The structuring of goals as a condition of effective policy design: analysis of the technical dimension of Croatian policy goals

Ana Kekez, Nikola Baketa, Marko Kovačić and Ana Petek are the authors of the scientific paper “The structuring of goals as a condition of effective policy design: analysis of the technical dimension of Croatian policy goals”. The paper is published in the journal “Annals of the Croatian Political Science Association: political science journal”, which is indexed in Q2 in the Scopus database for Sociology and Political Science (2022).

Abstract: The goal of the paper is to contribute to the development of the empirical theory of public policies in matters of the quality of public policy design. The paper is focused on the goals of public policies which are the central component of the design of each policy area. The analytical framework is based on the distinction of seven technical types of public policy goals: general goals, goals focused on the way of realization, on the responsible actor, on the user, concretely focused goals, semi-structured and structured goals. The collection and analysis of data are guided by the rules of qualitative content analysis, and the objectives are investigated using 11 strategic documents of the Croatian government. In the examined policies, goals with general purposes dominate, as well as those with a smaller number of structural elements, which shows a lower level of operationalization of goals, poorer quality of preparation for implementation and connection with instruments, and a lower effectiveness of the design of Croatian public policies. The groups of analyzed policies differ, and the strategies intended for the target groups are better operationalized than those of the fundamental areas and specific social problems. The analysis of technical types of goals shows that the ratios between the frequency of their occurrence are a good indicator of the overall efficiency of public policy design.

The paper is available at the link.