The Austrian Competence Centre Programmes:

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The Austrian Competence Centre Programmes

• The Sometimes Unexpected Pleasures
• Of Learning in Politics
• Dr. Peter Biegelbauer
• Institute for Advanced Studies

Projects Financed by the FWF and the Austrian
National Banque
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What Is Policy Learning?
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The Austrian RTD System in the 1990s

• One major policy instrument
• Five ministries
• Two social partners
• (Very) scare resources
• No interest from top-level politics no
  authoritative politically legitimised
  coordination
• Communication of ministries lacks trust
  prisoners dilemma and reform blockade

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Calls for Reform

• The Schmidt-Hochleitner concept, a radical reform
  initiative, fails in spring of 1997
• In fall of 1997 a young science and transport
  ministry official begins to think about a new
  programme in his ministry
• A bit later a senior economics ministry civil
  servant takes up the idea for his ministry

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Learning (I)
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Learning (II)
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Learning (III)
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Learning and Its Pleasures

• The (widely) unexpected pleasures of learning
• There is no learning without communication
• Learning becomes more likely in certain
  institutional settings (creating spaces for
  communication, building trust to overcome
  prisoners dilemma, disturbing routines and
  hierarchies to allow innovation)
• Learning needs motivation (e.g. problem-pressure)
• Political learning is a precondition for a policy
  innovation, too

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Thank you for your attention!