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Why process matters (at least) as much as content in good PSIA efforts

Why process matters (at least) as much as content in good PSIA efforts. Christopher T. Mallmann PSIA Learning event Washington DC 13.-14. March 2013. Content. PSIA as an (advisory) intervention into policy (decision making) processes How to balance analysis and process advice

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Why process matters (at least) as much as content in good PSIA efforts

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  1. Why process matters (at least) as much as content in good PSIA efforts Christopher T. MallmannPSIA Learning event Washington DC13.-14. March 2013

  2. Content • PSIA as an (advisory) intervention into policy (decision making) processes • How to balance analysis and process advice • How to get the evidence through to the client • The role of the advisor in PSIA processes • How to make “process”? • Example Social Sector PSIA Armenia

  3. PSIA as an (advisory) intervention into policy processes • When is PSIA a policy process intervention and what makes it different from policy research? • What makes a good intervention? Argyris’ 3 requirements • What is the ulterior motivation behind PSIA: evidence-based “better” policy making • How evidence helps make better decisions • Who are “we”?

  4. How to equilibrate process and content in PSIA • Too much content does not help = The big book fallacy • Too little process undermines good content • Complementary advisory or the adequate mix of content and process in policy advisory • The best we can hope for: more technocratic comparability vs. “political” outcomes determined by power or chance

  5. How to get the evidence to the client… • Evidence applied: why different policy outcomes are preferred by different people • How to get evidence to the client: inside or out, the place for advisors in PSIA • Criteria for comparing policy options: making politicised arguments measurable • Helping the argument, not taking sides – but still making a stand • The four roles and functions of the PSIA facilitator

  6. The role of the advisor in PSIA • Becoming part without being partisan: the go between • Enhancing political compromise through creating more clarity and transparency: political targets in numbers or relation to the objective • Be the translator, the elevator if need be, but neither the head teacher, nor the expert..

  7. How to make “process”? • Process design: architecture, participants and structured communication • Process moderation: the role for uninterested outsiders • Process inputs: making policy options comparable by creating criteria What “due process” actually does to the “evidence” • …it “processes” the information for policy consumption • It produces the matching points where decisions are possible = without process the evidence produced gets lost.. ALL THIS NEEDS THE TIME IT NEEDS!!

  8. Armenian PSIA outcomes- policy orientation and relevance • Process and content in Armenia’s Labor Market PSIA; Participation and mandate, chronology and outcome • Small but beautiful: why bigger efforts fail more easily; size, inclusion and its limits • Policy outcomes from process-orientation: • A water (price) “shed”: how the process resulted in a red-line water price for politicians • Social service delivery chain redesign • Immediate re-budgeting for certain activities (active vs passive labour market measures) • Communication and joint research between decision makers and researchers (Open Forum)

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