Public policy making Flashcards
‘public policy’ definition Dye
anything a government chooses to do or not to do
- primary agent = government
- non-policy = a decision to have no policy is a policy
- deliberateness = policies are the consequence of conscious decisions. government wants the consequences of the policy to happen. there can also be unintended consequences
‘public policy’ definition Jenkins
a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and means of achieving them within a specified situation where those decisions should be within the power of those actors to achieve
- dynamic process
- capacity
- goal-oriented
policy cycle
- agenda-setting = problem comes to governments attention
- policy formulation = developing of potential solution by government agencies, experts and other stakeholders
- decision-making = government or relevant authorities choose an option or a combination of them.
- policy implementation = policy is put in action by government departments and public servants
- policy evaluation = effectiveness of policy is reviewed to see if the intended goals are being achieved
disadvantages of policy cycle
- policymaking isn’t always linear and neat
- unclear at which level the policy cycle should be used
- the model lacks any notion of causation
- doesn’t say anything about the content of the policy
advatages of policy cycle
- simplifies the policymaking process
- making it easier to study and understand by breaking it down in smaller more manageable steps
models of decision making
- rational model = maximizing solutions to complex problems by thoroughly analysing all alternatives to maximize benefits and minimize costs (scientific mode)
- incremental model = based on bargaining and negotiation between decision makers, instead of analysis. this is often done by making small adjustments to existing policies.
bounded rationality
policymakers are constraint by their cognitive limits, time restrictions, and incomplete information, making it impossible to consider all possible options and outcomes to make a ‘perfectly rational’ decision. they settle for the solution that is “good enough” or satisficing
models beyond rationalism and incrementalism
- Mixed-scanning model = uses rational and incremental. uses a broad scan to identify major problems, followed by a focused analysis of promising solutions, allowing for both detailed evaluation and practical decision-making.
- garbage-can model = decisions often result from coincidental meetings of problems, solutions, and actors, rather than rational analysis.
- decision accretion model = policies often emerge not from single deliberate choices, but from a gradual accumulation of small, semingly minor decisions made by multiple actors over time. (also aplies to multi stage policy setting -> different arenas or different rounds of decisions)
policy paradox
a policy can be defined the same in contradictory ways. policy exists at the intersection of conflicting interests, values, and interpretations, where rational solutions are entangled with political motivations and symbolic interpretations.
rationality project
to make policy rationaln analytical and scientific
- model of reasoning: the rational decision making
- model of society: a collection of autonomous, rational decision makers
- model of policy making: the production model where policy is made in a sequence of stages, moving through different branches of the government
political reasoning
trying to get others to see a situation as one thing rather than another. each vision contstructs a different political contest and invoke a differen set of rules for resolving the conflict.
- model of reasoning: through metaphor and analogy
- model of society: political community, people are connected
- model of policy making: why solutions come before problems, struggle over ideas, ideas as powerful influence
