TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC POLICIES IN CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT

ACROSS DISCIPLINES

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to set foundation for a grounded assessment of the transformation of contemporary policy-making under the influence of current crises by detecting the dimensions in which the context of policy-making has changed in the late 20^th and early 21^st century. The paper is based on a literature review from the political science policy studies, but also from related disciplines of public administration and social policy studies, which with their specific concepts likewise try to discern the transformation of contemporary policy-making. First, an attempt is made to roughly systematize the basic elements of contextual change within society, markets and the state; and then research focus is placed on the state types and its functions manifested through diverse public policies, the types of governance and the multiple variants through which it operates today, and the transformation of the welfare state towards the welfare mix. The main finding of the paper is that new functions, new structures, new goals, new instruments and new actors that were detected in policy-making at the turn of the century do not replace the old ones, but are added to them as additional layers. The so-called layering seems to be a key feature of the modern policy-making, although it cannot yet be determined whether it will facilitate or aggravate the overcoming of current crises.