You are here:

88093 - POLICY DESIGN IN PROSPETTIVA COMPARATA

Academic Year 2026/2027

                
                        Docente:
                        Giliberto Capano
                    
                        Credits:
                        8
                    
                        SSD:
                        GSPS-02/A
                    
                        Language:
                        Italian
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        In-person learning (entirely or partially)
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                            Politics Administration and Organization (cod. 6776)

                                    Course Timetable
                                
from Sep 16, 2026 to Dec 09, 2026

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students: have acquired a fine-grained knowledge of the main theoretical and methodological constitutive elements of the policy design approaches; have acquired a deep knowledge of the policy instruments approach; know in a detailed way the characteristics of the policy design in comparative perspective in at least two policy fields; can critically analyze the processes of policy design; can set up a research project on comparative policy design; are able to elaborate policy reccommendations and reports

Course contents

This course is a "structured seminar" (see below in Teaching Methods) that focuses on policy design intended as an approach through which policies can be not only analyzed and explained but also consciously designed. The course is divided in two parts. In the first part students will be given the main theoretical concepts and frameworks of the policy design approach.. The main questions addressed will be: What is Policy Design? Who Designs Public Policies? Why Do They Do It? How and When Do Designs Come About? What is Good Policy Design? How Do We Know? How Should the Design of Specific Policies be Evaluated? Can the Design of Public Policies be Improved to Solve Complex Problems? Particular analytical attention will be devoted to which actors design and to which kind of policy instruments policy designers have at their disposal to deal with collective problems.

The second part of the course will be devoted to the empirical application of the policy design approach to the comparative analysis in one specific sector that will be chosen by students after teh first classes among the following ones:

1. Designing Calibrations and Specifications for Policy Practice

2. Designing Data Governance and Policy

3. Designing participatory policy-making

Readings/Bibliography

Theoretical READINGS.

Howlett, M. and Mukherjee, I. (eds). Routledge Handbook of Policy Design. Routledge, 2018.

Capano, G. (2019) Reconceptualizing Layering. From mode of institutional change to mode of institutional design: Types and outputs. Public Administration, 97(3), 590-604.
Capano, G., and A. Lippi. (2017) How Policy Instruments are Chosen: Patterns of Decision Makers’ Choices. Policy Sciences 50 (2): 269–93.
Capano, G. e JJ. Woo (2017) Designing policy robustness: outputs and processes. Policy and Society 37(4), pp.422-440.
Capano G. e Howlett M. (2024). Calibration and specification in policy practice: Micro-dimensions of policy design. Policy Design and Practice, 7(2), 115–128
Craft, Jonathan, and Michael Howlett. “Policy Formulation, Governance Shifts and Policy Influence: Location and Content in Policy Advisory Systems.” Journal of Public Policy 32, no. 2 (2012): 79–98. doi:10.1017/S0143814X12000049.
Howlett, M. “Managing the ‘Hollow State’: Procedural Policy Instruments and Modern Governance.” Canadian Public Administration 43, no. 4 (2000): 412–31.
Ingram, H. and Schneider, A.I. (1990) The Behavioral Assumptions of Policy Tools. The Journal of Politics, 52(02), pp. 510–529.
Lascoumes P., and P. Le Galès (2007), ‘Understanding public policy through its instruments. From the nature of instruments to the sociology of public policy instrumentation’, Governance 20(1): 1–21.
Linder, S. H., and B. G. Peters. “From Social Theory to Policy Design.” Journal of Public Policy 4, no. 3 (1984): 237–59.
Mintrom, Michael, and Joannah Luetjens. “Design Thinking in Policymaking Processes: Opportunities and Challenges.” Australian Journal of Public Administration 75, no. 3 (September 1, 2016): 391–402.
Salamon, L.M. (2000) The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: An Introduction. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 28(5), 1611-1674
Schneider, A., and H. Ingram. “Social Construction of Target Populations: Implications for Politics and Policy.” American Political Science Review 87, no. 2 (1993): 334–47.
Simons, Arno and Jan-Peter Voss. “Policy Instrument Constituencies.” In Handbook of Policy Formulation, edited by Michael Howlett and Ishani Mukherjee, 355–72. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2017.
Vedung, E. (1998) Policy Instruments: Typologies and Theories. In M.L. Bemelmans-Videc, R.C. Rist and E. Vedung (eds.), Carrots, Sticks, and Sermons: Policy Instruments and Their Evaluation. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, pp. 21–58.

