Public policy

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Lecture 20

• Public policy

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Introduction to Public Policy

• What does Public Policy mean the meaning has
  changed over the years.
• The creation of the policy sciences (the study of
  policy as a field) is closely associated with the
  work of Harold Lasswell (writing in the 1950s).

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Harold Lasswell

• Lasswell argued that the science of policy had
  three distinct characteristics that set it apart
  from other disciplines
• it would/should be
• - multi-disciplinary
• - problem solving
• - normative

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Multi-Disciplinary

• multi-disciplinarypolicy sciences would break
  from the narrow study of political institutions
  and structures and embrace the work and findings
  of fields such as sociology, economics, law and
  politics

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Problem Solving

• 2. problem solvingpolicy science would adhere
  to a strict canon of relevance, orienting itself
  towards the solution of real world problems and
  not engaging in purely academic and often sterile
  debates

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Normative

• 3. normativepolicy science should not be
  cloaked in the guise of scientific objectivity,
  but should recognize the impossibility of
  separating goals and means, or values and
  techniques, in the study of government actions

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The Evolution of the Policy Sciences

• 1. While the emphasis on a multi-disciplinary
  approach remains, there is now a large body of
  literature focused on PP specifically. PP is now
  a discipline in and of itself with its own set of
  concepts, concerns, and a vocabulary and
  terminology all its own

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• 2. Over the past 50 years the virtual exclusive
  concern with concrete problem solving has waned.
  Lasswell intended for the policy sciences to
  generate conclusions and recommendations to solve
  existing social problems although this was a
  laudable concept government officials proved to
  be intractable and resistant to advice from
  professionals.
• 3. Finally, the call for policy sciences to
  remain strictly normative or prescriptive was
  called into question

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Defining Public Policy

• - refers to the actions of government and the
  intentions that determine those actions
• - is whatever governments choose to do or not to
  do (Thomas Dye)
• - a set of inter-related decisions taken by a
  political actor or group of actors concerning the
  selection of goals and the means of achieving
  them within a specified situation where those
  decisions should, in principle, be within the
  power of those actors to achieve (Jenkins, 1978)

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Conceptualizing Public Policy

• Policy is a special kind of response, the
  central ordering element of which is an explicit
  statement of intent regarding future actions.
• The policy response concept denotes what the
  agencies do in responding to environmental and
  structural stimuli. This concept is subdivided
  into policy statements, policy actions, and
  policy results.
• a policy statement is the intent of the
  government to do something about some issue
• a policy action is what an agency does to
  accomplish the goals identified in the statement
• a policy result is what happens in the
  environment (or, less importantly, in the
  structure) following the agencys efforts to
  achieve the goal identified in the statements.

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Indicators for Policy Action

• 1) Rhetorical attention (attention given to
  specific programs and agencies) i.e.
  paragraph/page counts of testimony presented by
  agency personnel at hearings, agency reports,
  administrators speeches, etc.
• 2) Planning actions number of formal plans
  announced by agency
• 3) Acquisitive Actions number of authorization
  statutes amendments enacted of executive
  orders, department delegations, amount of
  appropriations, new personnel granted,
  acquisition of physical resources
• 4) Implementing actions disbursal of resources
  expenditures, grants, loans, personnel assigned
  directives issued, directives enforced (cases)
  information collected and disseminated by agency
  contractual relations entered into, etc.

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Policies

• language under god
• Administrative enforcing traffic laws-Orange
  Co.
• Legislative written statutes
• Executive executive orders, vetoes,
  appointments
• Judicial deciding to hear a case, interpreting
  the law, written decisions
• Symbolic concurrent resolutions (HCR029 Idaho
  Napoleon Dynamite)
• nondecisions

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Assessing definitions of public policy

• -some are very complex and others are quite
  simple
• -they all agree that public policies result from
  decisions made by government
• -some take into account the intentions behind a
  government action
• Our approach in this class, is to follow Dyes
  definition, which is PP is whatever governments
  choose to do or not to do.

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• Dyes definition makes a crucial distinction
  concerning public policy.
• That government action, legislated and written
  into law is but one form of public policy.
• Another form of public policy, are the many
  un-codified, non-legislated actions of government
  that are in themselves a form of public policy.
  In other words, governments decision not to
  address a particular policy area, is essentially
  public policy we may call it non public policy.

