NIRA News, No.5 May 2005

[Symposium/ Lecture]

NIRA 30th Anniversary Symposium

Public Governance Forum
- Policy Evaluation as a Means to Support Policy Formation

Outline
NIRA held the "Public Governance Forum" on March 1, 2005 in Tokyo. As the Government Policy Evaluation Act was enacted recently, policy evaluation is attracting attention as an important tool to improve effective governance in the public sector.

Therefore, this forum invited specialists on national- and local-level policy evaluation to discuss improvements to current policy evaluation processes, and proposed policy evaluation that would contribute to policy formation. In addition, NIRA introduced the NIRA Policy Evaluation Model that was established by the institute in its capacity as an outside assessor.

The forum program consisted of a keynote lecture and a panel discussion. More than 150 people, including specialists from various fields as well as those directly engaged in policy evaluation, participated in the symposium.

The following is a summary of the symposium.

Keynote Lecture
Professor Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Research Department, Center for National University Finance and Management delivered a keynote speech on the theme of "Public Governance and Policy Evaluation."

Before conducting policy evaluation, it is important to make clear the kind of governance the policies will produce and the principles of government management (management model). This is important because methods and theories for policy evaluation differ depending upon the governance type and the management model.

The current analysis of policy evaluation in Japan only emphasizes the "policy effect" in the policy process (framing of problem solution choice of approaches policy analysis policy design policy implementation policy effect). However, to achieve evaluations that will support policy formation and contribute to improvement of policies, it is necessary to discuss amply policy processes other than "policy effect" (framing of problems solution, choice of approaches, policy design, etc.).

Panel Discussion
The panel discussion consisted of Part 1: "Policy evaluation and policy formation" and Part 2: "Proposal of desirable policy evaluation methods."

In Part 1, the panel discussed primarily the following points: (1) that policy evaluation at the national and local governmental level will contribute to policy quality improvement; (2) the need for discussions on the desirable relationship between benefits and burdens of administrative resource costs concerning policy evaluation; and (3) desirable future policy evaluation systems. To use policy evaluation results effectively, it is necessary to position policy evaluation as part of policy analysis. In addition, the will of actors who implement and utilize policy evaluation, as well as open policy communities that support them, are required. In that case, policy evaluation that largely involves politics is necessary, and at the same time, it is crucial to solve the problem of who will bear the evaluation costs and how.

In Part 2, the "NIRA Policy Evaluation Model" and the "NIRA Benchmarking Model", established by NIRA in its capacity as an outside assessor, were introduced.

Finally, panelists made proposals concerning necessary components for policy evaluations that will contribute to policy formation.

These components include (1) the need to evaluate benefits and burdens of costs; (2) the importance of insuring the substantiality of the evaluation; (3) production of information that will contribute to the value to citizens (formation of will); (4) pluralism of assessors, perspectives, and methods; and (5) the necessity of maintaining archives of policy information in the broad sense, including policy evaluation.

[Completed Research Projects]

  • Towards Establishing a Cultural Administration System Based on Collaboration among Cities - The Future of Creative Urban Space

    This research project aimed to examine a "cultural administration system," a system for creating an attractive urban space by emphasizing the cross-border dynamism and multiculturalism of cities, which are two of the characteristics of cities in the era of globalization.

    In this research report, cities' dynamism is examined based on the understanding that cities can be treated as apparatuses by introducing concepts used in earth sciences, such as "concentration" and "divergence." In addition, the framework and key concepts necessary to reform city policies, such as "creativity" and "social capital" -- the economic foundation necessary for reviving the regions -- were examined. Focusing on the role played by arts, culture and festivals, the potential of multicultural cities, and policy issues necessary for enhancing such potential, were examined.

    The concept of a "creative city" was proposed as an effective means to revitalize the regions/cities based on the above analysis and in response to the era of the knowledge economy. This concept will contribute to establishing comprehensive city policies that differ fundamentally from existing centralized policies.

  • Coordination and Cooperation in the Century of the Cities - Case Studies
    Another key to revitalizing the cities is collaboration. In the new century of the cities, large cities do not necessarily play the central role. The equal and non-hierarchical relations between cities and, collaboration and cooperation beyond national borders have been effective, as is evident in efforts by cities to respond to common issues. In this survey, which was conducted as part of the aforementioned NIRA-conducted research project, the framework and conditions necessary for realizing effective cooperation among cities were analyzed with reference to the ongoing case studies listed below.

    In addition to these projects, the possibilities for collaborating with Montreal, a city that has adopted unique measures to revive itself, were examined.

    Subsidized Research Projects in General Fields (A)

  • Research on the Revatilization of Wide-area Local Governments and the Revival of Communities - Reorganization of the Local Government System Emphasizing Regional Characteristics

    This research project aimed to explore the optimal local government system required to establish a decentralized society; and policies for reviving those communities that will serve as the foundation for promoting the diverse development of the local communities. This project focused on the Kansai and Tohoku regions in order to clarify any disparities.

    After categorizing Japan into seven blocs, analyses were developed obtaining the following results. ? The number of basic local governments (municipalities) in the Kansai and Tohoku regions will be reduced to approximately one fourth of the current number. ? Financial simulations indicate that some basic local governments may not be able to finance their everday expenses with their revenues. ? In order to revitalize the communities, efforts to achieve efficient administrative management, cultivate new regional potential and promote collaboration with the private sector must be made.

    In addition, in order to invigorate the regional communities, the following proposals were presented. ? Establish a regional self-government system participated in by self-governing systems and run by citizens, adminstration and the assembly. ? Reform administrative systems in order to implement a system that emphasizes the region (eg., incrementally decentralize administrative organizations and reform the vertical structure of local governments into an integrated structure).

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