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Summary political science 354 test outline
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QUESTION 1Discuss 5 factors that affect policy implementation in SA. Your answer must be based on the
inputs from Johnson & Rogerson’s articles and the essay much include a definition of
policy implementation: 3 factors from one and 2 factors from the other
5 factors from Heywood & definition
policy-making
isn’t just understood in terms of decisions that are made;
it can be broken up into 4 distinct stages:
a. policy initiation (kinds of decisions)
b. policy formulation (what, when & how it should be done)
c. policy implementation (doing the policy)
d. policy evaluation (any improvements?)
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
The 4th phase of the policy-making cycle
(after initiation & formulation) in which adopted policies are put into effect
5 factors required to achieve perfect implementation
to ensure that policy is delivered exactly as intended:
1. a unitary administrative system with a single line of authority to ensure central control
2. uniform norms & rules that operate throughout the system
3. perfect obedience / perfect control
4. perfect information, perfect communication & perfect coordination
5. sufficient time for administrative resources to be mobilized
PERFECT POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IS IMPOSSIBLE & UNDESIRABLE
a. it is difficult to achieve any (let alone all) of these conditions; there is often a gap between
decision & delivery
not only is central control of strict authority unfeasible, it is undesirable
There remains a trade-off between central control (policy makers) & flexibility (policy implementers)
which is a major dilemma in the area of policy implementation.
Danger of flexibility in application
Flexibility may arise for a number of reasons:
One of these is that those who execute policy may not merely be anxious to use their experience & ‘street-
level’ knowledge to ensure that implementation is effective;
They may also wish to protect their career & professional interests.
THUS
Civil servants & public sector professionals will then have an obvious incentive to filter out or
reinterpret aspects of public policy that seem to be threatening or inconvenient.
, b. Poor public delivery service
Other concern about policy implementation arises less from the inadequacy of political control from above
and more from the absence of consumer pressure from below
Poor implementation, specially delivery of public services, results from the fact that government typically
OPERATES OUTSIDE THE MARKET MECHANISM & MONOPOLIZES ITS ‘GOODS’.
THUS
Civil servants, local government officers & public-sector workers can afford to be sloppy & ineffective
Because; unlike private businesses, they do not have to keep the customer satisfied –
resulting in ineffective & non-existent policy implementation.
K. JOHNSON - AIDS POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN POST-APARTHEID SA:
Aids & its deeply political context when developing aids policy in SA;
Whereby the South African government has not effectively responded to the spread of AIDS
She explored the difficulties of implementing a comprehensive response to AIDs in a country
undergoing restructuring at every level post 1994 – creating the gap between decision & delivery
As SA transitioned to a democracy in 1994, the process of administrative restructuring
took time & resources away from program implementation.
Highlighting the lack of coordination between sectors & various levels of government had generated
conflict between sectors.
In this specific instance – despite the fact that government had put the necessary institutions & strategies for
a multispectral & holistic response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it was on the implementation side where
challenges occurred.
Two conditions agreed to in the negotiation preceding the handover of power significantly
shaped social policy implementation:
1. The establishment of a quasi-federal political system to satisfy minority political interests
Quasi-federal system established by the new constitution & the process of decentralization that occurred
after the 1994 presented ongoing difficulties for the new government & the AIS infrastructure.
2. The clause that protected the jobs of the white civil servants for 5 years after 1994
Having little control over the implementation & social spending.
These positions were largely filled by public servants from the old structures, with low levels of power
& influence, instead of individuals from the network of AIDS activist.
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