Murphy, Mary P. and Hogan, John (2020) Reflections on post-bailout policy analysis in Ireland. Administration, 68 (4). pp. 145-160. ISSN 2449-9471

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Abstract

This short article reflects on observations from the forthcoming volume Policy Analysis in Ireland, edited by Hogan & Murphy. The volume forms part of the International Library of Policy Analysis series, which covers more than twenty countries, published by Policy Press and edited by Michael Howlett and Iris Geva-May. While various themes emerge from the Irish volume, this article focuses on only one core question: whether and how the 2008 economic crisis contracted and expanded the capacity for policy analysis in Ireland. The troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and the European Commission are associated with policy capacity innovation, but also with significant austerity. Both had a major and long-term impact on public services. While the article documents a range of successful post-bailout attempts to improve policy analysis capacity, it also points to often less conscious, but sometimes deliberate, decisions that diminished some forms of policy analysis capacity. We find economic policymaking capacity enhanced while changes to resources and policy opportunity structures depleted both space and the capacity for social policy analysis. This was particularly so within the equality and social justice sectors. Given ongoing social risks, the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, Ireland needs to adjust for a future of permanent uncertainty, or perpetual crises, and should seek to rebalance investment in social policy capacity and to develop systems for integrated policy analysis.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Published under an open access license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Cite as: Murphy, Mary and Hogan, John. "Reflections on post-bailout policy analysis in Ireland" Administration, vol.68, no.4, 2020, pp.145-160. https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2020-0028
Keywords:	Policy analysis; Ireland; social policy; policy capacity; financial crisis;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute, MUSSI Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Item ID:	14902
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2020-0028
Depositing User:	Dr. Mary Murphy
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2021 15:51
Journal or Publication Title:	Administration
Publisher:	Sciendo
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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