The ways in which subnational governments develop and deliver distinctive policies is central to our understanding of effective multi-level governance systems. The existing literature focuses on institutional autonomy and the formal powers given to subnational governments but this is only one side of the story. Success also depends on the way in which policy actors deploy their powers, resources and legitimacy. This article presents an empirical analysis of two contrasting attempts to develop distinctive policy frameworks at the subnational level. It demonstrates the importance of looking beyond formal institutional powers and paying attention to policymakers’ political skills and visibility, as well as the strategies and tactics that they employ in deploying formal powers. It highlights, in particular, the need for subnational governments to focus on those issues where they can make a difference and to exploit their nodality within policy networks to foster collaboration with state and non-state actors who bring complementary resources.

Points for practitioners

A subnational government’s success in pursuing distinctive policy agendas depends on the issues it decides to focus on and the way it chooses to deploy the formal powers and resources available to it. There is little point in investing time and efforts in pursuing issues that national governments are unwilling to cede control over. However, where they are given a degree of autonomy, subnational governments need to exploit their pivotal position in policy networks to foster collaboration with a range of state and non-state actors who bring complementary resources.

中文翻译：

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地方政府如何制定和交付独特的政策议程？

地方政府制定和实施独特政策的方式是我们了解有效的多层次治理系统的关键。现有文献集中于制度自治和赋予地方政府的正式权力，但这只是故事的一方面。成功还取决于政策参与者部署权力，资源和合法性的方式。本文对两个不同的尝试来进行实证分析，这些尝试是在次国家级制定独特的政策框架。它表明了超越正规机构权力并关注决策者的政治技巧和知名度以及他们在部署正规权力中采用的策略和策略的重要性。它特别强调了

从业人员要点

地方政府在追求独特的政策议程方面的成功取决于它决定关注的问题以及它选择使用可用的正式权力和资源的方式。花费时间和精力来解决各国政府不愿放弃的控制权毫无意义。但是，在赋予他们一定程度自治权的情况下，地方政府需要发挥其在政策网络中的关键地位，以促进与带来互补资源的一系列国家和非国家行为者之间的合作。