POLICY ALIENATION AND THE POWER OF PROFESSIONALS: CONFRONTING NEW POLICIES
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12096 |
| Date | 01 September 2014 |
| Published date | 01 September 2014 |
| Author | Leanne‐Marie Cotter |
doi: 10.1111/padm.12096
REVIEWS
POLICY ALIENATION AND THE POWER OF PROFESSIONALS: CONFRONTING
NEW POLICIES
Lars Tummers
Edward Elgar, 2013, 208 pp., £60.53 (hb), ISBN: 9781781954027
Why do so many public sector professionals resist policy change? Lars Tummersaddresses
this question by providing us with insight into the degree of alienation felt by profession-
als, focusing on public sector professionals and their experiences when implementing new
policies. Tummers denes ‘policy alienation’ as a general state of psychological discon-
nection from a policy that is being implemented by a professional who interacts directly
with clients on a regular basis. Tummers seeks to contribute to the debate surrounding
the pressures encountered by public sector professionals and their experiences of policy
implementation in service delivery. He aims to demonstrate that ‘alienation’ and feelings
of meaningless and powerlessness are compelling factors that often lead to resistance.
Part I provides a background to the concept of ‘alienation’, drawing on denitions from
Hegel, Marx, Fromm, and Marcuse. Part II denes the concept, relating the denition to the
work of Weber, Merton, and Lipsky before considering morerecent literature on alienation.
This section ends with Tummersdeveloping a quantitative scale measurement instrument
for policy alienation, which he proposes to use to test and validate his theory.Part III looks
at the main antecedents of policy alienation, and uses a qualitative comparative case study
design to identify the main factors of alienation. Tummers uses this empirical research to
identify three categories of factors which determine the degree of policy alienation. These
are: (1) components of New Public Management (such as ‘strict performance management’
and ‘focus on output controls’); (2) degree of professionalism and professional orienta-
tion; and (3) other factors. Tummers then links factors within these categories to one of
ve aspects of policy alienation, determining whether they increase or decrease the level
of alienation. For example, ‘strict performance management’ can increase the operational
powerlessness felt by professionals which in turn results in a higher degree of alienation,
whilst the opposite effect will be felt by a professional group with high status.
Part IV addresses the relationship between policy alienation and resistance in imple-
menting a policy.Tummers measures this through surveying 780 midwives implementing
policy change. Towards the end of the section he addresses other potential factors such
as the personality of the individual and organizational context, which may lead to
resistance, through a second survey of health care professionals implementing another
new policy. Here Tummers is retesting the inuence of policy alienation, by introducing
additional variables. This provides validity for the measurement instrument. Lastly,
Part V engages in a discussion of the ndings before concluding. Tummers neatly
summarizes the ndings before clearly stating six conclusions. For each, Tummers
discusses its practical implications as well as its position within academic debate. The
section ends with Tummers highlighting a clear path for further research to advance
the eld.
Public Administration Vol.92, No. 3, 2014 (761–768)
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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