identifying policy problems and getting them on the agenda Flashcards
what is the your health act?
it is a measure to try to address wait times
new so we don’t know the impacts of it yet
policy tool implemented through a law to affect wait times
it tries to expand the types of surgeries, etc that can be done outside of hospitals
for profit and non profit can provide knee and hip replacements, cataracts, etc
if you go and get a surgery covered by OHIP at one of for profit clinics and you live outside ontario, you pay out of pocket
what is being upsold?
such as upgraded cataract lenses when you get a cataract surgery which is generally paid for OHIP but private for profit may offer different types at extra costs
why are critics worried about the your health act, which allows for profits to perform some operations to reduce wait times?
patients may be upsold
for profits may try to siphon staff from other hospitals when they’re allowed to do more surgeries
OHIP pays private clinics differently than other hospitals
public hospitals are funded to do a specific number of surgeries per year. believe hospitals could be given more funding instead of relying on private to carry on the burden etc
what are some solutions to wait times?
enable canadian health care workers who are registered in other provinces to work in ontario immediately
prioritization of high needs patients
telemedicine
what are focusing events?
sudden
relatively uncommon
can be reasonably defined as ‘harmful’ or revealing the possibility of potentially greater future harms
have harms that are concentrated in a particular geographical area or community of interest
known to policy makers and the public simultaneously
what is a pro for focusing events?
focusing events create policy windows to actually do something it, for any given issue
no window = no opportunity or space to talk about the issue
what is a policy agenda?
list of issues to which an organization, usually the government, is giving serious attention at any one time with a view to taking some sort of action.
what is agenda setting?
process by which certain issues come onto the policy agenda from the much larger number of issues potentially worthy of attention by policy makers
policy change begins with agenda setting
how do issues get onto the policy agenda?
focusing events
high burden of disease
politics-as-usual/incrementalism
define politics-as-usual/incrementalism
policy change occurs, if it does at all, through a gradual accumulation of small changes
name the steps of the ‘rational’ model of policy-making
- identify problem
- establish decision criteria
- weigh decision criteria
- generate alternatives
- evaluate alternatives
- choose best alternative
- implement the decision
- evaluate decision
repeat
what are 2 agenda setting models that help explain why particular issues get on organizations’/governments’ policy agendas, or why they do not reach policy agenda?
model of legitimacy, feasibility, and support
policy streams/multiple streams model
describe the model of legitimacy, feasibility, and support
“…[o]nly when an issue and likely response are high in terms of their legitimacy, feasibility and support do they get on to a government agenda.”
legitimacy: characteristic of those issues which policy makers see as appropriate for government to act on
feasibility: characteristic of those issues for which there is a practical solution.
support: characteristic of those issues to which the public and other key political interests want to see a response.
describe the policy streams/multiple streams model
policies are only taken seriously by governments when …
the problem they are addressing is perceived as being a public matter requiring government action
the policy solutions being proposed are perceived as technically feasible and consistent with dominant social values
the politicians/policymakers have the motivation and opportunity to enact policy solutions
problem stream: indicators of the scale and significance of an issue which give it visibility
