5 Characteristics of Public Policy
•Policy consists of courses of action rather
than mere decisions;
•Policy is purposive or goal-oriented action;
•Policy is what government does, not what it
says it will do or intends to do
•Policy is based upon law and is authoritative
[that is, it must be developed by
government]; and
• Policy is the result of political processes.
A Systems Model of Public Policy-Making
ENVIRONMENTS
Physical system
FEEDBACK LOOP (outcomes - effects
on society and individuals may cause new
problems to be identified)
Economic system
Demographics
External political
systems
Cultural system
Constitutional
system
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Input
Structures
Inputs
Legislative
Individuals
Mass Media
Interest
groups
Government
Institutions
Demands Executive
Benefits
Judicial
Supports
Actors
Party systems
Roles
Electoral
systems
Processes
Deprivations
ENVIRONMENTS
Physical system
Economic system
Demographics
External political
systems
Cultural system
Constitutional
system
ENVIRONMENTS - the environment is any
condition or circumstance that is external to the
boundaries of the political system being
examined. Thus, a political system may
respond to social, economic, or physical
conditions, or it may respond to inputs from
other (external) political systems. At any rate, it
is proper to think of environmental conditions in
terms of systems and in the plural.
INPUT STRUCTURES - the channels, linkages, and connections
from the environments to government institutions. These
individuals and organizations/institutions serve to recruit political
actors, nominate and elect public officials, represent people, set
agendas for public discussion and action, and communicate
demands and supports to public officials.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Input
Structures
Individuals
Mass Media
Interest
groups
Party systems
Electoral
systems
INPUTS - Inputs into governmental structures include demands
for specific policy action and general support for the political
system or one of its parts. Diffuse support contributes to the
long-term maintenance and stability of the political system.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Inputs
Demands
Supports
GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS - these are the familiar legislative,
executive, judicial, and bureaucratic branches of government.
These institutions may be referred to as conversion structures
because because they convert demands and supports into public
policy outputs. Government institutions pass the laws, appropriate
the money, and make rules and regulations, whether formal or
informal, for implementing policies.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Government
Institutions
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Actors
Roles
Processes
OUTPUTS - are of two kinds: policy statements and implementing
actions. Policy statements include legislative statutes, executive
orders, administrative rules and regulations, and judicial decisions, as
well as informal policy pronouncements. Implementing actions are
those activities undertaken by administrators and other political actors
to carry out the policy statement. Outputs are generally characterized
as either benefits or deprivations imposed on a particular target group.
THE POLITICAL
SYSTEM
Benefits
Deprivations
OUTCOMES are the short
and long term
effects that
policies have on
environmental
conditions.
Outcomes feed
back into the
policy process
and have an
impact on the
formulation of
new policies.
Thus, as the
feedback loop
indicates, the
policy process
is a continual
cycle.
FEEDBACK LOOP (outcomes - effects
on society and individuals may cause new
problems to be identified)
THE POLITICAL
SYSTEM
Benefits
Deprivations
THE UTILITY OF THE SYSTEMS MODEL
In studying politics and public policy, the systems model can
be used to:
• Convey the idea of government as part of a larger system made
up of political actions;
• Identify the parts of the political system and the relationship of
each part to the others;
• Show the linkages or connections between the environments and
political structures, as well as linkages among parts of the
political system itself;
• Demonstrate how external variables in the environments
stimulate political activity and perhaps may ultimately necessitate
public policies;
• Allow us to develop possible explanations for government
performance by focusing on the various parts and their
interconnections;
• Show that policy outputs and outcomes are the product of
political activity occurring within the system; policy is the result
of political processes.
The Production Line Model of Policy-Making
Agenda-Setting
Evaluation
Formulation
Implementation
Adoption/
Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
Agenda-Setting
Agenda-setting involves two basic activities: (1)
problem identification and (2) priority-setting.
Problems may be identified by a wide variety of
political actors, both inside and outside of
government, who may have competing perceptions of
the problem’s cause, scope, and severity. Prioritysetting occurs when moving problems from the
public agenda to the official agenda. Determining
which problems are priorities and deserve
government’s attention is an issue of determining
“who gets access?” There are many points of access
in the American political system because there is no
single official agenda.
