2.5. One can see the perspective as somewhat more general and theoretical than other Gen 2 studies, but it is not really full satisfying as a new generation.
At the heart of this view is a communication model. The key diagram that schematizes the perspective is on page 32. The goal is to explain state level implementation. Key factors in the background shaping implementation include federal, state, and local inducements and constraints. Central to this process is communication (page 33): "State level implementors form the nexus for the communications channels. . . . As recipients [of messages], state level implementors must interpret a barrage of messages." Distortions in communication, unclear messages, and so on, then, all undermine the possibility of effective implementation.
The chapters in the book, one by one, explore the different elements of the model depicted on page 32.
In the final analysis, this is a fine work on implementation, but does not fully deliver as a whole new generation of research and theory.
This book purports to represent the third generation of implementation studies. The first generation was case studies--such as Pressman and Wildavsky's study of implementation in Oakland, California. The second generation was the development of frameworks that tried to take the lessons from case studies of Gen 1 and create a broader framework. Goggin and colleagues content that they present a third generation view, a much more theoretical perspective. One of my doctoral students, though, made a wise comment many years ago: This is really more like Generation 2.5. One can see the perspective as somewhat more general and theoretical than other Gen 2 studies, but it is not really full satisfying as a new generation.
At the heart of this view is a communication model. The key diagram that schematizes the perspective is on page 32. The goal is to explain state level implementation. Key factors in the background shaping implementation include federal, state, and local inducements and constraints. Central to this process is communication (page 33): "State level implementors form the nexus for the communications channels. . . . As recipients [of messages], state level implementors must interpret a barrage of messages." Distortions in communication, unclear messages, and so on, then, all undermine the possibility of effective implementation.
The chapters in the book, one by one, explore the different elements of the model depicted on page 32.
In the final analysis, this is a fine work on implementation, but does not fully deliver as a whole new generation of research and theory.
Displaying 1 of 1 review