Abstract
Governments have struggled to successfully implement large-scale integrated policy approaches, often resulting in policy failure. However, there has been little investigation into why this is the case. This paper links the discourse on policy failure and integrated policy approaches and identifies what aspects of ‘integration’ cause failure. It argues that programme failure occurs in integrated policy approaches when there are unachievable goals or timelines, poor policy design and/or when the incorrect types of processes are selected. Policy process failure is particularly evident in an integrated policy’s implementation where multi-sector and multi-level issues arise, whereas failure in the politics of integrated approaches is found in political gain and blame avoidance of key decision-makers. This framework is then applied to Australia’s Oceans Policy demonstrating that it was unable to achieve its original objectives; the layering process of new policy and institutions on established silos was ineffective; and the new institutions did not have the integrative capacity required for successful implementation. The Australian experience reveals that an institutional model that can deal with multiple issues, jurisdictions and sectors holistically is essential if integrative capacity is to be achieved.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Cth) gave the Commonwealth jurisdiction from the low water mark. The High Court confirmed the Commonwealth’s sovereignty in the three nautical mile area and the operation of the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Cth) through the Seas and Submerged Lands Case.
References
Al-Bisher, H., Gray, T., & Stead, S. M. (2012). The concept of integrated national maritime policy and its application to Saudi Arabia. Maritime Policy and Management, 39(5), 525–541.
Alder, J., & Ward, T. (2001). Australia’s Oceans Policy: Sink or swim? Journal of Environment and Development, 10(3), 266–289.
Australian Greens. (2008). Marine and coastal policies. Australian Greens Policy.
Australian Labor Party. (2007). Labor’s Reef Rescue Plan: Election 2007 Policy Document.
Bateman, S., & Bergin, A. (2009). Sea change: Advancing Australia’s ocean interests. Canberra: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Ltd.
Beland, D. (2007). Ideas and institutional change in social security: Conversion, layering and policy drift. Social Science Quarterly, 88(1), 20–38.
Bovens, M., & Hart, P. T. (1996). Understanding policy fiascoes. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Bovens, M., Hart, T. P., & Peters, B. G. (Eds.). (2001). Success and failure in public governance: A comparative analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Briassoulis, H. (2004). Policy integration for complex policy problems: What, why and how. In Paper presented at the 2004 Greening of Policies: Interlinkages and Policy Integration, Berlin, December 3–4, 2004.
Chircop, A., & Hildebrand, L. (2006). A perspective on integrated coastal and ocean management in Canada. In D. R. Rothwell & D. VanderZwaag (Eds.), Towards principled oceans governance: Australian and Canadian approaches and challenges (pp. 19–71). London: Routledge Press.
Cicin-Sain, B. (1993). Sustainable development and integrated coastal management. Ocean and Coastal Management, 21(1), 11–43.
Cicin-Sain, B., & Knecht, R. W. (1998). Integrated coastal and ocean management: Concepts and practices. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Commonwealth of Australia. (1997). Australia’s oceans, new horizons, oceans policy consultation paper. Canberra: AGPS.
Commonwealth of Australia. (1998a). Australia’s Oceans Policy—An issues paper. AGPS, May: Canberra.
Commonwealth of Australia. (1998b). Australia’s Oceans Policy: Caring, understanding and using wisely. Canberra: AGPS.
Commonwealth of Australia. (1998c). Australia’s Oceans Policy: Specific sectoral measures. Canberra: AGPS.
Commonwealth of Australia. (2012). Marine bioregional plan for the north west region. Canberra: Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
deLeon, P., & deLeon, L. (2002). What ever happened to policy implementation? An alternative approach. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 12(4), 467–492.
Department of Environment and Water Resources. (2007). New environment-related spending 2006–2007 Budget and key recent initiatives. http://www.environment.gov.au/about/publications/budget/2006/ebo/chapter2.html. Cited June 12, 2007.
Department of the Attorney General. (1980). The offshore constitutional settlement: A milestone in cooperative federalism. Canberra: AGPS.
