Ideas, Interests, and Institutions in Public Policymaking

Multiple theoretical and conceptual frameworks explain how public policies are developed, further contested, and reshaped. Underlying these frameworks are the following variables: ideas, interests, and institutions. While several studies have stressed the importance of each of these variables, how do they interact and, probably, interdepend in the making of public policy, particularly in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region? Building on an earlier work that emphasizes the importance of ideas, particularly in transnational policymaking in Ghana, this chapter explores how ideas influence the construction of interest and institutions. In doing so, it draws on information from policies and programmes implemented in some SSA countries. The chapter draws broadly from ideational analysis to argue that ideas are critical elements in public policy development. While interest and institutions direct policy actors’ behaviour in specific ways, ideational elements which include cognitive and normative beliefs define interests and serve as a basis for building support for institution creation and maintenance. The exploration of how the three variables interact in public policy process would extend the field of ideational studies by accounting for the interdependence of ideas, interests, and institutions in public policy.