4 - Public Policy Analysis

PUBLIC
POLICY
A N A LY S I S
• Public policy is a course of action adopted and pursued by government
• Public Policy Analysis is the study of how governmental policies are made and implemented, and
the application of available knowledge to governmental policies for the purpose f improving their
formulation and implementation.
T H E I N C R E M E N TA I S T PA R A D I G M
• It relates to the first part of our definition of public policy analysis: “the study of how governmental
policies are made and implemented.”
• disjointed incrementalism as a description of the policymaking process
• Disjointed refers to the gap between the assessments of problems and how governments actually
respond to those problems. Incrementalism means that policymakers implement—very slowly, very
few, and very small—policy changes.
• The incrementalist paradigm is conservative, gradual, and likely the most politically feasible paradigm.
It assumes that policymakers lack the brains, time, and money to fashion systemic and innovative
policies.
• The paradigm contains six subsets, or models, of how policy is made
• The elite/ Mass Model often credited to C. Wright Mills, contends that a powerful policy-
making elite, whose members share common values, governs a passive, apathetic, and ill-informed
mass. Public policies are designed, above all else, to preserve the status quo.
• The group model of policymaking, exemplified by the work of Arthur F. Bentley, 19 views the
policy-making process in hydraulic terms, in which interest groups pressure one another to gain
policies that are advantageous to them. The group model explains why some groups “capture” the
agencies that ostensibly regulate them, thereby defining the public’s interest as the group’s interest.
• The institutionalist model, personified in the writing of Carl J. Friedrich, 22 focuses on legalities
and organization charts. it largely was swept aside in favor of studies that relied more on the
group and systems models.
• The neo-institutionalist model reated
by Theodore J. Lowi categorizes public
policies according to four
policymaking subsystems (or what
Lowi calls “arenas of power”) that are
determined by whether the
probability of government coercion is
remote or immediate, and whether the
target of that coercion is the conduct
of individual citizens or a system.
• Arena 1: If the possibility of government coercion/pressure is remote, then the policy will be Formed primarily in
the legislature; if immediate, then the bureaucracy will dominate policymaking
• Arena 2: In a redistributive power arena Power is reallocated throughout the polity on a fundamental scale—so
fundamental, in fact, that redistributive policies involve “not use of property but property itself, not equal treatment
but equal possession, not behavior but being.” These policies tend to be highly ideological, involving battles between
the “haves” and “have-nots,” are secretive, and have low partisan visibility. Exp: Social Security, Mediacare, etc
• Arena 3: In a distributive power arena, coercion is unlikely and benefits flow directly to each person; examples
include procurement decisions and pork barrel legislation (the use of government funds for projects designed to
please voters or legislators and win votes, Dana Aspirasi).
• Arena 4: In a regulative power arena, coercion is likely but, as with distributive policies, benefits are provided to
individuals; for instance, the Federal Aviation Administration may punish violators of its safety regulations.
• The organized Anarchy Model was originated by John W.
Kingdon. Basic to the model is the presence of three “streams”
that constitute the policymaking process.
• The first of these is the problems stream, which involves
defining a problem, focusing policymakers’ attention on
it, and then either resolving the problem with a new policy
or letting it fade away.
• It is in the political stream that the governmental agenda
—that is, the list of issues to be resolved— is formed.
• It is in the policy stream that the decision agenda is
formulated, or the list of possible policies that could
resolve the issue
• Phase: If luck is with the policymakers, a tilt effect will
occur in both the political and policy streams, but for
different reasons. In the political stream, the tilt’s cause is
negotiation, and in the policy stream it is rationality.
• A window is the opportunity to change an agenda or
create a policy, and a window typically is opened by a
shift in the national mood.
T H E R AT I O N A L I S T
PA R A D I G M
• The rationalist paradigm, favored by public administration, is theoretical, effectual, prescriptive, and normative. It
relates to the second part of our definition: “the application of available knowledge to governmental policies for
the purpose of improving their formulation and implementation.”
• associated with Yehezkel Dror, It focuses on the formation of a systemic metapolicy, or a policy for policymaking
procedures that will assure better policies for each of the full range of issues confronting society.
• Listing all policy alternatives and their consequences; and selecting the most effective policy to implement.
• Rational Choice Model basks in the sunbeam of social
engineering.
• Optimality Rational choice is concerned with
Pareto optimality, a concept developed by the
economist, Vilfredo Pareto which is a change in
economic policy that makes people as best off as
they can be without making anyone worse off.
• The Public Goods and Service Model exemplified by the work of L. L. Wade and R. I. Curry, Jr., deals with what kinds of goods and services are delivered more
efficiently by government, and what kinds are delivered more efficiently by other sectors. The model rests on two foundations: exclusion and consumption,
or use.
• Exclusion refers to the degree of control that both the buyer and seller have over a particular commodity. High exclusionary control occurs when a buyer
and seller must agree on a price, low occurs when price is not an issue.
• Consumption, or use, refer to how goods are consumed and services are used Individual consumption, or use, occurs when goods are consumed or services
are used by a single person and others are denied access to them (Fish). Joint consumption, or use, occurs when goods are consumed or services are used
simultaneously by many consumers or users without being diminished in quality or quantity (television broadcast).
• Private goods and services are pure, individually-consumed goods and individually-used services for which exclusion is completely feasible (commodity in the
marketplace).
• Toll goods and services are pure, jointly-consumed goods and jointly-used services for which exclusion also is completely feasible. An example is cable television.
• Common-pool goods and services are pure, individually-consumed goods and individually-used services for which exclusion is not feasible. (Breathable air). Lead
to Tragedy of Commons
• Public, or collective, goods and services, are pure, jointly-consumed goods and jointly-used services for which exclusion is not feasible. (Public Safety)
THIRD APPROACH: THE
S T R AT E G I C P L A N N I N G PA R A D I G M
• Is the identification, prioritization, and communication of major policy goals by organizations on a
continuing basis, and the integration of those goals into the management, budgeting, and
performance measurement systems of organizations

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