Derkzen, P., Bock, B. B., & Wiskerke, J. S. C. (2009). Integrated Rural Policy in context: A case study on the meaning of ‘integration’ and the politics of ‘sectoring’. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 11(2), 143–163.
Douvere, F. (2008). The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management. Marine Policy, 32(5), 762–771.
Europa. (2014). Integrated Maritime Policy. http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy/index_en.htm
Foley, M. M., Armsby, M. H., Prahler, E. E., Caldwell, M. R., Erickson, A. L., Kittinger, J. N., et al. (2013). Improving ocean management through the use of ecological principles and integrated ecosystem assessments. BioScience, 63(8), 619–631.
Foster, E., Haward, M., & Coffen-Smout, S. (2005). Implementing integrated oceans management: Australia’s south east regional marine plan (SERMP) and Canada’s eastern Scotian shelf integrated management (ESSIM) initiative. Marine Policy, 29(5), 391–405.
Gullett, W., & Rose, G. (2011). Australia’s marine jurisdictions under international and domestic law. In W. Gullett, C. Schofield, & J. Vince (Eds.), Marine resources management. Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Hatton, J., Cork, S., Harper, P., Joy, R., Kanowski, P., Mackay, R., et al. (2011). State of the environment. Canberra: Department of Environment, Sustainability, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia.
Haward, M. (1991). The offshore. In B. Galligan, O. Hughes, & C. Walsh (Eds.), Inter-governmental relations and public policy (pp. 109–128). Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Haward, M. (2003). The ocean and marine realm. In S. Dovers & S. Wild River (Eds.), Managing Australia’s environment (pp. 35–52). Sydney: The Federation Press.
Haward, M. (2011). Marine resources and environmental policy and politics. In W. Gullett, C. Schofield, & J. Vince (Eds.), Marine resources management. Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Haward, M., & Vince, J. (2008). Oceans governance in the twenty-first century: Managing the blue planet. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Haward, M., & Vince, J. (2009). Australian ocean governance: Initiatives and challenges. Coastal Management, 37(1), 1–16.
Herriman, M., Tsamenyi, M., Ramli, J. & Bateman, S. (1997). Australia’s Oceans Policy: International agreements, background paper 2. A Report Commissioned by Environment Australia, October.
Hill, R. (1999). National Oceans Office Established as an Executive Agency. Media Release, National Oceans Office, 20 December.
Hood, C. (2007). What happens when transparency meets blame-avoidance? Public Management Review, 9(2), 191–210.
Howlett, M. (2012). The lessons of failure: Learning and blame avoidance in public policy-making. International Political Science Review, 33(5), 539–555.
Howlett, M., & del Rio, P. (2015). The parameters of policy portfolios: Verticality and horizontality in design spaces and their consequences for policy mix formulation. Environment and Planning C (forthcoming).
Howlett, M., & Rayner, J. (2006). Convergence and divergence in ‘New Governance’ arrangements: Evidence from European integrated natural resource strategies. Journal of Public Policy, 26(2), 167.
Howlett, M., & Rayner, J. (2013). Patching vs packaging in policy formulation: Complementary effects, goodness of fit, degrees of freedom, and feasibility in policy portfolio design. Annual Review of Policy Design, 1(1), 1–19.
Hu, N.-T. A. (2012). Integrated oceans policymaking: An ongoing process or a forgotten concept? Coastal Management, 40(2), 107–118.
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (2005). The ocean policy summit 2005 bulletin. http://www.iisd.ca/crs/tops2005/ymbvol117num1e.html.
Jabour, J. (2011). The double-edged sword of Australia’s whaling policy. In W. Gullett, C. Schofield, & J. Vince (Eds.), Marine resources management (pp. 157–170). Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Jann, W., & Wegrich, K. (2007). 4 Theories of the policy cycle. In F. Fischer, G. J. Miller, & M. Sidney (Eds.), Handbook of public policy analysis: Theory, politics, and methods. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Jay, S., Flannery, W., Vince, J., Liu, W., Xue, J., Matczak, M., et al. (2013). International progress in marine spatial planning. In A. Chircop & S. Coffen-Smout (Eds.), Ocean yearbook 27 (pp. 171–212). Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Kay, A. (2007). Tense layering and synthetic policy paradigms: The politics of health insurance in Australia. Australian Journal of Political Science, 42(4), 579–591.
