Integrative Political Strategies — Conceptualizing and Analyzing a New Type of Policy Field
the organizational arrangements , and the procedures that are directly related to IPS . Thereby , scholars barely gain a deeper understanding of how IPS actually work in relation to other ways of nonintegrative and nonstrategic policymaking . And they miss taking into account the broader and long-term implications of IPS on the policy system , more generally .
Overall , there is no clear direction in how one should understand and analyze IPS . Drawing on functional conceptualizations of their objects , current analyses disregard a differentiated picture of what real-world actors might do for what reasons and to what effects when opting for IPS . By narrowing down the analytical perspective to certain functions , such a functional perspective might miss parts of the story to be told about IPS — and come up with misleading “ evidencebased ” recommendations to abandon this presumably failed form of steering , management , or governance .
Against the backdrop of these critical concerns , I suggest stepping back to reconsider how IPS are conceptually understood and analytically examined . This approach shall provide the grounds for a picture of IPS that is free from implicit functional presumptions ( and , therefore , can serve as a more adequate basis for subsequent functional assessments and prescriptions ). For this purpose , I combine a practical orientation with a conceptual-critical stance . Practical orientation means that I follow the policy actors in their declared ambition to pursue new ways of policymaking . Therefore , I organize the conceptualization around the notions that are relevant for the policy actors themselves in their practical efforts , namely , integration and strategy . However , a conceptual – critical approach implies that I do not simply adopt practitioners ’ concepts for scientific analysis . Rather , I systematically elaborate on the “ conceptual space ” within which their orientations and practical aspirations might evolve . I do so by developing an analytical repertoire for critically assessing understandings and practices of integrative and strategic policymaking .
Consequently , I proceed in two steps . First , I highlight a conceptual understanding of IPS in terms of a newly emerging type of policy field , reflecting the practical attempts of policy actors toward an integrative and strategic policymaking ( Section 3 ). Second , to fully comprehend the form and functioning of this type of policy field , I propose shifting the focus to the two cornerstones of these newly emerging “ reflexive ” policy fields — integration and strategy — and sketch the contours of an integration- and strategyoriented policy analysis ( Section 4 ).
3 . Conceptualizing Integrative Political Strategies as a New Type of Policy Field
In searching for an alternative perspective with the potential to look at IPS in a less instrumental , yet more comprehensive , embedded , and differentiated way , the “ policy-field ” concept appears to be a good starting point . The notion of “ field ” does not only refrain from a priori presumed normative functions and , thus , indicates a shift from prescription to analysis ( Martin 2003 ), but it also opens the view to more encompassing configurations of elements ( Fligstein and McAdam 2012 ). Moreover , the field concept comes with of being well established in policy
174