Public policy analysis in France : Transformation and theory
By: FONTAINE, Joseph
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ArticlePublisher: London : Routledge, September 1996Journal of European Public Policy 3, 3, p. 481-498Abstract: The study of public policy as a serious academic exercise appeared later in France than elsewhere. It has been marked by a highly rational, state-centred tradition, sometimes known as the orthodox or French model of public policy. According to this model, public policies arc presented as rational and eminently intelligible. They emerge from the relationship between the overall environmental framework of reference, and the particular values, norms and images prevalent in different policy sectors (themselves dominated by professional or technocratic corporatism). The orthodox model has been challenged since the mid-1980s by the separate movements of decentralization and European integration. The orthodox school has acknowledged these changes, but insisted that the main tenets of their approach remain valid. This article challenges the main precepts of the orthodox model, especially in the light of recent policy evolutions. It advocates an approach which gives more room to sociological explanations, to the role of institutions and their actors, and to the emergence of horizontal and cross-sectoral public policies.
The study of public policy as a serious academic exercise appeared later in France than elsewhere. It has been marked by a highly rational, state-centred tradition, sometimes known as the orthodox or French model of public policy. According to this model, public policies arc presented as rational and eminently intelligible. They emerge from the relationship between the overall environmental framework of reference, and the particular values, norms and images prevalent in different policy sectors (themselves dominated by professional or technocratic corporatism). The orthodox model has been challenged since the mid-1980s by the separate movements of decentralization and European integration. The orthodox school has acknowledged these changes, but insisted that the main tenets of their approach remain valid. This article challenges the main precepts of the orthodox model, especially in the light of recent policy evolutions. It advocates an approach which gives more room to sociological explanations, to the role of institutions and their actors, and to the emergence of horizontal and cross-sectoral public policies.
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