Lever:A Strategic Tool to Promote the Effective Implementation of Policies
"Lever"is a common strategic tool to promote effective policy implementation in practice,but there is no systematic theoretical explanation for this phenomenon in academia so far.Existing studies mostly discuss how the dilemma of policy implementation is generated from perspective of policy subject relationship and policy characteristics.Based on theory of policy implementation and policy tool,this paper takes"lever"as an intermediate variable and instrumental strategy connecting policy makers and policy implementers,and theoretically explains types and structural elements of"lever"as well as its implementation mechanism,to promote effective policy implementation.The study finds that,"lever"is a strategic tool for debugging policy makers'target control of policy implementation and policy implementers'autonomy in implementation process.It promotes effective policy implementation through policy attention orientation,clarifying policy issue anchors,creating horizontal competitive advantages and enhancing departmental autonomy.