The Production Line Model of PolicyMaking

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The Production Line Model of Policy-Making
Agenda-Setting
Evaluation
Formulation
Implementation
Adoption/ Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
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Agenda-Setting
Agenda-setting involves two basic activities (1)
problem identification and (2) priority-setting.
Problems may be identified by a wide variety of
political actors, both inside and outside of
government, who may have competing perceptions of
the problems cause, scope, and severity.
Priority-setting occurs when moving problems from
the public agenda to the official agenda.
Determining which problems are priorities and
deserve governments attention is an issue of
determining who gets access? There are many
points of access in the American political system
because there is no single official agenda.
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Agenda-Setting
Policy formulation involves working out the
details of alternative strategies to address a
problem placed on a government institutions
agenda. The formulation of alternative policy
strategies may be carried out by professional,
scientific policy analysts and planners, but more
often it is an informal process in which entities
that are affected by a problem and any potential
policy response attempt to persuade government
decision-makers of the merits of their preferred
solution. In other words, formulation is a
political rather than a rational process.
Political actors both inside and outside of
government may be involved in this stage of
policy-making.
Formulation
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Agenda-Setting
In the adoption/legitimation stage, government
officially accepts a particular course of action
from among the alternatives produced in the
formulation stage adoption means choosing. A
policy statement is adopted. Policy statements
may take several forms. Policy statements must
be adopted by government institutions because (in
American society) only government is recognized
as having legitimate authority to impose binding
decisions on society. This legitimacy is
conferred by a legal/constitutional process.
Formulation
Adoption/ Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
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5 Types of Policy Statements

• legislative enactments (statutes)
• executive orders
• administrative rulings
• court decisions
• informal policy pronouncements

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Agenda-Setting
Implementation involves doing the things to or
for target groups that have been authorized by
the policy statement. However, implementation is
not as mechanical as mere administration. It is
itself a dynamic, political process involving
activities characteristic of each of the five
stages of the broader policy-making process.
Although implementing actions are generally
carried out by a government bureaucracy, private
individuals or businesses or non-profit agencies
may have some implementation responsibilities as
well.
Formulation
Implementation
Adoption/ Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
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Agenda-Setting
Evaluation
Evaluation is the measurement of policy
performance and consequences in terms of policy
goals and other standards. Policy evaluations
may be conducted formally by policy analysts in
government agencies, policy think-tanks, or
the news media, or informally by just about
anyone. Often informal, non-scientific
evaluations shape perceptions of policy
effectiveness more than rigorous, scientific
analyses. Feedback occurs as a result of
evaluation so that policy may be adjusted at any
time. As a consequence, old problems may be
redefined or new problems may be identified and
the policy-making process begins again. Thus,
policy-making is a continual or cyclical process.
Implementation
Adoption/ Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors