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Measuring Policy Analytical Capacity for the Environment: A Case for Engaging New Actors

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Policy Capacity and Governance

Part of the book series: Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy ((PEPP))

Abstract

This chapter discusses how varied policy analytical capacity can be evaluated at the systemic level through observed gaps in environmental data monitoring and reporting among countries. Such analytical capacity at the knowledge system level facilitates transparency and credibility needed for nation-states to cooperate on issues requiring global coordination, including ‘super- wicked’ environmental issues like climate change. So far there has been relatively sparse attention paid to whether countries will have the ability—or the policy analytical capacity—to report the necessary data and indicators required for the next round of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being proposed. In this chapter, I argue that the varied policy analytical capacity within the global environmental knowledge system necessitates the participation of new institutions and actors. Identifying gaps in data availability at a global, systemic scale, this chapter presents a proxy measure of policy analytical capacity based on publicly reported national statistics of air and water quality performance. Such discrepancies evaluated at a systemic level make a case for channels by which citizen scientists, independent watchdogs, private sector companies and third-party organizations can participate to enhance the policy analytical capacity of governments.

Reprinted from Policy and Society, 34(3–4), Angel Hsu, Measuring policy analytical capacity for the environment: A case for engaging new actors, 197–208, 2015, with permission from Elsevier.

Originally published in Policy and Society 34 (2015), 197–208.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale-NUS College, 16 College Ave West, Singapore, 138527, Singapore

    Angel Hsu

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  1. Angel Hsu
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Correspondence to Angel Hsu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Policy, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Xun Wu

  2. Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Michael Howlett

  3. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    M Ramesh

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Hsu, A. (2018). Measuring Policy Analytical Capacity for the Environment: A Case for Engaging New Actors. In: Wu, X., Howlett, M., Ramesh, M. (eds) Policy Capacity and Governance. Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54675-9_5

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