Interpretacion de la transferencia de politicas: Una perspectiva multidisciplinaria y de niveles multiples

At the same time that international political scientists have been confronting the problems of analysing state behaviour under conditions of uncertainty, domestic policy scientist are attempting, somewhat belatedly, to deal with the increasing complexity and uncertainty which underpins modern governance. Yet despite complimentary agendas both literatures have continued to speak past each other. This article argues that policy transfer analysis can provide a context for integrating some key concerns of both disciplines. We illustrate this argument by characterising those dimensions in which we consider policy transfer to be heuristically useful; by developing the concept of a policy transfer network as an analytical framework; and finally, by elaborating validation criteria to illustrate what kind of policy transfer has occurred or is occurring when we undertake empirical research. The article contends that the process of policy transfer should be examined through a structure and agency approach with three dimensions: global, international and transnational levels, the macro-level and the interorganisational level. This three dimensional model employs the notion of a policy transfer network as a middle-range level of analysis which links a particular form of policy development (policy transfer), micro-decision making in organisations, macro-systems and global, transnational and international systems. It is hoped that this approach will stimulate an empirical research agenda which will illuminate important policy developments at the domestic and world level.