Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland
This research seeks to explain a landmark change in the provision of public services for people with disabilities in Iceland. Public policy has for long been characterized by incremental changes. Every now and then, major policy changes take place and longstanding policy objectives pushed by interes...
Published in: | Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English Icelandic |
Published: |
University of Iceland
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 https://doaj.org/article/24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 2023-05-15T16:47:45+02:00 Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 https://doaj.org/article/24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 EN IS eng ice University of Iceland http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2486 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 https://doaj.org/article/24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 12, Iss 2, Pp 277-302 (2016) Opinber stefnumótun skipulagsbreytingar hagsmunahópar athafnafólk og pólitísk tækifæri Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 2022-12-31T13:27:22Z This research seeks to explain a landmark change in the provision of public services for people with disabilities in Iceland. Public policy has for long been characterized by incremental changes. Every now and then, major policy changes take place and longstanding policy objectives pushed by interest groups come through. Agenda-setting theories seek to explain major policy changes by focusing on how and why a policy issue gets on governments ́ agenda at a given point in time. The American political scientist, John W. Kingdon, presented his theory of three streams and the window of opportunity some 30 years ago. European scientists maintain in their recent research that Kingdon ́s approach is helpful in shedding light on how the political system in which public policy-making takes place operates and how behaviour and strategies of those participating in the process influence the outcome. This qualitative research examines how the idea about user-driven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland. The study is based on existing data and interviews with key people involved in the policy development leading to the decision to implement the programme of user-driven personal assistance. The research describes how and why this idea reached the government agenda and came to be implemented by Icelandic authorities. The conclusions show how the process of decentralisation opened opportunities for a new ideology which benefitted service users, and business as well as political interests. The conclusions indicate that not only was there a right man at the right place at the right time, but it provides theoretical explanations about what characterises policy entrepreneurs and how and why their activities matter in times of uncertainty. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla 12 2 277 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Icelandic |
topic |
Opinber stefnumótun skipulagsbreytingar hagsmunahópar athafnafólk og pólitísk tækifæri Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
spellingShingle |
Opinber stefnumótun skipulagsbreytingar hagsmunahópar athafnafólk og pólitísk tækifæri Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
topic_facet |
Opinber stefnumótun skipulagsbreytingar hagsmunahópar athafnafólk og pólitísk tækifæri Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
description |
This research seeks to explain a landmark change in the provision of public services for people with disabilities in Iceland. Public policy has for long been characterized by incremental changes. Every now and then, major policy changes take place and longstanding policy objectives pushed by interest groups come through. Agenda-setting theories seek to explain major policy changes by focusing on how and why a policy issue gets on governments ́ agenda at a given point in time. The American political scientist, John W. Kingdon, presented his theory of three streams and the window of opportunity some 30 years ago. European scientists maintain in their recent research that Kingdon ́s approach is helpful in shedding light on how the political system in which public policy-making takes place operates and how behaviour and strategies of those participating in the process influence the outcome. This qualitative research examines how the idea about user-driven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland. The study is based on existing data and interviews with key people involved in the policy development leading to the decision to implement the programme of user-driven personal assistance. The research describes how and why this idea reached the government agenda and came to be implemented by Icelandic authorities. The conclusions show how the process of decentralisation opened opportunities for a new ideology which benefitted service users, and business as well as political interests. The conclusions indicate that not only was there a right man at the right place at the right time, but it provides theoretical explanations about what characterises policy entrepreneurs and how and why their activities matter in times of uncertainty. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir |
author_facet |
Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir |
author_sort |
Sigurbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir |
title |
Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
title_short |
Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
title_full |
Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: How the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in Iceland |
title_sort |
policy entrepreneurs in times of uncertainty: how the idea of userdriven personal assistance came to fruition in iceland |
publisher |
University of Iceland |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 https://doaj.org/article/24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 12, Iss 2, Pp 277-302 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2486 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 https://doaj.org/article/24edc7de18554d7cb7dd8c725a98ca95 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.5 |
container_title |
Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
277 |
_version_ |
1766037862554271744 |