A systems‐theoretical exploration for understanding and enhancing policy design: Expanding an analytical locus with implications for policy studies

Abstract

Policy design has two analytical domains, policy design‐as‐formulation and policy design‐as‐content. The latter study policies as codified and constructed output of the formulation process, which is an activity directed to the process. The analytical concept ‘structural logic’ emerged as an internal property of policy text and has been understudied, perhaps because of the lack of methods and understanding. The paper is a systems‐theoretic exploration of systems assumptions and policy designs. The paper contributes to the theoretical underpinnings of the nature of policy design (as conceptual systems) and how systems‐based assumptions can help understand structural logic by providing a locus for studying and measuring policy element interaction. Findings suggest that it is in the interactions of those elements and connections (policy statements/propositions/directives), corresponding to the causal relations in the real world wherein the effectiveness of policy designs lies (level of structure). The exploration posits that the deep structural similarities between the domains of systems are so ecologically parallel that the insights from one system allows for similarities to be exploited and transferred to understanding the other. The paper provides insights for overcoming policy design limitations and a new way for studying policy element interaction for improving its effects in policy implementation.