Participation and Professionalism in Policy Work: Questions for Polities in Transition

• Main Author: Hal K. Colebatch
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia 2014-01-01
• Series: Anali Hrvatskog Politološkog Društva
• Subjects: policy analysis; democracy; expertise; Eastern Europe; policy discourse
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/206842

The emergence of ‘policy analysis’ as a skilled occupation in the governmental process raised questions about the significance of this work for democratic control in government, and the relationship between the discourses of elected leadership, expert policy analysis, and public norms and understandings, in the construction of policy. The questions are even more acute in the ‘transitional polities’ of Eastern Europe, where the norms of democratic accountability are less well established, but the rules of the game are ‘under reconstruction’. This paper reviews the way the themes of professionalism and participation relate to policy work in transitional polities, the tensions that policy workers face, and the way that the diverse discourses available are mobilized in the discursive construction of policy and policy work.