Jenny Stewart
In the 21st century, we need the collective power of government as never before. The trouble is, governments, no matter how hard they try, find it difficult to structure and apply this power in effective ways.
One of the underlying problems is that those outside government don’t really know what’s going on. This makes it tough to work out better ways of working. Those who know can’t tell, and those who are allowed to tell, don’t know. There is a vast gap between the lived experience of practitioners and the academic world of commentary and debate.
Practitioners, when they talk in public, are obliged to give a rosy picture of their world. Much of this public talk is fashion-driven and stereotyped. At the same time, academics, in literally hundreds of journals, have taken the discussion of public policy and administration into more and more esoteric realms. Much of this discussion is deadly dull, read by few and understood by even fewer.
JONTIPPA aims to change this. It is a web-based journal, aimed at practitioners, academics and interested citizens, that will give space to those who, based on years of experience and reflection, want to share their ideas.
JONTIPPA is not a blog! Nor is it an opinion site. Comments on articles are encouraged, but articles themselves must be between 500 and 1000 words, well-reasoned and with something genuinely new to say. ‘Initiate’ is devoted to new initiatives – but if you want to write about your initiative, it must not simply be an advertisement for it. Critical reflection is what is wanted. ‘Incubate’ is for concepts that may still be in a raw form, but need time to develop. There is more information in the ‘Submit’ section of the site.
JONTIPPA will grow with its readers and writers. We know that we want it to be different – but what it actually turns out to be, is up to all of us.