The political context of public sector innovation: A critical interpretive synthesis on Ukraine
Journal
Research Policy
ISSN
0048-7333
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2025-09-20
Author(s)
Abstract
Innovation often sparks power struggles, redistributes resources, and challenges entrenched institutional legacies. Yet the role of power dynamics embedded in political contexts, particularly in non-Western countries, in shaping public sector innovation (PSI) has remained underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining how power dynamics at multiple levels and critical junctures have shaped PSI trajectories over time in Ukraine. Drawing on historical institutionalism and using a context-specific critical interpretive synthesis of 84 studies from 1991 to 2022, we reveal how critical junctures intensified PSI and enabled new innovation priorities. However, these moments were deeply conditioned by existing power dynamics across international, national and subnational political levels. While some innovations contributed to the redistribution of power, others were stalled or fragmented owing to path dependencies. This study makes two primary theoretical contributions: first, it reconceptualizes political context as a dynamic, multilevel arena of vertical and horizontal power contestations that shapes PSI; second, it extends PSI theory by demonstrating how critical junctures operate as temporally bounded periods of constrained agency, cumulatively shaping innovation trajectories. These insights advance our understanding of the complex interplays between political contexts, power dynamics, and temporality in PSI.
Language
English (United States)
Keywords
Public sector innovation
Political context
Power
Political transition
Historical institutionalism
Ukraine
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
yes
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
54
Number
10
Start page
1-22
End page
22
Pages
22
Official URL
Subject(s)
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
The political context of public sector innovation A critical interpretive synthesis on Ukraine.pdf
Size
1.69 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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