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Policy learning and science policy innovation adoption by street-level bureaucrats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Gwen Arnold
Gwen Arnold*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, USA E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article investigates the conditions under which government officials who implement policy integrate the best available science into regulatory practice. It examines the adoption of rapid wetland assessment tools, a type of science policy innovation, by street-level bureaucrats in six US Mid-Atlantic states. These bureaucrats operate in relatively opaque and discretion-laden institutional settings. The analysis of an original survey of state wetland officials shows that these officials are more likely to adopt tools when they have more opportunities to learn tool-related information and practice norms. Bureaucrats’ adoption of this class of science policy innovations appears facilitated by peer communication via network ties, on-the-job experience and incentives and disincentives associated with bureaucrats’ organisational contexts and operating environments.

Keywords

innovation diffusionpolicy adoptionpolicy learningscience policystreet-level bureaucracywetlands
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 34 , Supplement 3 , December 2014 , pp. 389 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2014 

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