Comparing in order to build public policy in times of globalization

Abstract

The design of public policy embodies the comparison and systematization of experience in dissimilar locations. It is the process that allows us to understand the experience of others to reach entitlement. The purpose of this paper is to take public policy from a Popperian point of view, where policies are understood as a theory, i.e., not the intake or sum total of observations but rather, conjectures or hypotheses tested in observation, with the possibility to be eliminated or improved and enhanced in their weaknesses. Hence the relevance of a framework for comparison. The aim of this paper is to present the comparative method comprehensively in order to facilitate its implementation in the academic arena or in public policy. This paper is divided into three parts. The first is the definition of the method; the second suggests a procedure for implementation and finally the third and final sets out the relevance for the design and evaluation of public policy.