Understanding the Late Logic of the Public Policy- Making Knowledge; the Transition from a Government-Based Paradigm to a Governance Paradigm

The characteristic of classical public policy was the will to power by a government that authoritatively and centrally formulated its policies and implemented them in the society under its control. With the increase of emerging problems and challenges that are affecting other problems in a complicated and rhizome- like way, the complexity of the government's actions and their consequences has doubled as governments are forced to make changes in the nature of their public policy. This paradigm shift aimed at enhancing the capability and promoting government action in policy design and implementation implies a decentralized and network approach rather than a centralized and government-based one, an approach that focuses on a broad set of policy tools or technologies for public action, rather than the "institution" and "program", to solve public issues. More recent experiences are more inclined to the topic of 'policy baskets' or the arrangement of tools in 'policy blends' that form the content of a toolbox from which governments can choose and construct public policies. The present article, by adopting an epistemological approach, narrates the dimensions of this paradigm shift in identifying new public policy approaches; an attempt to understand the late logic of public policy knowledge based on the recreation of the role of government that has led to the emergence of new forms of network, multilevel and multipurpose governance.