The values dimension of policy success and failure: Considering two Australian rural adjustment policies

Abstract

In 1992, Australia introduced a National Drought Policy comprising a number of policies each focused on achieving a common goal of a self-reliant, productive farm sector capable of managing the challenges of climate variability. This paper considers two of these policies, one of which has been an acknowledged success and the other that is generally regarded as a failure. The paper assesses these schemes against the criteria proposed by Luetjens et al. and concludes that analysing policies in values terms is a more effective way of understanding, and potentially predicting, policy success and failure.

Points for practitioners

• Policy is more likely to succeed if there is an alignment between the purpose underpinning a policy agency and the nature of the policy problem.
• Policy can fail where the values of the agency and the target population for the policy differ.
• Policy success is more likely where there is a single, clear goal embodying a single value priority rather than multiple values that are in conflict.