Enhancing Policy Capacity for Better Policy Integration: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in a Post COVID-19 World

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Analysis of integrated policymaking is valuable contribution both in practical and theoretical level. Bit more empirical experiences/examples from actual SDG implementation in a particular context would support the analysis. The major shortcoming or crossover is to compare pandemic policy integration with the SDGs as the context, timeline and actual process differ in these themes. At least I would expect more practical examples of policy integration regarding COVID-19, if this kind of analysis and outcome is made.

Author Response

Thank you for this comment. We decided to respond to the suggestion for more empirical examples by adding a few more COVID-19 examples (see lines 84-95, 156-167). We thought a more systematic way of addressing the need for examples from SDG implementation will require a greater amount of revision and work beyond the time given to us.

We also extensively revised the manuscript to clarify our arguments and improve on our conclusions.

Reviewer 2 Report

This conceptual paper may contribute significantly to the field of public policy. I enjoyed reading it very much as the manuscript is structured, orderly, and well-written. 

I have three main questions that I think the writers can address within the article:

1. My first comment is related to the influence of the context. Will the same integration strategies and types of policy integrations be affected by the kind of polities: will this happen equally in a simple  and a compound systems (see for example VIVIEN A. SCHMIDT 2004;2013)

2. My second comment refers to the categorization of coordination  according to FEIOCK`s (2013) institutional collective action, there are three types of coordination  - vertical, horizontal, and functional... How is this reflected in your article? And how can each type be applied to integration strategies?

3. Can every complex problem apply the same integration model? - is treating at-risk youth similar to strategies for climate change and environmental issues? Please address this in your article.

Author Response

Thank you for your encouraging comments. Here are our responses to your questions:

1. We used the COVID-19 example to answer this question. Existing studies point to the fact that the variation in policy responses cannot be explained by political systems. We added a reference to Schmidt to nuance our answer. (See lines 434-441)
2. We related the different types of coordination discussed by Feiock with the vertical-horizontal distinction of integration. We added functional coordination in lines 114-116. We do not think this distinction is particularly helpful as we discussed in those lines and in line 178 and lines 190-193 because the inconsistencies could manifest vertically, horizontally and functionally.
3. We addressed this question in lines 220-225 where we stated that more complex problems could exhibit greater inconsistencies. However, what matters is not the complexity or wickedness but the degree of inconsistencies that exist.

We have also extensively revised the manuscript to clarify our arguments and improve on our conclusion as suggested by Reviewer 1.