Policy mix and capacities fostering the innovative culture? A comparative analysis of state governments

Resumo

The paper aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge about policy innovation by analyzing how policy instruments and governance capacity are employed in the successful experiences of state governments. This paper analyzes the state governments’ innovation initiatives rewarded in the Public Management Innovation Award (PMIA), promoted by the National School of Public Administration (Enap) in Brazil. We used content analysis on the PMIA winners’ reports to identify and discuss their policy instruments, initial goals, and their governance features. The paper’s main findings arethe policy mix approach is an appropriate analytical lens, there is no magic formula indicating the path to success, there is a predominance of initiatives based on network governance, all the innovations demonstrated the importance of operational capability combined with analytical and/or political competencies, the innovation agenda is strategic to state governments, also revealing a fertile research agenda.Dados do 1º Autor