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
FEEDBACK LOOP (outcomes - effects on society and
individuals may cause new problems to be identified)
ENVIRONMENTS
Physical system
Economic system
Demographics
External political
systems
Cultural system
Constitutional
system
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Input
Structures
Individuals
Mass Media
Interest
groups
Party systems
Electoral
systems
Inputs
Government
Institutions
Legislative
Demands Executive
Benefits
Judicial
Supports Actors
Roles
Processes
Deprivations
• 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.
• INPUTS - Inputs into governmental structures include demands for specific policy action and general support for the political system of one of
its parts. Diffuse support contributes to the long-term maintenance and stability of the political system.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
THE UTILITY OF THE SYSTEMS MODEL - In studying politics and public policy, the systems model can be used to:
1. Convey the idea of government as part of a larger system made up of political actions;
2. Identify the parts of the political system and the relationship of each part to the others;
3. Show the linkages or connections between the environments and political structures, as well as linkages among parts of the political system
itself;
4. Demonstrate how external variables in the environments stimulate political activity and perhaps may ultimately necessitate public policies;
5. Allow us to develop possible explanations for government performance by focusing on the various parts and their interconnections;
6. 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.
Priority-setting 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 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.
Formulation
Agenda-Setting
In the adoption/legitimation stage, government
officially accepts a particular course of action from
among the 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
society. This legitimacy is conferred by a
legal/constitutional process.
Adoption/
Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
Formulation
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 mechanical as mere administration. It
is itself a dynamic, political process involving
Formulation
activities characteristic of each of
the five stages
of the broader policy-making process. Although
implementing actions are generally carried out
by a government bureaucracy, private
individuals or businesses or non-profit agencies
may have some implementation responsibilities
as well.
Adoption/
Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
Agenda-Setting
Evaluation
Implementation
Evaluation is the measurement of policy
performance and consequences in terms of
policy goals and other standards. Policy
evaluations may be conducted formally by policy
analysts in government agencies, “policy thinktanks,” 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
evaluationAdoption/
so that policy may be adjusted at any
time. As Legitimation
a consequence, old problems may be
redefined or new problems may be identified and
the policy-making process begins again. Thus,
policy-making is a continual or cyclical process.
Government Institutions/Actors
5 Types of Policy Statements
• legislative enactments (statutes)
• executive orders
• administrative rulings
• court decisions
• informal policy pronouncements
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 or managing government
affairs, budgeting, making rules with
respect to internal governance
Who Governs?
This is a central question for
political scientists. A number of
theories have been offered as
answers [see, for example, p. 561
in the AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
text]. Two theories have won
widespread acceptance among
political scientists, although they
reach competing conclusions:
Elite Theory
Pluralist Theory
The Many Meanings of Democracy
procedural democracy - concerned with process
substantive democracy - concerned with outcomes
direct democracy - “the people” make decisions (process)
representative democracy - “the people” select leaders to make decisions
majoritarian democracy - concerned with who has political power (majority
rule)
pluralist democracy - concerned with who has political power (varies among
competing groups)
elite democracy - concerned with who has political power (those with
economic resources)
liberal democracy - emphasizes process and places primacy on the
existence of individual rights
social democracy - emphasizes equality of outcomes (redistribution of power
in society, particularly wealth)
egalitarian democracy - emphasizes strict political equality
Describing American Democracy
Traditional democratic theory
The following conditions or criteria must be satisfied in
order to conclude that a country has a traditional
democracy:
• Citizens must be politically equal;
• Citizens must act on their preferences for leadership and public
policy - i.e., citizens must participate in decision-making;
• Information must be fully and freely available;
• There must be a close correspondence between the policy
decisions of representatives and the policy preferences of their
constituents - i.e., representatives must be delegates;
• When choosing from among policy alternatives, the alternative
preferred by the majority must be selected - i.e., majority rules.
Describing American Democracy
Elite Theory
• Economic power equals political power;
• Society is divided into two groups: the elites and the
masses;
• Public policy is not based on demands of the masses rather it reflects the values and preferences of the power
elite;
• There is competition among elites - however, elites share
broad values in support of the status quo;
• Public policy is not necessarily anti-mass welfare;
• Changes or innovations in public policy come about as a
result of the power elite redefining their own values;
• Policy changes will occur incrementally.
Elite Theory
According to this model,
public policy may be viewed
as the preferences and
values of a power elite.
Public policy, in other words,
flows downward from the
elite through public officials
and administrators who
merely validate and carry out
the policies favored by the
elite to the masses or the
people who are apathetic
and ill-informed about policy.
Elites actually shape mass
opinion on policy matters.
Elites
Public Officials
and
Administrators
Masses
Pluralist Theory
• The central fact of politics is a competition and interaction
among group interests;
• Public policy decisions and actions made by government
reflect the balance of influence among competing group
interests;
• No single group completely dominates the policy-making
process;
• The influence of groups changes as issues change;
• Changes in group influence can be expected to result in
changes in public policy;
• The distribution of influence among competing groups,
although constantly changing, rarely changes
dramatically;
• Changes in public policy will occur incrementally.
Pluralist Theory
According to this model, individuals with common interests ban together, formally
or informally, to press their demands on government. Public policy at any given
time is the equilibrium reached in the group struggle. This equilibrium is
determined by the relative influence of competing groups.
Group A
Group B
ECONOMICS AND POLITICS
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 problem of adverse selection (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.