Policy Failure Revisited: Conceptual Implications From the Chilean Case of Transantiago

• Author: Mauricio Olavarría-Gambi
• Published date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399718786878
• Date: 01 May 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399718786878

Administration & Society

2020, Vol. 52(5) 690 –717

© The Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/0095399718786878

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Article

Policy Failure Revisited:

Conceptual Implications

From the Chilean Case of

Transantiago

Mauricio Olavarría-Gambi1

Abstract

The article analyzes the ability of policy failure frameworks to characterize

and explain the reform of Santiago’s public transport system. It focuses on the

following questions: When a policy may be deemed a failure, what sources

led to the failure, and what lesson may be drawn from the case? It suggests

that these three questions must be addressed simultaneously to integrally

understand a policy failure. The case proposes areas of further investigation

to elaborate a conceptual framework for a better understanding of why

a particular policy may fail. Information comes from 53 interviews, official

documents, academic bibliography, and the media.

Keywords

policy failure, policy implementation, policy lessons, Transantiago, Chile

Introduction

Analysis on policy failure has been problematic because “there can be mul-

tiple and conflicting interpretations of policy failure,” and because “failure

in one area of a policy does not necessarily imply failures in other areas”

1Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Corresponding Author:

Mauricio Olavarría-Gambi, Centro de Estudios de Gobierno, Universidad de Santiago de

Chile, Avda. Bernardo O’Higgins 3,363, Estación Central, Santiago, 9,170,022, Chile.

Email: mauricio.olavarria@usach.cl

786878AASXXX10.1177/0095399718786878Administration & SocietyOlavarría-Gambi

research-article2018

Olavarría-Gambi 691

(Newman & Head, 2015, p. 347). Furthermore, the term of policy failure is

often used in the political arena as an argumentative strategy to defend inter-

est, to kill a reform initiative or a policy in place, and to legitimize a reform

proposal (Zittoun, 2015). Bovens and ‘t Hart (2016) have a similar perspec-

tive, arguing that “failure is not an inherent attribute of policy, but rather

labels applied by stakeholders and observers” (p. 654). On the contrary,

while most studies on the topic have concentrated on cases depicting fail-

ures, others have focused on theoretical elaborations of dimensions of the

concept, and very few have attempted to link theory to concrete situations.

Furthermore, policy makers, practitioners, and citizens are more interested

in the lessons that can be drawn to avoid future policy failures. This has led

to a need for connecting theoretical elaboration with concrete situations to

generate comprehensive frameworks that may help develop an integral ana-

lytical perspective on a failed case. Thus, the analysis of a concrete case may

help identify the conceptual frameworks that are best able to explain a par-

ticular situation of failure, and which ones require more clarification or

theoretical elaboration.

The article contrasts conceptual literature on policy failure with a concrete

case, that of the reform of Santiago’s public transport system, popularly known

as “Transantiago,” with the purpose of determining whether the literature is

able to give an integral account of a case like this. Three questions appear to

be key in understanding a failed policy: (a) When is a policy said to be a fail-

ure? (b) What are the sources that can be identified in generating a policy

failure? (c) What lessons may emerge in the analysis of a failed policy?

Transantiago has become a paradigmatic case of a failed policy. It was

designed during President Lagos’s administration and implemented during

President Bachelet’s term. The implementation of this reformed system

began on Saturday, February 10, 2007, in a modality known as a “Big Bang”

strategy of implementation, which meant that the previous transport sys-

tem—called “Yellow Buses”—ended operations the day before (Friday,

February 9, 2007). Since then, it has been a source of criticism, political

conflict, citizen complaint, and used as an example of a bad public policy.

In determining why this policy may be considered a case of failure, the

article looks at McConnell’s (2010a, 2010b) framework, concentrating on the

analysis of its formulation and implementation processes, program achieve-

ments, and political consequences. The analysis of what would have gener-

ated the failure takes the “governance failure” perspective, which suggests

that the failure of a government intervention would originate in the conver-

gence of aspects from the policy statute, actions within organizations, and

interactions among organizations that operate in the context in which the

policy is being executed. To do that, the article examines roles developed by