Erin McAuliffe
Design for policy scholarship has relied heavily on the policy cycle as a central organising model or heuristic in its work. While the policy cycle is used by the public policy field to organise its research and subfields, it is not an explanatory model of policy change and has been the subject of much critique. This paper explores how design has used the policy cycle and reflects on the way in which this has affected the development of the field of design for policy. It argues that the focus on the policy cycle has contributed to design for policy focusing too strongly on public institutions and not enough on other actors, activities and dynamics of policymaking. It proposes that design for policy ought to engage more with theories of the policy process arising from the policy sciences, which may—with their greater nuance and focuses on politics, power and policy system dynamics—provide a richer ground for future design scholarship. In particular, it suggests three areas where theories of the policy process might point to new opportunities for design for policy research: taking an expanded view of agency in policymaking, understanding the relationship between framing and problem brokering, and better appreciating the complexity of policy landscapes.
KEYWORDS: design for policy, policy cycle, policymaking, theories of the policy process
RSD TOPIC(S): Policy & Governance