Open access to Grindle on reform strategies: “Recipes are out”

In recent writings about governance reform, says Harvard University professor Merilee Grindle, “recipes are out.  So are ‘one size fits all’ and idealized end states.”  In the current issue of Governance (24.3, July 2011), Grindle says that scholars and practitioners are moving to a new emphasis on “situationally-determined responses to specific problems.”  But this new approach has its own challenges: Can we prove that contextually-sensitive diagnostics are actually more effective?  Can new methods be explained easily to important constituencies?  And how will this new approach mesh with the political imperative to have a simple, compelling story about reform?  Read more: Open access to the commentary.