Public-sector innovation in Latin America
Comparative insights from an expanded Policy Capacity Framework
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19217649 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Norma Munoz-Del-Campo (0000-0003-0812-5214, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Third World Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-6597 • E-ISSN: 1360-2241 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01436597.2026.2649849 |
| OpenAlex | W7154942393 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 31 |
Policy capacity is central to governance effectiveness, yet its operationalisation remain contested. Most definitions stress what capacity enables rather than what constitutes it or how resources and skills combine to strengthen it. This gap is particularly evident at the individual level, where links between roles and competences are assumed rather than examined. Building on Wu, Ramesh and Howlett’s Policy Capacity Framework, the article applies a previously proposed expansion, adding deontological and human capacities to the analytical, operational and political ones. These dimensions capture ethical and relational competences – integrity, empathy, intercultural understanding and trust-building – increasingly relevant in turbulent governance contexts. The study asks which individual competences develop agents of change in Latin America, and what is gained by incorporating the new categories. Methodologically, an exploratory qualitative-comparative design codes three sources with NVivo: MPP/MPA programmes, public-sector job profiles and national innovation indices. Findings identify a twofold ‘missing link’: misalignment between training, professional demand and systemic innovation frameworks, and a specification gap between policy tasks and the individual capacity components required to perform them. While analytical-operational competences dominate, deontological and human dimensions emerge as indispensable for effectiveness and legitimacy. The article contributes conceptually, empirically and practically to strengthening public administration and innovation
Capacity development · Key (lock) · Latin Americans · Third world · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Innovation Policy and RD · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
Policy Capacity and Governance
Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector
The Refined Theory of Basic Values
Universals in the Content and Structure of Values
Policymaking in an age of polycrises
Challenges to State Policy Capacity
Policy capacity research
Cognitive and Institutional Determinants of Public Policy Changes
Policy analytical capacity
Wicked and less wicked problems
Policy capacity
Making reform stick
Negotiating Tensions in Developing Organizational Policy Capacity
The role of values in the interorganizational network response to wicked problems
MPP programs emerging around the world19
Policy capacity
Types of learning and varieties of innovation
A conceptual framework for understanding parliamentary skills and competences
Governing under Pressure? The Mental Wellbeing of Politicians
The ideational bases of public value co-creation and the philosophy of personalism
Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State
| Highly cited | No |
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