This paper is an inductive, qualitative case study concerning the development of new policy learning theory derived from Russian power sector liberalisation policy reform that was conceived and implemented from the year 2001 to 2007. The research extends the policy learning theory work of James and Jorgensen and others by more holistically explaining how policy knowledge, through policy learning, affects policy formulation, change, the direction of that change, and outcomes. To provide an investigative platform for this, the study aimed to capture the perceptions related to Russian policy learning and adaptation from three primary policy community groups which included Russian energy researchers, international industrial informants, and economists with a high degree of involvement in power sector liberalisation policy development. In the course of the research, policy learning causal ‘moments’ were identified in the form of synchronic and diachronic interrelated frameworks that indicated causal mechanisms and causal paths. The empirically derived research results were from conceptual, planning, and implementation processes used to diversify Russian policy learning, primarily from relevant, concurrent, international policy experiences and outcomes in Britain, and to a lesser extent, the USA.
Causality-Based Policy Learning Frameworks Derived from Russian Power Sector Liberalisation