Policy Instruments: Typologies and Theories

Abstract

This chapter first describes the conceptions of policy instruments. There are presently a plethora of classifications of policy instruments. The chapter illustrates this conceptual diversity by providing a few samples from the ample smorgasbord of classifications. It then argues that a threefold classification is more fruitful. An appropriate starting point for the elaboration of a threefold classification can be found in Amitai Etzioni&s;s widely acclaimed work A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations . Having initially defined power as "an actor&s;s ability to induce or influence another actor to carry out his directives or any other norms he supports", Etzioni sets out to differentiate between three kinds of power, referred to as coercive, remunerative, and normative. The chapter also focuses on the threefold classificatory scheme. The basis of division inherent in the threefold classificatory scheme is technique of governance, or more specifically, the authoritative force involved in the governance efforts. The chapter further summarizes some implications of this in detail.