Adam Hannah
Biographic Data
| ID | 4372966 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Adam Hannah |
| GIVEN NAMES | Adam |
| FAMILY NAME | Hannah |
| SIGNATURE | HANNAH A |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Queensland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5063-5755 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Avoiding the brakes: Malign policy and legal advice in the Robodebt scandal
Robodebt, a welfare compliance scheme that issued illegitimate debts to more than 500,000 welfare recipients, is among the most prominent examples of malign policymaking in recent Australian history. In this article, we seek to understand how the Australian Government came to implement a scheme that was in clear violation of social security law, focusing specifically on the role of legal advice. Legal advice can play an important role in policy d…
Robodebt: Administrative harm and Australian social policy
Ignoring harm, saving face: Non-knowledge, senior public servants and the Robodebt scheme
Media actors as policy entrepreneurs: A case study of “No Jab, No Play” and “No Jab, No Pay” mandatory vaccination policies in Australia
The media’s central role in the policy process has long been recognised, with policy scholars noting the potential for news media to influence policy change. However, scholars have paid most attention to the news media as a conduit for the agendas, frames, and preferences of other policy actors. Recently, scholars have more closely examined media actors directly contributing to policy change. This paper presents a case study to argue that specifi…
Policy capacity: Evolving theory and missing links
We trace the evolution of understandings and applications of policy capacity through a meta-analysis of studies in the policy and administrative sciences that focus on definitions or conceptualizations of capacity, capability or competency, political resources and the functioning of policy systems, and variables or mechanisms leading to outcomes. We critique and disentangle common operationalizations, such as policy success and failure, to enable…
The role of ‘non-knowledge’ in crisis policymaking: A proposal and agenda for future research
Background: Recent complex and cross-boundary policy problems, such as climate change, pandemics, and financial crises, have recentred debates about state capacity, democratic discontent and the ‘crisis of expertise’. These problems are contested and open to redefinition, misunderstanding, spin, and deception, challenging the ability of policymakers to locate, discriminate, comprehend, and respond to competing sources of knowledge and expertise. …
Ideas and crisis in policy and administration: Existing links and research frontiers
The study of ideas and crisis in public policy and administration has generated two literatures with shared interests, but often distinct approaches. In this Symposium introduction, we argue that crisis studies and the “ideas school” have much to learn from each other. To facilitate cross‐pollination, this article reviews key insights from the two literatures with relevance across the divide. In our view, crisis studies offer important parameters…
Procedural tools and pension reform in the long run: The case of Sweden
Welfare state reform is understood to be risky, difficult and still ongoing. As such, there is a need for analytic tools that can aid understanding of how governments are able to overcome the various barriers they face in seeking change, and the challenges of managing complex and hybridised welfare arrangements. This article argues that the policy tools literature provides several promising avenues for doing so. Specifically, it suggests that pro…
The promises and pitfalls of polysemic ideas: ‘One Health’ and antimicrobial resistance policy in Australia and the UK
Evaluating the role of bricolage in US Health Care policy reform
Understanding of the role of ideas in non-paradigmatic policy change has been advanced by the introduction of the concept of bricolage, which suggests that reformers are likely to piece together ideas from disparate sources. However, the current literature is limited in several ways. As such, this article proposes three main contributions to the field. First, the use of bricolage as a pragmatic strategy is perfectly compatible with actors being m…
Welfare capabilities: Evaluating distributional inequalities and welfare policy in advanced democracies
While the welfare state literature has made great advances in describing and explaining policy, comparatively less time has been spent systematically examining the outcomes of those welfare policies. Prominent debates have largely centred on the extent to which welfare states have been retrenched and whether they can be effectively classified by regime type. This article argues that while such debates have resulted in valuable theoretical and emp…
Rethinking the ‘open functional’ approach: Ideas, problem pressure and reform in the contemporary welfare state
Recognition that welfare states continue to change has fostered debate about the relationship between ideas and policy problems in driving governments towards reform. To move the debate forward, this article proposes a modification of Barbara Vis and Kees van Kersbergen's ‘open functional approach’. It first argues that while policy problems may provide ‘functional pressure’ to reform, this pressure is significant only in so far as inaction would…
The quest for order: A review of international sugar agreements
Ideas and crisis in policy and administration: Existing links and research frontiers
The study of ideas and crisis in public policy and administration has generated two literatures with shared interests, but often distinct approaches. In this Symposium introduction, we argue that crisis studies and the “ideas school” have much to learn from each other. To facilitate cross‐pollination, this article reviews key insights from the two literatures with relevance across the divide. In our view, crisis studies offer important parameters…
Evaluating the role of bricolage in US Health Care policy reform
Understanding of the role of ideas in non-paradigmatic policy change has been advanced by the introduction of the concept of bricolage, which suggests that reformers are likely to piece together ideas from disparate sources. However, the current literature is limited in several ways. As such, this article proposes three main contributions to the field. First, the use of bricolage as a pragmatic strategy is perfectly compatible with actors being m…
Rethinking the ‘open functional’ approach: Ideas, problem pressure and reform in the contemporary welfare state
Recognition that welfare states continue to change has fostered debate about the relationship between ideas and policy problems in driving governments towards reform. To move the debate forward, this article proposes a modification of Barbara Vis and Kees van Kersbergen's ‘open functional approach’. It first argues that while policy problems may provide ‘functional pressure’ to reform, this pressure is significant only in so far as inaction would…
Policy capacity: Evolving theory and missing links
