New public policy, new policy transfers: Some characteristics of a new order in the making

Modern societies are going global and in this process are redefining the boundaries between the domestic and the external. In a "shrinking world," policy lessons are increasingly drawn on a cross-national basis rather than on specific national experience and are less and less constrained by cultural and geopolitical boundaries. The know-how of other nations is increasingly conceived as essential and relevant for the economic competitiveness of nations and for the welfare of their citizens. Epistemic communities, international organizations, and policy entrepreneurs thus transfer this "know-how" to the domestic economic, political, and social settings that are often radically different from the original. The benefits, costs, and implications of these policy transfers are the subject of this special issue. This article presents the agenda for the study of change by the contributors to this special issue.