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Other Distinctions Regarding Policy

• 1. Public policies are constantly changing as
  they're shaped and reshaped modified and changed
  and sometimes rejected for new policies
• Public policy must be inferred from the actions
  and behavior of the many government agencies and
  officials involved in policy making over time
• Policy is a process, or an historical series of
  intentions, actions, it is not something that can
  be captured by pulling out a single event or
  decision
• Policy is complex in that it takes place on
  multiple levels
• Policy is an analytic category used by
  researchers and social scientists who study
  government activity

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The Public Policy-Making Process
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Introduction

• The study of public policy is firmly grounded in
  the study of politics, which is as ancient as
  human civilization itself.
• Most of the ancient philosophers looked at
  politics in general, theoretical ways.
• Platos Republic The search for justice. One of
  Platos objectives in the Republic was to show
  that justice is worthwhilethat just action is a
  good in itself, and that one ought to engage in
  just activity even when it doesnt seem to confer
  immediate advantage.
• Aristotles Politics - Since we see that every
  city-state is a sort of community and that every
  community is established for the sake of some
  good (for everyone does everything for the sake
  of what they believe to be good), it is clear
  that every community aims at some good, and the
  community which has the most authority of all and
  includes all the others aims highest, that is, at
  the good with the most authority. This is what is
  called the city-state or political community.
  I.1.1252a1-7

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Introduction

• Modern political theory.
• Niccolo Machiavelli.
• If we understand and plan the political actions
  we take in pursuit of our goals, we are better
  prepared to seize the political opportunities
  that arise in the normal course of political
  life.
• Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Weber,
  Durkheim.
• Focused on the exercise of power between
  individuals, families, groups, communities, and
  the various levels of government.

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Introduction

• The systematic study of public policy is a 20th
  century phenomenon.
• Dates to 1922, when political scientist Charles
  Merriam sought to connect the theory and practice
  of politics to understanding the actual
  activities of government, that is, public policy.
• Nevertheless, most of the literature on public
  policy dates back only about 50 years.

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Introduction

• The study of politics is the attempt to explain
  the various ways in which power is exercised in
  the everyday world and how that power is used to
  allocate resources and benefits to some people
  and groups, and costs and burdens to other people
  and groups.

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Introduction

• The study of public policy is the examination of
  the creation, by the government, of the rules,
  laws, goals, and standards that determine what
  government does or does not do to create
  resources, benefits, costs, and burdens.
• In studying public policy, we focus on those
  decisions made (or implicitly accepted) by
  government and nongovernmental actors to address
  a problem that a significant number of people and
  groups consider to be important and in need of a
  solution.

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Introduction

• A major element of studying and teaching public
  policy is the reliance of policy studies on a
  broad range of the social sciences.

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Introduction
Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy
Discipline Description Relationship to Public Policy Some important journals
Political Science The study of political relationships that is, the study of the processes by which societies seek to allocate political power and the benefits of such power, The political process is the process through which policies are made and enforced. American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Policy, Political Research Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly
Sociology Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts. Community and group activities are an important part of policy making, because groups of people often form to make demands. American Sociological Review, Contemporary Sociology, Journal of Sociology
Economics The study of the allocation of resources in a community, however defined. Economists study markets and exchanges. Welfare economists seek to understand the extent to which an overall communitys welfare can be maximized. There are many economic factors that influence public policy, such as economic growth, productivity, employment, and the like. The tools of economics are often used to promote policies or to explain why policies succeed or fail. American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Applied Economics, Journal of Political Economy.
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Introduction
Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy Table 1.1. Selected Disciplines That Study Public Policy
Discipline Description Relationship to Public Policy Some important journals
Public Administration The study of the management of government and nonprofit organizations, including the management of information, money, and personnel to achieve goals developed through the democratic process. The management of public programs is an integral part of the policy process. PA scholars study the motivation of program implementers and targets and help research innovations to improve service delivery. Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Public Policy The study of what governments choose to do or not to do, including studies of the policy process, policy implementation and impact, and evaluation. We give this label to the highly interdisciplinary study of the public policy process. Policy scholars develop theories about how the policy process works and develop tools and methods to analyze how policy is made and implemented. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Public Policy, Policy Studies Review, Policy Studies Journal, Journal of Policy History
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Introduction

• Because the field of public policy studies is so
  new, it has yet to coalesce around a shared set
  of principles, theories, and priorities
  (paradigm).
• For public policy to be useful, we must bridge
  the gap between what academics know and how
  practitioners and citizens use what we know to
  make better policy (or better policy arguments).

