policysammenheng

Policysammenheng is a concept in public policy and governance describing the extent to which policies across sectors and levels of government are aligned to support common objectives and to minimize conflicting or counterproductive effects. The term emphasizes the need to consider policy outcomes beyond silos and to pursue coordinated action rather than isolated initiatives.

The concept typically encompasses several dimensions: horizontal coherence (across ministries and agencies), vertical coherence (alignment among national, regional, and local authorities), temporal coherence (consistency over time and with long-term goals), and instrumental coherence (compatibility and sequencing of policy instruments). Analyses often rely on cross-sector impact assessments, scenario planning, and inter-ministerial coordination processes.

Strengthening policysammenheng can improve overall policy effectiveness, optimize resource use, and reduce negative spillovers such as policy conflicts or duplication. It is particularly important for addressing complex, cross-cutting challenges like climate change, health, and sustainable development. Challenges include divergent agendas, data limitations, institutional fragmentation, and political cycles that undermine long-term consistency.

In practice, governments pursue policysammenheng through inter-ministerial committees, joint budgeting, strategic planning, and performance indicators that track cross-sector outcomes. The concept is closely related to, and often discussed alongside, policy coherence for development (PCD) in international policy-making literature. It is used in Norwegian public administration and in international governance debates to improve policy design, implementation, and evaluation.