Synthesizing the Implementation Literature: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation

In: Journal of public administration research and theory, Band 5, Heft 2, S. 145-174

Abstract

A review of the policy implementation literature finds the field split into two major schools, top-down & bottom-up. Previous attempts to reconcile these models are described, followed by an alternative model that reconciles these approaches by concentrating on the theoretical significance of ambiguity & conflict for policy implementation. A number of factors crucial to the implementation process are identified as varyingly dependent on a policy's ambiguity & conflict level. Four policy implementation paradigms are identified & the relevance of the existing literature to these conditions is discussed: (1) low conflict-low ambiguity (administrative implementation), (2) high conflict-low ambiguity (political implementation), (3) high conflict-high ambiguity (symbolic implementation), & (4) low conflict-high ambiguity (experimental implementation). 1, 71 References. Adapted from the source document.