Resilient Implementation of Public Policy

This panel studies the phenomenon that policy implementation resists political and media pressure and remains committed to the goals of the policy as decided. We label this phenomenon as “resilient implementation”. Implementation is a core stage in the policy process during which policy decisions witness substantial adjustment to social reality while being put into practice by the respective public and private implementing organizations (Sager et al. 2024). Policy implementation consequently is an important entry point for political pressure from stakeholders who disagree with the policy (Sager and Hinterleitner 2022). This pressure not only stems from political opponents but also from affected interests and target populations that only during the implementation process realize the policy’s implication for their action. Implementing organizations hence face a multitude of pressure. However, not all policy implementers give in to pressure. We invite paper contributions from different policy sectors and political system contexts that study the phenomenon of resilient policy implementation in the face of democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, or simply political disagreement and opposition. Papers should be empirical and add to our understanding of policy implementation under difficult conditions.