Literature Review

1005 Words3 Pages

For the purpose of this literature review I will examine the article “Political and Academic Linkages in Public Sector Policymaking” written by LaVerne Williamson Hill. The article discusses the problem between “real world” policy makers and the “ivory tower” academic. Both parties can contribute successfully to the other party, however rarely venture into each other’s worlds.

This article would aid in my research as my research involves Tax simplification and whether this leads to understanding. This would be relevant in public sector policy making as if simplification does not lead to understanding the system will require change. In that the relationship between the academic world and the public policy makers will be required and the limitations as set out by this article must be considered.

The article in question discusses the changes in this area through time by quoting relevant papers as time progressed. The article contributes to the discussion as it summarises the issue and portrays to the reader the need for further work in this area. Although I would recommend that interviews of both academics and policymakers that have partaken in these partnerships would have strengthened the paper and given more credibility to the recommendations.

I would recommend that further research should be done in regards to the distrust between the discussed parties and the reasoning behind this distrust. You will be unable to bridge the gap until you fully understand the issues at hand. The other area I recommend further research would be in regards to the issue that this type of research is not counted for promotional opportunities and the reasons for this. It can be understood that a limitation to this research is lack of publication ...

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...d how others have overcome these.

The results of the study are not well displayed and not clear to the reader. The results for this article were the possible ways of designing a successful partnership between the two parties. The authors do provide this however as highlighted above these suggestions cannot be held as credible as discussion with the participants is required. In addition to this there was no clear conclusion of the paper discussing what benefit this article has provided.

In conclusion, I do believe the article provides an insight into the issue although the authors should have completed a range of interviews the provide credibility to their possible solutions. Further work will be required in this area however it is a topical issue and the relationship between the academics and the policymakers is required for effective policymaking in the future.

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