TY - JOUR
T1 - Collective learning and COVID-19 mitigation in Ghana
AU - Osei-Kojo, Alex
AU - Kenney, Paul Lawer
AU - Damoah, Clement Mensah
AU - Ahenkan, Albert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Policy Studies Organization.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - COVID-19 has created significant uncertainty and disruption among governments and people across the globe. Policy studies present various theoretical frameworks that allow scholars and practitioners to make sense of these developments in a structured and systematic fashion. In this paper, we combined the collective learning framework with documentary data and process tracing analysis to describe, first, the features of the COVID-19 collective learning setting in Ghana. Next, we explored the linkages among learning processes, learning products, and COVID-19 mitigation. We found that diverse policy actors operated at distinct levels of government and performed different functions in managing the pandemic. Furthermore, we confirmed all three phases of learning (acquisition, translation, and dissemination) in Ghana's context. Lastly, policies, such as public gathering management, mandatory mask-wearing, partial lockdown, and fiscal and tax reliefs enabled the government to mitigate the pandemic's impact on people. We conclude by highlighting the implications of these findings for policy learning scholarship.
AB - COVID-19 has created significant uncertainty and disruption among governments and people across the globe. Policy studies present various theoretical frameworks that allow scholars and practitioners to make sense of these developments in a structured and systematic fashion. In this paper, we combined the collective learning framework with documentary data and process tracing analysis to describe, first, the features of the COVID-19 collective learning setting in Ghana. Next, we explored the linkages among learning processes, learning products, and COVID-19 mitigation. We found that diverse policy actors operated at distinct levels of government and performed different functions in managing the pandemic. Furthermore, we confirmed all three phases of learning (acquisition, translation, and dissemination) in Ghana's context. Lastly, policies, such as public gathering management, mandatory mask-wearing, partial lockdown, and fiscal and tax reliefs enabled the government to mitigate the pandemic's impact on people. We conclude by highlighting the implications of these findings for policy learning scholarship.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Ghana
KW - collective learning framework
KW - policy process
KW - public policy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122895572&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ropr.12465
DO - 10.1111/ropr.12465
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122895572
SN - 1541-132X
VL - 39
SP - 255
EP - 281
JO - Review of Policy Research
JF - Review of Policy Research
IS - 3
ER -