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LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTIONChapter 1: Theory and Practice of Effective Policy Advising (Bromell, 2017)
Policy: a set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations that has been agreed to officially by a group of
people, a business organisation, a government, or a political party
Sometimes, a policy is an idea or plan of what not to do
Bromell describes public policy as incremental social problem solving → the goal is evolution not revolution
Three reasons why public servants need to keep on refining and improving the craft of policy advising
1 We work for agencies of state that have inclusive and coercive powers.
The policies on which we give advice, once adopted and implemented, affect the lives and wellbeing of a very
large number of people, imposing costs and distributing benefits in ways that have unintended consequences
and enduring impacts
2 We are paid from the public purse and have a responsibility to taxpayers to provide the best possible value
This responsibility is heightened when we are paid salaries well in excess of the average income of citizens.
3 Professional practice needs to adapt and keep pace with new challenges, developments in technology and
periodic disruptions to the status quo that shake us to the core and test the institutions and practice of
government.
The public servant as analyst, advisor and advocate
1 Policy analysis gathers relevant data and turns this into information to support decision making
This is most commonly done by identifying two or more options to address a problem (or opportunity)
and assessing the strength of the evidence for and against each option
Public policy analysis must be evidence-informed, technically competent and politically neutral
o Political neutrality requires public servants to act impartially to implement the government’s
policies and to provide consistent services)
Involves a rational representation of relevant information
2 Policy advising bridges the gap between analysis and decision, supporting decision makers to select and
implement their preferred policy options
Preferred policy outcome refers to an outcome that aligns with the values and agenda that drive
them, is based on the available evidence they are most likely to achieve the desired results and are
practically and politically implementable.
Policy advisors are people who present information, analysis and recommendations to support public
decision making about policy, informed by social values
Three duties of public advisors
o To serve the government of the day faithfully by providing advice that is free, frank and
politically neutral, and by implementing policy decisions without criticism or re-litigation
o To serve the public by promoting better policies and protecting the long-term interests of
society in how we advise politicians, implement policies and deliver public services
o To respect and improve the democratic process by which policy decisions are made
Advisors are responsible for speaking truth to power in ways that maintain the confidence of both
present and future decision makers by being honest brokers of policy alternatives
Becoming an effective policy advisor requires mastery of rhetorical and dialectical skills: the ability to
define a problem according to various points of view, to draw an argument from many different
sources and to adapt the argument to the audience, and to educate public opinion
3 Policy advocacy seeks to persuade and advocate for recommended options.
Analysis must be communicated in ways that persuade decision makers or else they will fail to win
political support → without advocacy and organisational basis, proposals have little capacity of survival
Moving into an advocacy role as a public servant is risky
o On what basis and in whose interests are we advocating, and how, as unelected officials, are
we accountable to the public for the advocacy we engage in?
→ Public servants involved in policy making fulfil all three functions (these are functions, not roles)
,Descriptive model of policy making (Howlett et al., 2009)
Policy making is represented as a cycle of problem-solving attempts, which results in ‘policy learning’ through the
repeated analysis of problems and experimentation with solutions
Five stages of policy making: Agenda setting, Policy formulation, Decision making, Implementation and Evaluation
Australian policy cycle (Althaus, Bridgman and Davis, 2013)
Descriptive: the model offers a heuristic, a mental organising device to assist learning and problem solving
o Their model helps make sense of the activities involved in policy development
Prescriptive: their eight-stage model encourages an orderly routine to help define the roles and
responsibilities of each player along a recognised sequence of decision making and implementation, while
acknowledging that policy making is non-linear → policy making commonly follows a zig-zag path
Stages of the Australian policy cycle
1. Identifying issues: recognising a problem and defining it as an agenda for public policy
2. Policy analysis: gathering information to frame the issue and help decision makers understand the problem
3. Policy instruments: identifying appropriate tools and approaches to address the problem
4. Consultation: discussions and interaction with relevant agencies and interest groups to test ideas and gather
support
5. Coordination: ensuring funding can be made available to implement the policy, and coherence and
consistency with overall government direction and other existing and planned policies
6. Decision: confirmation of policy by government, usually via Cabinet consideration
7. Implementation: giving expression to the decision through legislation or a programme designed to achieve
goals agreed by Cabinet
8. Evaluation: reviewing the effects of a policy and adjusting or re-thinking its design
Limitations of rational comprehensive approaches to policy making
1 No clear-cut stages: there is nothing in the policy cycle model itself that tells you when one stage is completed
and the next ought to commence
What is the causal theory underling the policy cycle, driving the cycle from one stage to the next?
Stages are better thought out as ongoing processes that run through all the other stages
2 Over-simplification: a staged model over-simplifies complex problem-solving processes that policy
practitioners often describe as iterative
Problem-solving processes are repetitive and rely on trial and error until an approach is found that
wins political acceptance
3 What about other actors? Models of the policy cycle tend to focus attention on decision making within
government and in this sense are “top down”
They do not capture well the influence of non-state actors on public policy making, or modes of
engagement with citizens and communities other than consultation
→ Models of policy cycles and stages are useful if they help make sense of the policy process and are used as
a guiding tool, they remind us of things to think about and not necessarily the order in which to do things
,Stages of policy analysis
, What is effective policy advising about?
1 Relationships: effective policy advising requires above all building and maintaining relationships of confidence
with your audience i.e. client(s)
Without the confidence and trust of decision makers, you will have limited opportunities to present
advice to them and they may choose not to listen to you
Policy advisors also help broker and facilitate consultation and engagement with interest groups and
the public generally
2 Integrity: being an effective policy advisor requires both personal and professional integrity
A public policy advisor must secure the confidence of future as well as present politicians, legislators
and the public
3 Communication: policy advisors advise decision makers but have little or no scope themselves to make policy
decisions → power lies in your ability to be persuasive and communicate effectively
Policy advising is also a social activity that involves collective thinking and social problem solving
Policy advising involves working in teams
Creating public value and providing better public services requires policy advisors to facilitate cross-
agency and cross-sectoral cooperation, and community consultation, engagement and collaborative
governance
→ It is less about cycles, stages and steps, and more about relationships, integrity and communication
Relationship between policy advisor and decision makers
A relationship of confidence between advisor and decision maker cuts both ways. The decision maker needs to be
able to trust the advisor. The advisor also needs to build and maintain confidence in the decision maker as a person
of goodwill, who also wants to make a difference, advance the public interest and improve human flourishing.
Four ethical competencies for public service
1 Civility: the capacity to engage in reasoned, reflective judgment that makes itself accountable to diverse
publics
2 Fidelity to the long-term public interest: skill and responsibility in dealing with vast complexity and dynamic
change along the horizontal continuum of time, as distinct from being merely responsive to the demands of
the present moment and to vertical accountabilities (managing upwards)
3 Respect for citizens as responsible agents: people are more than objects of policy “interventions”, our duty
extends to respecting and improving the democratic process and to facilitating citizens’ participation in self-
government
4 Prudence: the exercise of practical wisdom, informed by critical reflection on accumulated experience, in
concrete situations.
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