Keating, P. J. (1995). Oceans Policy: Statement. Press Release, the Prime Minister, the Hon P. J. Keating, No. 144/95, 8 December.
Kenchington, R., & Crawford, D. (1993). On the meaning of integration in coastal zone management. Ocean & Coastal Management, 21(1), 109–127.
Levin, P., Fogarty, M., Murawski, S., & Fluharty, D. (2009). Integrated ecosystem assessments: Developing the scientific basis for ecosystem-based management of the ocean. PLoS Biology, 7(1), e1000014.
Levy, J. P. (1988). Towards an integrated marine policy in developing countries. Marine Policy, 12(4), 326–342.
Levy, J. P. (1993). A national ocean policy: An elusive quest. Marine Policy, 17(2), 75–80.
Ling, T. (2002). Delivering joined-up government in the UK: Dimensions, issues and problems. Public Administration, 80(4), 615–642.
Lipsky, M. (1980). Street-level bureaucracy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
MAGOP. (1998). Australia’s Oceans Policy: A report of the Ministerial Advisory Group on oceans policy. Canberra: Environment Australia.
May, P. J. (2014). Implementation failures revisited: Policy regime perspectives. Public Policy and Administration, 0952076714561505.
Mazmanian, D. A., & Sabatier, P. A. (Eds.). (1981). Implementation and public policy. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
McConnell, A. (2010). Policy success, policy failure and grey areas in-between. Journal of Public Policy, 30(3), 345–362.
McConnell, A. (2015). What is policy failure? A primer to help navigate the maze. Public Policy and Administration, 0952076714565416.
Meijers, E., Stead, D. (2004). Policy integration: What does it mean and how can it be achieved? A multi-disciplinary review. In Paper presented at the 2004 Greening of Policies: Interlinkages and Policy Integration, Berlin, December 3–4, 2004.
Metcalfe, L. (1994). International policy coordination and public management reform. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 60, 271–290.
Misund, O. (2006). Ecosystem-based management: Definition and international principles. Bergen, Norway: Institute of Marine Research.
National Ocean Council. (2014). http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans
Newman, J., & Head, B. W. (2015). Categories of failure in climate change mitigation policy in Australia. Public Policy and Administration, 0952076714565832.
Nursey-Bray, M. J., Vince, J., Scott, M., Haward, M., O’Toole, K., Smith, T., et al. (2014). Science into policy? Discourse, coastal management and knowledge. Environmental Science & Policy, 38, 107–119.
O’Connell, C. (1998). Developing Australia’s Oceans Policy. In Outlook Conference, ABARE, Canberra, 1998.
Office of the Auditor General Canada. (2005). Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, 29 September.
Peters, B. G. (1998). Managing horizontal government: The politics of coordination. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Management Development.
Pressman, J. L., & Wildavsky, A. B. (1973). Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland: Or, Why It’s Amazing that Federal Programs Work At All, this Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration as Told by Two Sympathetic Observers Who Seek to Build Morals on a Foundation of Ruined Hopes. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Putnam, R. D. (1988). Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games. International Organization, 42(3), 428–460.
Rayner, J., & Howlett, M. (2009a). Introduction: Understanding integrated policy strategies and their evolution. Policy and Society, 28(2), 99–109.
Rayner, J., & Howlett, M. (2009b). Conclusion: Governance arrangements and policy capacity for policy integration. Policy and Society, 28(2), 99–109.
Rio Ocean Declaration. (2012). The co-chairs’ statement of the oceans day at Rio+20, June 16, 2012.
Rose, G., & Smyth, C. (2006). Harmonising Australian environmental law: An oceans act for Australia’s oceans. National Environmental Law Review, 1, 32–37.