Agenda-Setting
Policy formulation involves working out the
details of alternative strategies to address a
problem placed on a government institution’s
agenda. The formulation of alternative policy
Formulation
strategies may be carried out by professional,
scientific policy analysts and planners, but more
often it is an informal process in which entities
that are affected by a problem and any potential
policy response attempt to persuade government
decision-makers of the merits of their preferred
solution. In other words, formulation is a
political rather than a rational process. Political
actors both inside and outside of government
may be involved in this stage of policy-making.
5 Types of Policy Statements
• legislative enactments (statutes)
• executive orders
• administrative rulings
• court decisions
• informal policy pronouncements
In the adoption/legitimation
stage, government officially
accepts a particular course
of action from among the
Agenda-Setting
alternatives produced in the
formulation stage [adoption
means “choosing”]. A policy
statement is adopted. Policy
statements may take several
forms. Policy statements
must be adopted by
government institutions
because (in American
society) only government is
recognized as having
legitimate authority to
impose binding decisions on
Adoption/
society. This legitimacy is
Legitimation
conferred by a legal/
constitutional process.
Formulation
Government Institutions/Actors
Agenda-Setting
Implementation
Implementation involves doing the things
to or for target groups that have been
authorized by the policy statement.
However, implementation is not as
Formulation
mechanical as mere administration.
It is
itself a dynamic, political process
involving activities characteristic of each
of the five stages of the broader policymaking process. Although implementing
actions are generally carried out by a
government
bureaucracy, private
Adoption/
individuals
or businesses or non-profit
Legitimation
agencies may have some implementation
responsibilities as well.
Government Institutions/Actors
Evaluation
Implementation
Evaluation is the measurement of policy
Agenda-Setting
performance and consequences in terms
of policy goals and other standards.
Policy evaluations may be conducted
formally by policy analysts in government
agencies, “policy think-tanks,” or the
news media, or informally by just about
anyone. Often informal, non-scientific
evaluations shape perceptions of policy
effectiveness more than rigorous,
scientific analyses. “Feedback” occurs
as a result of evaluation so that policy
may be adjusted at any time. As a
consequence, old problems may be
redefined
or new problems may be
Adoption/
identified
and the policy-making process
Legitimation
begins again. Thus, policy-making is a
continual or cyclical process.
Government Institutions/Actors
5 Classes of Public Policy
Class
Activity
RESOURCE ALLOCATIVE
giving, aiding, benefiting,
subsidizing
RESOURCE EXTRACTIVE
taking, taxing, requiring time
or service
REGULATORY
controlling behavior, setting
standards, inspecting for
compliance, punishing
non-compliance
SYMBOLIC
ritualizing, moralizing, making
promises, substituting rhetoric
for substance
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
AND MANAGEMENT
organizing/managing govt.
affairs, budgeting, making rules
with respect to internal operation
WHY DOES GOVERNMENT MAKE
PUBLIC POLICY?
To provide public goods/services
•pure private goods
•pure public goods and the free-rider problem
•merit goods
To counter the problem of externalities
To deal with the problems of adverse selection
and moral hazard
Externalities
• A positive externality exists when all of the social benefits associated
with the production and consumption of a good or service are not
captured by the private market. When a positive externality exists the
private market produces a less-than socially optimal level of output.
There is too little production. Government usually attempts to
increase the level of output by subsidizing the production of the good
or service or by providing the good or service itself. An example of a
good/service with positive externalities is childhood immunizations
(public health benefits).
• A negative externality exists when all of the social costs associated
with the production and consumption of a good or service are not
captured by the private market. When a negative externality exists
the private market produces a more-than socially optimal level of
output. There is too much production. Government usually
attempts to decrease the level of output by placing regulations or
taxes on the production or consumption of the good or service. An
example of a good/service with negative externalities is motor
vehicles (pollution).
Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
• Adverse selection is the tendency for people to enter into
agreements in which they can use private information (information
that is known only to themselves because it is too costly for anyone
else to obtain) to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the
less informed party.
•Moral hazard exists when one of the parties to an agreement has an
incentive after the agreement is made to act in a manner that brings
additional benefit to himself or herself at the expense of the other party
(it is too costly for the injured party to monitor the actions of the
advantaged party).
EXAMPLE: Health Care Insurance
Adverse selection exists in health insurance because there is a
tendency for people who know they have a greater chance than
average of falling ill to be the ones most likely to buy health
insurance. Moral hazard is the tendency for people who are covered
by insurance to use more health care services or to be less careful
about avoiding health risks than they otherwise would.