We trace the evolution of understandings and applications of policy capacity through a meta-analysis of studies in the policy and administrative sciences that focus on definitions or conceptualizations of capacity, capability or competency, political resources and the functioning of policy systems, and variables or mechanisms leading to outcomes. We critique and disentangle common operationalizations, such as policy success and failure, to enable…
The role of ‘non-knowledge’ in crisis policymaking: A proposal and agenda for future research
Background: Recent complex and cross-boundary policy problems, such as climate change, pandemics, and financial crises, have recentred debates about state capacity, democratic discontent and the ‘crisis of expertise’. These problems are contested and open to redefinition, misunderstanding, spin, and deception, challenging the ability of policymakers to locate, discriminate, comprehend, and respond to competing sources of knowledge and expertise. …
Procedural tools and pension reform in the long run: The case of Sweden
Welfare state reform is understood to be risky, difficult and still ongoing. As such, there is a need for analytic tools that can aid understanding of how governments are able to overcome the various barriers they face in seeking change, and the challenges of managing complex and hybridised welfare arrangements. This article argues that the policy tools literature provides several promising avenues for doing so. Specifically, it suggests that pro…
Welfare capabilities: Evaluating distributional inequalities and welfare policy in advanced democracies
While the welfare state literature has made great advances in describing and explaining policy, comparatively less time has been spent systematically examining the outcomes of those welfare policies. Prominent debates have largely centred on the extent to which welfare states have been retrenched and whether they can be effectively classified by regime type. This article argues that while such debates have resulted in valuable theoretical and emp…
The quest for order: A review of international sugar agreements
Rethinking the ‘open functional’ approach: Ideas, problem pressure and reform in the contemporary welfare state
Recognition that welfare states continue to change has fostered debate about the relationship between ideas and policy problems in driving governments towards reform. To move the debate forward, this article proposes a modification of Barbara Vis and Kees van Kersbergen's ‘open functional approach’. It first argues that while policy problems may provide ‘functional pressure’ to reform, this pressure is significant only in so far as inaction would…
Welfare capabilities: Evaluating distributional inequalities and welfare policy in advanced democracies
While the welfare state literature has made great advances in describing and explaining policy, comparatively less time has been spent systematically examining the outcomes of those welfare policies. Prominent debates have largely centred on the extent to which welfare states have been retrenched and whether they can be effectively classified by regime type. This article argues that while such debates have resulted in valuable theoretical and emp…
The promises and pitfalls of polysemic ideas: ‘One Health’ and antimicrobial resistance policy in Australia and the UK
Evaluating the role of bricolage in US Health Care policy reform
Understanding of the role of ideas in non-paradigmatic policy change has been advanced by the introduction of the concept of bricolage, which suggests that reformers are likely to piece together ideas from disparate sources. However, the current literature is limited in several ways. As such, this article proposes three main contributions to the field. First, the use of bricolage as a pragmatic strategy is perfectly compatible with actors being m…
Procedural tools and pension reform in the long run: The case of Sweden
Welfare state reform is understood to be risky, difficult and still ongoing. As such, there is a need for analytic tools that can aid understanding of how governments are able to overcome the various barriers they face in seeking change, and the challenges of managing complex and hybridised welfare arrangements. This article argues that the policy tools literature provides several promising avenues for doing so. Specifically, it suggests that pro…
The role of ‘non-knowledge’ in crisis policymaking: A proposal and agenda for future research
Background: Recent complex and cross-boundary policy problems, such as climate change, pandemics, and financial crises, have recentred debates about state capacity, democratic discontent and the ‘crisis of expertise’. These problems are contested and open to redefinition, misunderstanding, spin, and deception, challenging the ability of policymakers to locate, discriminate, comprehend, and respond to competing sources of knowledge and expertise. …
Ideas and crisis in policy and administration: Existing links and research frontiers
The study of ideas and crisis in public policy and administration has generated two literatures with shared interests, but often distinct approaches. In this Symposium introduction, we argue that crisis studies and the “ideas school” have much to learn from each other. To facilitate cross‐pollination, this article reviews key insights from the two literatures with relevance across the divide. In our view, crisis studies offer important parameters…
Policy capacity: Evolving theory and missing links
We trace the evolution of understandings and applications of policy capacity through a meta-analysis of studies in the policy and administrative sciences that focus on definitions or conceptualizations of capacity, capability or competency, political resources and the functioning of policy systems, and variables or mechanisms leading to outcomes. We critique and disentangle common operationalizations, such as policy success and failure, to enable…
Media actors as policy entrepreneurs: A case study of “No Jab, No Play” and “No Jab, No Pay” mandatory vaccination policies in Australia
The media’s central role in the policy process has long been recognised, with policy scholars noting the potential for news media to influence policy change. However, scholars have paid most attention to the news media as a conduit for the agendas, frames, and preferences of other policy actors. Recently, scholars have more closely examined media actors directly contributing to policy change. This paper presents a case study to argue that specifi…
Avoiding the brakes: Malign policy and legal advice in the Robodebt scandal
Robodebt, a welfare compliance scheme that issued illegitimate debts to more than 500,000 welfare recipients, is among the most prominent examples of malign policymaking in recent Australian history. In this article, we seek to understand how the Australian Government came to implement a scheme that was in clear violation of social security law, focusing specifically on the role of legal advice. Legal advice can play an important role in policy d…
Robodebt: Administrative harm and Australian social policy
Ignoring harm, saving face: Non-knowledge, senior public servants and the Robodebt scheme
Political science (12 works) · Law (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (6 works) · Political and Economic history of UK and US (5 works) · Politics (5 works) · Public Administration (5 works)