Implementation networks: Non -state resources for getting *policy done.

Abstract

This dissertation argues policy-as-written often fails to teach implementers what they need to know to do policy. Instead, I identify a network of non-state policy professionals---i.e. professional associations, academics, trainers, and consultants---who teach policy and its entailments, to implementers, acting as a non-state resource for getting policy done. These implementation networks may interpret and publicize legislation, formulate and recommend the organizational or individual practices needed for implementation, or train implementers in the skills needed to do their jobs differently. This implementer learning perspective poses a challenge to traditional theories of implementation, which I argue rely heavily on principal-agent models and thus obscure the effects of actor understanding---or misunderstanding---on policy outcomes. This dissertation also uncovers the influence of non-state actors on implementation, and asks questions about their authority over agents of the state. Finally, it suggests a method for improving implementation through state monitoring and management of these entities. To explore these claims, I examine implementation networks which operate in the fields of law enforcement and education. In law enforcement, I study the network which provides police departments and officers community policing expertise, and ask what effect those resources have on organizations and the individuals who work in them. In education, I study the network which teaches teachers about a new mathematics policy, and ask whether the influence of this network can be traced through to classrooms. In both cases, I try to understand networks' work by interviewing the professionals, academics, and trainers which comprise them, and by attending and analyzing the trainings and materials created by these actors. To understand networks' influence on policy implementation, I interview agents responsible for implementing policy---police officers, teachers, and their supervisors---and observe their work.