Readings on Designing Calibrations and Specifications for Policy Practice

The special issue of Policy Design and Practice, no.2/2024:https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpdp20/7/2?nav=tocList

Readings on Participatory Design Policy-making.

The special issue of Policy Design and Practice, no. 1/2022, Participatory Policy Design, https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpdp20/5/1?nav=tocList
Devish, O. et al. (eds). (2019) Participatory Design Theory: Using Technology and Social Media to Foster Civic Engagement. Routledge.

Readings on Policy Design and Data Governance:

owlett, M., Giest, S., Mukherjee, I. e Taeihagh, A. (2025). New policy tools and traditional policy models: better understanding behavioural, digital and collaborative instruments. Policy Design and Practice, 8(1), 121-137. doi: 10.1080/25741292.2025.2495373

Filgueiras, F. (2023). Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Regulatory Tools. In M. Howlett (a cura di), The Routledge Handbook of Policy Tools (cap. 41, pp. 529-539). London: Routledge.

Moon, M.J. e Lee, S. (2023). The Future of Informational Tools with Big Data Informatics: Opportunities and Challenges for Evidence-Based Policy-Making. In M. Howlett (a cura di), The Routledge Handbook of Policy Tools (cap. 43). London: Routledge.

Longo, J. (2018). Digital Tools for Rapid Policy Design. In M. Howlett e I. Mukherjee (a cura di), Routledge Handbook of Policy Design (cap. 19, pp. 288-302). London: Routledge.

Filgueiras, F. e Raymond, A. (2023). Designing governance and policy for disruptive digital technologies. Policy Design and Practice, 6(1), 1-13. doi: 10.1080/25741292.2022.2162241

Filgueiras, F. e Lui, L. (2022). Designing data governance in Brazil: an institutional analysis. Policy Design and Practice, 6(1), 41-56. doi: 10.1080/25741292.2022.2065065

Tan, S.Y., Taeihagh, A. e Pande, D. (2023). Data Sharing in Disruptive Technologies: Lessons from Adoption of Autonomous Systems in Singapore. Policy Design and Practice, 6(1), 57-78. doi: 10.1080/25741292.2022.2162247

Sha, K. e Taeihagh, A. (2024). Designing Adaptive Policy Packages for Inclusive Smart Cities: Lessons from Singapore's Smart Nation Program. Sustainable Cities and Society, 115, 105868. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2024.105868

Tan, S., Li, L. e Taeihagh, A. (2025). Policy capacity for novel technology adoption: Developmental insights from Singapore's AI adoption in long-term care. Public Administration and Development (early view). doi: 10.1002/pad.70026

Filgueiras, F. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy (Cambridge Elements in Public Policy). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009572248

Taeihagh, A. (2025). Governance of Generative AI. Policy and Society, 44(1), 1-22. doi: 10.1093/polsoc/puaf001

Khanal, S., Zhang, H. e Taeihagh, A. (2025). Why and how is the power of Big Tech increasing in the policy process? The case of generative AI. Policy and Society, 44(1), 52-69. doi: 10.1093/polsoc/puae012

Teaching methods

The course is designed as a "structured seminar"

The course lasts 40 class hours distributed in 11 weekly meetings.

The main organizational features of the course are as follows:

1. One 4 hours class per week

2. Except for the first, introductory, every class will devote the first part to partecipatory activities of the students, while in the second part the teacher will introduce the topics and the readings of the following week

3. Each student is assumed to be very pro-active in preparing the classes

4. At the mid and at the end of the course a class will be devoted to working groups activities

4. Students will prepare 1 paper at the end the course, in which they will asked to show their capacity to critically assess the treated and discussed topics.

The course will be held "in presence"

The detailed syllabus containing all the topics, activities and related specific reading of the course will be presented during the first introductory class