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Birkland - Introducing the Policy ProcessPolitics and the Policy Process
What is ‘politics’: a way to conceive of politics as a process by which societies help figure out
how to organize and regulate themselves
Political because is located in the public sphere → decisions affect people as communities
Brief history of political thought : ancient (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), Machaivelli (The
Prince), modern (Hobbes, Lockes, Rousseau, Montesquieu), American thinkers (Hamilton,
Madison, Jay, founders of american political thought (Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson), Karl
Marx and Max Weber believed the socially and politically strong can ignore the desire of the
politically weak, postmodern thinkers (Dewey, questions knowledge and learning in social life
and Rawls, fundamental question of fairness), Foucault (challenges to social contract theory)
Lasswell defined politics as “who get what, when, how” → 2 essential aspects of politics:
● Competition to gain certain resources, sometimes at others’ expense
● Need to cooperate to make decisions
The nature of political power
Also described as “art of government” (positive), the accusation of “playing politics”
(negative) that underlines the opaqueness of the legislative process and the self-interests of
big business and lobbies
Public policies address problems that are public, or that some people think should be public
instead of private. The study of public policy is the study of how we translate the popular
will into practice
What is Public Policy?
Public policies address problems that are public, or that some people think should be public
instead of private→ is the study of how we translate the popular will into practice
Study of public policies is relatively new: MCCool argues that it began in 1922 with Merriam
but its classic literature was created only between the 50 and 60 with Lasswell
Many possible ways to define public policy→ key attributes:
1. Policy is made in response to some sort of problem that requires action
2. Policy is made on the publics’ behalf
3. Policy is oriented toward a goal or desired state, such as the solution of a problem
4. Policy is ultimately made by governments, even if the ideas come from outside
government or through the interaction of government and non-governmental actors
5. Policy is interpreted and implemented by public and private actors who have
different interpretations of problems, solutions and their own motivations
6. Policy is what the government chooses to do or not to do
- Policy (1) statement by the government of what it intends to do such as a law, regulation,
ruling, decision, order or a combination of these (2) lack of such statements may also be an
implicit statement of policy (3) policies take many different forms: law, regulation but are also
revealed by texts, practicies, symbols, discourses
Birkland vs. Knill&Tosun on policy
- Birkland: “a statement by the government of what it intends to do about a public problem”
- Knill & Tosun: “a course of action (or non-action) taken by a government or legislature with
regard to a particular issue” → B. focuses on statements, K&T on actions
Ideas and Problems in the Policy Process
Relationship between problems and ideas
Problem: undesirable situation that, according to people or interest groups, can be alleviated
by government action
,What makes Public Policy Public?
Ideological foundation of US constitutional system → classical liberalism, that emphasizes
individual liberty and ownership and acquisition of private property as a means to improve
wealth and happiness and discourage social striving
According to liberalism, people are sovereign→ importance of public interest, because it
policy is made in name of the broader desires and needs of the public
In many democracies, people delegate policy-making responsibilities to the government and
to specialists but in delegating these responsibilities they do not abandon their interests
The federal government plays an important role in every aspect of our lives, from the nutrition labeling on our breakfast cereal
to the standards for fire-retardant kids’ clothing. And state and local governments tax us, can restrict how we use our land
through land use planning and zoning, define what the schools can and cannot teach, and make rules about everything from
the operation of the state fairgrounds to where and when we can own and carry firearms. Big states, like California, are so
influential that their standards—such as those on automobile emissions—are adopted by other states or in federal law. Not
everyone likes rules like these, of course—industry for years battled against federal and state safety and emissions regulations
on vehicles.
Why do we study Public Policy?
