Plan and Policy Development

Question 1

Two timeframes for evaluating policy

Answer 1

Predictive (Before the fact)
Descriptive (After the fact)

Question 2

Predictive Analysis

Answer 2

Trying to use past trends, data, and information to predict how a policy will work in the future.

Question 3

Descriptive Analysis

Answer 3

Measuring the impact of a policy after it has been adopted (e.g., how many jobs did it create?)

Question 4

Basic Policy Analysis Process

Answer 4

1. Verify, define, and detail the problem
2. Establish evaluation criteria
3. Identify alternative policies
4. Evaluate alternative policies
5. Display and distinguish among alternative polices
6. Monitor the implemented policy

Question 5

Elasticity

Answer 5

What happens to the demand of a good as the cost rises.
Essential goods (like gasoline) don’t necessarily drop in demand as costs rise (because we need gas to get to work). But raising the cost of food items may reduce demand.

Question 6

Marginal Analysis

Answer 6

Cost or benefit of the last unit provided - sometimes seen as in “equilibrium” when marginal cost is the same as marginal benefit.
EX.: Adding one student to a spacious classroom in cheap, but having to build another wing to accommodate one more student is expensive.

Question 7

Technical Feasibility

Answer 7

Non-economic evaluation criteria that evaluates whether or not the technical expertise exists to implement a policy

Question 8

Economic and Financial Feasibility

Answer 8

Non-economic evaluation criteria– Evaluates whether or not there are financial resources available to implement a specific idea

Question 9

Political and Administrative Operability

Answer 9

Non-economic evaluation criteria– Evaluates whether or not a program is likely to survive more than one political cycle or changes in leadership.

Question 10

Fiscal Impact v. Economic Impact

Answer 10

Fiscal impact: more specific to the impact of a policy/program on the civic organization

Economic impact: evaluates the costs and benefits of a program on the entire city (municipality, people, businesses)

Question 11

Steps in the Comprehensive Planning Process

Answer 11

1. Setting the Stage - scoping, identify stakeholders, design process.
2. Develop the Plan - Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?
3. Implement the plan

Question 12

Six ingredients of a Vision statement

Answer 12

1. Positive, present-tense
2. Highlights region’s uniqueness
3. Inclusive of region’s diversity
4. Has high standards
5. Focused on people/quality of life
6. Defined time period

Question 13

Strong Mayor

Answer 13

Expedites decision making. Strong Mayors are beneficial in communities in needs of major redevelopment.

Question 14

City Manager

Answer 14

Removes daily operations from politics. Can result in planning decisions happening behind the scenes. Can resemble a Strong Mayor system.

Question 15

Town Meeting

Answer 15

Best in communities that are trying to maintain the status quo.

Question 16

Multi-Variate Analysis

Answer 16

An idea or output may be impacted by multiple inputs.
Ex.: Local quality of life is impacted by housing costs, housing availability, transportation options, etc.

Question 17

Benefits of a participatory approach

Answer 17

1. Promoting buy-in to the evaluation
2. Empowering participants as it facilities building evaluation capacity in the community
3. Creating space to receive input from all participants

NOT data collection

Question 18

Three evaluation design options

Answer 18

1. Outcome evaluation
2. Process evaluation
3. Ripple effect mapping (REM)

Question 19

Outcome Evaluation

Answer 19

Assesses change resulting from community engagement, such as change in the way people engage with each other and change resulting from their engagement

Question 20

Process Evaluation

Answer 20

Involves collecting data in the planning and implementation phases and are done at the beginning and throughout the engagement process.

Question 21

Ripple Effect Mapping (REM)

Answer 21

Used in evaluation to engage key stakeholders in assessing the impact of community engagement.