661 2015 2015 eng 34 No. 3 2016 workingpaper 0 2015-12-12 -- -- Social innovations «meet social needs», are «good for society» and «enhance society’s capacity to act». But what does their rising importance tell us about the current state of public policy in Europe and its effectiveness in achieving social and economic goals? Some might see social innovation as a critique of public intervention, filling the gaps left by years of policy failure. Others emphasise the innovative potential of cross-boundary collaboration between the public sector, the private sector, the third sector and the household. This paper explores the conditions under which the state either enables or constrains effective social innovation by transcending the boundaries between different actors. We argue that social innovation is closely linked to public sector innovation, particularly in relation to new modes of policy production and implementation, and to new forms of organisation within the state that challenge functional demarcations and role definitions. SIMPACT Working Papers urn:nbn:de:hbz:1010-opus4-6618 2365-1121 Creative Commons - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell Peter Totterdill Peter Cressey Rosemary Exton Judith Terstriep eng uncontrolled social innovation eng uncontrolled public policy eng uncontrolled New Public Management eng uncontrolled New Public Governance eng uncontrolled policymakers open_access Institut Arbeit und Technik Westfälische Hochschule Gelsenkirchen Bocholt Recklinghausen https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-w-hs/files/661/WP_2016-03_Totterdill_et_al.pdf