- Theoretical/ scientific reason → one studies PP so that can know more about the process in
pursuit of knowledge
Theoretical reason, by Clarke E. Cochran → knowledge as pure science
Scientific reason, by James Anderson → knowledge as an applied science, apply
theory to actual cases
- Practical reason = political reason → people with political goals study public policy to learn
how to promote their preferred policy options
Place of Policy Studies in the Social Sciences
- Social science: branch of science that studies actions and behavior of people, groups and
institutions, Peter J. May (“Public policy morphology”) illustrates different ways to study
policy-making:
1. Public Policy Processes
research on the formulation and implementation of PP limited to the US context
traditional approach
it address topics such as as issue emergence and policy agendas, cultural definition
of problems, policy formulation, political feasibility, policy implementation
Policy process:
- Unlike policy analysis, does not emphasize craft aspects of constructing and analyzing
policies
- Unlike policy research, does not emphasize problem solving (instead, studies how others
define and seek to solve problems)
- Unlike comparative public policy, tends to be limited to US settings although good
comparative work is appropriate
2. Comparative Public Policy
comparative analysis applied to policy problems
emphasis on cross-national comparisons
descriptive, rather than theoretical
3. Public Policy Analysis
a rational analysis support of public policy decision-making → it borrows heavily from
economics (quantitative method, welfare economics, qualitative assessments)
, focus on (1) problem specification (2) generation of alternative policies (3)
assessment of policies in support of public policy decision-making
4. Public Policy Research
aims at documenting policy problems and evaluating interventions
policy research training includes development of expertise in the substance of one or
more policy areas (ex: health, energy, environment)
applied, problem-driven
Evidence and Arguments in the Policy Process
Governments are neither monolithic or neutral, participants in political processes are not all
neutral
There are several disciplines that study public policy (ex: political science, sociology,
economics, public administration)
Anecdotes and Evidence
how they are used strenghts
Anecdotes stories that illustrate provide an easily 1) staking out a position on an issue
a problem or the understood story with 2) motivating people to believe
failure of a policy obvious conclusions certain things
underlying normative
or moral principles They are less useful for:
serious analysis, because they do
not delve deeply into how programs
work
Evidence from conclusions provide scientifically Much stronger than anecdotes.
scientific study reached through sound informations
scientific study of a that policy makers can However, they are often
problem use to make decisions controversial and unpopular, and
sometimes run counter to popular
expectations
Both are necessary in policy making
Case Study: Does DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program Work?
The reason for the creation of any antidrug program, is simple: drug abuse is associated with poor academic achievement,
crime, and significant health problems for drug abusers. The federal state has created drug use regulations and educated the
public. DARE was an innovative program that linked schools with law enforcement in a way that would be more
effective than existing programs in preventing school-aged children from using drugs.It now serves 43 countries and
75% of school districts in the US.
DARE organization claims that the program helps students make good decisions and humanizes the police. The inclusion of
police officers as instructors would increase the credibility of the instructors and the program, a result that at least one study
corroborated.
Do DARE program reduce drug use in that population of students compared with students who did not go through DARE?
➢ In a 2001 review of drug abuse prevention programs, the U.S. Surgeon General placed DARE in the “does Not
Work” category of these programs
➢ A 2003 Government Accountability Office reported that the existing research found no significant difference in
drug use between students who had completed DARE and students who had not. It was corroborated by the
National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and Department of Justice.
➢ A study published in the American Journal of Public Health discovered that studies proved that DARE did not have
a measurable influence on drug use especially when measured over time.
Result: federal money supporting DARE programs was cut and some school districts have dropped the DARE program.
Several responses to the negative research findings followed:
1) DARE advocates argued that the outcomes of drug prevention education are difficult to quantify, that the studies cited
by researchers were flawed, and that DARE’s satisfaction surveys revealed positive outcomes including high levels of
parent, student, and community satisfaction.
2) Positive experiences with law enforcement officers are significant, though difficult to measure.
, A “new DARE” program was created, motivated by the urging of DARE’s proponents to avoid losing federal funding and a
desire to embrace science. Why does DARE remain so popular? Because people believe it works, based on personal
experience.
