5: Political Power & Public Policy Flashcards
Mass Publics
Broad diffuse populations
Organized groups interested in specific agencies
Attentive publics
Management of public organizations is influenced by
Public opinion
Attitudes toward government in general as well as policies and agencies
Who was called the teflon president?
Reagan
Public opinion + close media scrutiny results in
Adversarial stance toward government
Increasing negative coverage
Gov’t operating in a “goldfish bowl”
Well-being of public agencies is sometimes determined by
Support of organized groups
Can help defend agencies; well-organized, cohesive groups offer the best support.
Special interest groups cause
fragmentation
Interest groups play an important role in
Legislation–negotiation with these groups is critical.
Who has formal, legal authority over public organizations?
Legislative bodies
Legislative bodies do these 4 things:
- control budgets
- enact legislation
- authorize and direct agency actions
- oversee agency activities (hearings & investigations)
Dorothy Olshfski wrote about this in 1990
Perceptions of politics
Political astuteness
Understanding the political system and process of government and their departments
Issue politics
Using political tactics such as bargaining and coalition building to advance an issue.
Electoral politics
knowledge and activities used to increase support for a manager, elected official or department.
Who makes up the “Iron Triangle”?
- Congressional committees
- Administrative agencies
- Interest groups
Helco (1978) described issue networks as
experts, officials and interests that form around a particular issue and can shift rapidly.
Milward and Wamsley (1982) described policy networks as
groups of experts, organizations and governmental authorities that shape policy.
It is difficult for subgovernment structures to coordinate because of
complexity of issues, interests and participants involved in the process.
Privatization creates ______ control mechanisms
Indirect; It blurs the lines of accountability.
This model says that problems, solutions and participants can come together in a jumbled fashion to solve a problem.
Garbage can model
These three things help shape the policy agenda
Problems
Policies
Politics
Public managers manage relationships with
external authorities
actors
networks
policy processes
IN a constrained environment.
Networks are built on
trust & collaboration
Collaborachy is a term coined by
Robert Agranoff.
He calls it soft guidance with some hierarchical authority.
Effective networks are characterized by
cohesion, trust, mutual respect, consensus, common purpose
A network of agencies will be most effective when
- coordinated by a core agency
- funding is not fragmented
- resources are plentiful and
- network is stable.
Networks add value through
- better communication and information
2. better results–funding, policies, etc. (especially for action oriented networks)
Collaboration elements described by Stephen Page, 2003
Planning
Assessing progress
Improving performance
Allocating & mobilizing resources
Depersonalized leadership
Managers use participatory, inclusive processes to make decisions
Example of shallow collaboration
collaborative contracts; fiscal partnerships
Example of medium collaboration
Sharing human and professional development in an effort to build capacity and improve services
Example of deep collaboration
Enhanced vision; Produces larger rewards that extend beyond organizational boundaries
Policy Networks
Stakeholders that share an interest in a specific policy
agencies legislative offices private sector nonprofits interest groups
Collaborative networks
group of orgs that works to provide resources for a single agency.