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Policy Science as Applied Science

• You may question whether policy is science, but
  science is defined as the state of knowing
  knowledge rather than ignorance or
  misunderstanding.
• The values of empirical science the number of
  teeth for men and women.

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Policy Science as Applied Science

• Anecdotal evidence versus scientific evidence
  The case of food stamps (discuss).
• The problem with anecdotes is that they are
  little tidbits of information that are
  unsystematically gathered and that reflect the
  biases of the person relating the story.
• Question Is the food stamp program a failure?

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Policy Science as Applied Science

• Scientific evidence (evaluation).
• Compared to nonrecipients,
• Participants spend a larger portion of their
  total expenditures on all food items.
• Foods used at home by recipients have a greater
  monetary value per person and more nutrients per
  dollar.
• Recipients are more likely to shop for food on a
  monthly basis, resulting in better planning and
  lower transportation costs.
• The availability of twelve essential nutrients in
  the diet is higher for recipients.
• One dollar increase in food stamp benefits
  increases food expenditures between 17 and 47
  cents, whereas a dollar increase in income only
  increases food expenditures 5 to 10 cents.
• Information is
• Peer-reviewed
• Aggregate information rather than disconnected
  cases.
• Runs counter to common wisdom.

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Policy Science as Applied Science

• Do food stamps work? Not necessarily.
• Difference between policy description and policy
  advocacy.

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Policy Studies as a Science

• We can say that the careful study of public
  policy is scientific because it contributes to
  knowledge by relying on methodological rigor.
• Policy analysts share a commitment to
  methodology, but not to any one particular method.

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Policy Studies as a Science

• Harold Lasswell argued that quantitative analysis
  and the scientific method were important elements
  of any policy science.
• But, Lasswell recognized that you must combine
  quantitative and qualitative information.

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Policy Studies as a Science

• Lasswells recommendations for an empirically
  driven, methodologically rigorous, yet flexible
  style of policy research has served as the basis
  for policy studies in late 20th century.
• But it is also driven by the desire to solve
  problems.
• No common paradigm. Dye lists eight theoretical
  traditions.
• Most of these theories need testing.

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Policy Studies as a Science

• Theorizing is important, because they make sense
  of ambiguous evidence, and they develop concepts
  that apply to more than one case.

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Science, Rationality, and the Policy Process

• Policy analysis is an important component of
  policy sciences.
• But researchers should keep rational analysis in
  context within the interplay of evidence, value
  and belief systems of the participants, the
  structure of the process, and the distribution of
  power.
• Most policy analysis is not value neutral.
  Problem identification is rarely neutral, for
  example.

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What Is Public Policy?

• Attributes common to various definitions of
  public policy.
• The policy is made in the publics name.
• Policy is generally made or initiated by
  government.
• Policy is interpreted and implemented by public
  and private actors.
• Policy is what the government intends to do.
• Policy is what the government chooses not to do.

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What Is Public Policy?
Table 1.2. Defining Public Policy Table 1.2. Defining Public Policy
Definition Author
The term public policy always refers to the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions. Clarke E. Cochran, et al.
Public policy is the outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what. Clarke E. Cochran, et al.
Whatever governments choose to do or not to do. Thomas Dye
Public policy consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals. Charles L. Cochran and Eloise F. Malone.
Stated most simply, public policy is the sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens. B. Guy Peters.
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What Makes Public Policy Public?

• The dominant ideological foundation of our
  constitutional system is classical liberalism.
• John Locke.
• Power derives from the consent of the governed.
• Thus, government actions must be in the public
  interest.
• But people differ dramatically in what is the
  public interest.
• Commercial interests versus environmentalists.

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What Makes Public Policy Public?

• Not even the most intense policy advocates are
  interested in every issue.
• We delegate the power to make policies in our
  names to elected officials. However, we retain
  our interest in the outcome and our right to
  promote particular policies at any time.

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Why Do We Study Public Policy?

• To know more about the process for its own sake.
• To know more about the process to inform
  practitioners.
• To learn how to promote preferred policy options.

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• Thank you