Bureaucracy and Policy Alienation

Policy alienation can be defined as a cognitive state of psychological disconnection from the policy program to be implemented. This essay in the Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance has three goals. First, it aims to discuss the background and development of the policy alienation model. Second, it shows how policy alienation can be measured via surveys or interviews. Third, this essay has the goal to indicate valuable future theoretical, methodological and empirical research directions for scholars interested in further developing this line of research. To achieve this, this essay connects the study of policy alienation with core debates and concepts in public administration, including Public Service Motivation and red tape. By pursuing these three goals, this essay aims to help practitioners who are interested in using the policy alienation model to understand and improve policy implementation in their organizations. Next to this, it aims to provide scholars with a clear overview of the policy alienation model and lacunas in the field, which they can use when designing new studies