Smyth, C., Prideax, M., Davey, K., & Grady, M. (2003). Oceans eleven: The implementation of Australia’s Oceans Policy and ecosystem based regional marine planning. Victoria: Australian Conservation Foundation.
Sullivan, S. (2004). Beyond our coasts—Australia’s Oceans Policy. In Paper presented at the Coast to Coast Conference, Hobart, April 19–23.
TFG International. (2002). Review of the Implementation of Oceans Policy, Hobart.
Thelen, K. (2000). Timing and temporality in the analysis of institutional evolution and change. Studies in American Political Development, 14, 102–109.
Tsamenyi, M., & Kenchington, R. (2012). Australian oceans policymaking. Coastal Management, 40(2), 119–132.
UN (1992). Agenda 21: Programme of action for sustainable development and the UNCED proceedings, ‘Chapter 17’ Oceana, New York, Part 17.5.
UN. (2012). The future we want. New York: United Nations.
UN Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea. (2013), meetings of the united nations open-ended informal consultative process on oceans and the law of the sea. http://www.un.org/depts/los/consultative_process/consultative_process.htm
Underdal, A. (1980). Integrated marine policy: What? why? how? Marine Policy, 4(3), 159–169.
United Nations, Convention on the Law of the Sea, done in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 10 December 1982, in force 16 November 1994, 1833, UNTS 396.
Van der Heijden, J. (2011). Institutional layering: A review of the use of the concept. Politics, 31(1), 9–18.
Vince, J. (2003). Australia’s Oceans Policy: Five years of integration across sectors and jurisdictions? Maritime Studies, 133, 1–13.
Vince, J. (2005). Policy transfer in ocean governance: Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In proceedings of the Australasian political studies association conference, Dunedin, New Zealand, 27–30 September 2005.
Vince, J. (2006). The south east regional marine plan: Implementing Australia’s Oceans Policy. Marine Policy, 30, 420–430.
Vince, J. (2008). Policy transfer in oceans governance: Learning lessons from Australia’s Oceans Policy process. Ocean Yearbook, 22, 159–181.
Vince, J. (2011). Managing Australia’s oceans through the oceans policy process. In W. Gullett, C. Schofield, & J. Vince (Eds.), Marine resources management. Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Vince, J. (2013). Marine bioregional plans and implementation issues: Australia’s Oceans Policy process. Marine Policy, 38, 325–329.
Vince, J. & Nursey-Bray, M. (2013). Australia’s ocean commitments from Rio+20: Moving forward or two steps back? In Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) Conference 2013, Murdoch University, Perth Western Australia, 30th September–2nd October, 2013.
Walsh, J. I. (2006). Policy failure and policy change British security policy after the cold war. Comparative Political Studies, 39(4), 490–518.
Watt, D. C. (1990). An integrated marine policy: A meaningful concept? Marine Policy, 14(4), 299–304.
Wescott, G. (2000). The development and initial implementation of Australia’s ‘integrated and comprehensive’ Oceans Policy. Ocean and Coastal Management, 43, 853–878.
Wescott, G., & Fitzsimons, J. (2011). Stakeholder involvement and interplay in coastal zone management and marine protected area planning. In W. Gullett, C. Schofield, & J. Vince (Eds.), Marine resources management (pp. 157–170). Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Williams, R., & McNutt, K. (2013). Climate change adaptation and policy capacity in the canadian finance sector: A Meso analysis. Review of Policy Research, 30(1), 91–112.
WSSD. (2002). Plan of implementation. United Nations: Johannesburg.
Young, O. R., Osherenko, G., Ekstrom, J., Crowder, L. B., Ogden, J., Wilson, J. A., et al. (2007). Solving the crisis in ocean governance: place-based management of marine ecosystems. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 49(4), 20–32.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vince, J. Integrated policy approaches and policy failure: the case of Australia’s Oceans Policy. Policy Sci 48, 159–180 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-015-9215-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-015-9215-z