Interest Groups and Policy Capacity: Modes of Engagement, Policy Goods and Networks

Policy capacity has been defned as “the set of skills and resources—or competences and capabilities—necessary to perform policy functions” (Wu et al. 2015, p. 2), as well as the ability of states “to marshal the necessary resources to make intelligent choices about and set strategic directions for the allocation of scarce resources to public ends” (Painter and Pierre 2005, p. 2). Policy capacity is also considered as the “weaving fabric” (Parsons 2004) necessary for the development of coherent policy and essential for policy success. In a similar vein, recent work has highlighted how governance arrangements can enable or constrain the capacity of governments to identify and address key policy problems, leading to policy success or the persistence of policy failures (Howlett et al. 2015). While the concept of policy capacity usually has been applied at a ‘systematic’ level (such as at the aggregate level of governments or political systems), it can also be used to assess the resources and capabilities of organizations and individuals, and obtain a better understanding of their possible contribution to public policy. As argued by Wu et al., “the capacity of other stakeholders in policymaking is an important aspect of policy capacity” (2015, p. 3).