Ex. In one case, a county sheriff in Ohio noted that “there are studies out there that said that it didn’t work, that kids still used
drugs. What it doesn’t measure is the relationships that are built between the kids and those officers.” A parent in Texas,
reacting to the impending cut of DARE from her children’s school, said “I asked my kids, do you think that program is worth it?
and they said, yes.’ They would never smoke and it turned them off to drugs, too.”
In another instance, a school superintendent in Suffolk County, expressed his disappointment with the decision to drop DARE:
“It has had a tremendous impact on the students and has become part of our school culture. I’m concerned that when the
responsibility for teaching the curriculum falls on the shoulders of the teachers, who already have a full curriculum, that it won’t
have the same effectiveness that it did when the police officers came to visit.” As one police department notes, “Having a DARE
program in the local school lifts the burden off teachers and administrators to provide drug education, and gives them additional
time to do something else.”
This idea of “doing something” is important in politics and public policy. Furthermore, once a program is in place, many
stakeholders (ex: parents, teachers, police, school boards, local community leaders) have so much money, time, and personal
belief invested in a program that it is difficult (even in the face of scientific evidence) to change it.
The DARE case illustrates how powerful rhetoric, symbolism, and storytelling that relies on anecdotes can promote a
policy even when the evidence of its effectiveness is scant.
Kingdon - Origins, Rationality, Incrementalism and Garbage Cans
Initiative: power reserved to the voters to propose legislation, by petition, that would enact, amend or
repeal a City Charter or Code provision → hard to trace initiative’s origins because:
1) Ideas can come from anywhere
Hard to say who was responsible for which movement sometimes it’s civil servant, an
outside analyst, a lobby
Nobody has monopoly on ideas
A brief look at several health initiatives illustrates the generalization that the proximate origins-the sources of initiative close in
time to enactment-vary a great deal from one case to the next. First, the initiative for Health Maintenance Organizations was the
brainchild of Paul Ellwood, the head of a group in Minneapolis called InterStudy. Second, the Professional Standards Review
Organization (PSRO) program was enacted in 1972 at the initiative of Senator Wallace Bennett (R-Utah), the ranking
Republican on the Finance Committee. PSROs were to be physician organiza-tions in each locality designed to monitor the
hospital care that Medicare and Medicaid patients were receiving, to dampen unnecessary utilization, and to as- sure quality.
Third, health planning started in two separate tracks, on the Hill and downtown. Several programs that dealt in one way or
another with facilities planning-including Hill-Burton, Regional Medical Programs, and Comprehensive Health Planning-were all
coming up for renewal at roughly the same time. Staffers on the Hill and people in the executive branch independently had the
idea of combining the programs and adding provisions for plan- ning organizations in each locality (which came to be called
Health Systems Agencies). Our fourth case, a federal blood policy, was confined to the career civil service. To cut down on
hepatitis in the blood used for transfusions, an HEW task force, using threats of government regulation and legislative propos-
als, pressured the blood banks and other interested organizations into volun tarily cutting down on the use of paid blood donors.
Finally, the federal reim- bursement for kidney dialysis depended in the first instance on the develop- ment of a technological
advance, the shunt that would allow patients with end- stage renal disease to be hooked up to a dialysis machine.
2) Tracing origins involves one in an infinite regress
An idea doesn’t start with the proximate source, it has a history
When you start to trace the history, there is no logical place to stop the process
Seems like there is no point of origin → searching for origins may be useless
3) Nobody leads anybody else
There are no leaders, at least not consistently across many possible subjects
No category of participant consistently discussed subjects ahead of others
No category participates disproportionately when the subject is hot
Combination and the fertile soil
A complex combination of factors is responsible for the movement of a given item into agenda
prominence because (1) general fragmentation of the system (2) combination of people is required
to bring an idea to policy fruition (3) variety of resources is needed → some bring their pragmatic
sense, others bring their ability to attract attention (4) nobody really controls the information system
Joint effect of several factors coming together at once, the critical thing to understand is not where the
seed comes from, but what makes the soil fertile.
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