Cultivating Policy Innovation in Hierarchical Societies

"Take a fascinating journey with Pobsook Chamchong to learn what it takes for a hierarchical nation to produce policy innovation. Her counterintuitive insight is that innovating in such a context depends on cultivating a deep commitment to co-creation." 

--Christopher Ansell, Professor, University of California, Berkeley.

“This book is a must read for anybody interested in how to stimulate co-creation of innovative solutions to societal problems in societies that are hierarchical both in terms of formal power distribution and cultural norms. Based on theoretical reflection and empirical inquiry, Pobsook emphasizes the crucial role that innovation cultivators play in building an ecosystem that supports and promotes cocreated innovation. An important contribution to the existing research is that she brings to light the importance of not only promoting horizontal network connections between local actors but also vertical networks between actors at different levels in organizational and communal hierarchies.”

--Eva Sørensen, Professor, Roskilde School of Governance, Roskilde University, Denmark.

This book examines policy innovations in highly hierarchical societies, particularly in Asia. Drawing on an insightful case study from Thailand, it assesses how policy innovations come to be cultivated at the sub-national level of a centralised government. In particular, the book assesses the role of policy innovation cultivators in the policymaking process, including the constraints placed upon them and the tactics they employ to overcome them. Whilst this topic has received much attention from Western scholars in democratic societies, far less studies have examined the role of policy innovation cultivators in Asia and the Global South, where countries are often governed by hierarchical, semi-autocratic governments. The book therefore offers important insights into how the role of these cultivators differs in different parts of the world, depending on the political context, administrative system, and socio-cultural setting in which they operate. It also highlights the need for culturally sensitive approaches to studying policy innovation, tracing a journey through generative policy ecosystems. It will appeal to all those interested in public policy, public administration and governance, as well as politics in Asia and the Global South.

Pobsook Chamchong is Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.