POLI 359 Public Policy Making Session 9-Public Policy Process - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education

2016/2017

POLI 359 Public Policy Making

Session 9-Public Policy Process

Lecturer: Dr . Kuyini Abdulai Mohammed, Dept. of Political Science Contact Information: akmohammed@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

The Policy Process

Slide 2

• A policy process is the study of:
• Change and development
• The related actors
• Events and contexts
• There various forms of process. For example,

scholars of the policy cycle describe a process that is ushered through a sequence of stages:

• Agenda setting, policy formulation, policy

adoption, implementation, and evaluation.

The PoliĐy ProĐess ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 3

• Other process theories and frameworks focus on

distinct stages of the policy process. Examples are:

• KiŶgdoŶ’s (1984) Multiple Streams Model of

Agenda Setting (focus on one stage)

• Mazmania aŶd Saďatier’s ;1ϵϴ1฀ Implementation

Framework (focus on one stage)

• Diffusion and Innovation Framework (Berry and Berry,

2007) (focus on how multiple stages are adopted or rejected).

The PoliĐy ProĐess ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 4

• Institutional Analysis and Development

Framework (Ostrom, 2005) (focus on how actors engage in adaptive decision making

• Advocacy Coalition Network (Sabatier and

Jenkins- Smith, 1993) (looks at processes which emerge via conflict and competition among two

• r more coalitions
• Thus, the policy process should not be singly

interpreted as the policy cycle. Indeed each process lens has its place.

• The aim is to draw lessons from each of the

processes.

The Policy Cycle

Slide 5

• A cycle divides the policy process into a series of stages
• The policy cycle conveys an image of a continuous

process

• The continuity means policy-making is not an event
• The policy cycle is the most influential way of

describing policy making

• This approach breaks the policy making process into

clear and identifiable steps

• The cycle suggests that policy develops through a

standard sequence of tasks

• These tasks can be framed as activities or questions.

The PoliĐy CyĐle ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 6

• The standard number of stages in the cycle are
• five. These include:
• Agenda setting
• Policy formulation
• Policy adoption
• Implementation
• Evaluation

The PoliĐy CyĐle ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Figure 9.1: The Policy Cycle

Slide 7

Strengths of the Policy Cycle

Slide 8

• It emphasizes that government is a process and not

just a collection of venerable institutions.

• It disaggregates complex phenomena into manageable

steps allowing us to focus on the different issues and needs of each phase in the cycle.

• It permits some synthesis of existing knowledge about

public policy.

• It serves as a description of policy making, to assist in

making sense of policy development, past and present.

StreŶgths of the PoliĐy CyĐle ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 9

• It is normative, suggesting a particular sequence
• f events.
• It is a first foray into complexity.
• It provides a guide to future action.
• It organizes observations into familiar patterns.
• It suggests a process that transcends particular

institutions or policy design.

Weakness of the Policy Cycle

Slide 10

• It creates an artificial expectations of a reliable and

predictable policy world.

• It risks imposing too great a neatness on policy making

that is renowned for complexity and discontinuity.

• It cannot capture the full ebb and flow of a sophisticated

policy debate.

• It does not accommodate the value-laden world of

politics.

• The cycle is presented as if policy making is a linear
• process. Yet some stages can skipped or compressed.
• The real policy making may be messy rather than
• rderly.

Agenda Setting

Slide 11

• Agenda setting is the narrowing of an infinite array
• f possible policy problems to a few that command

government attention

• The policy agenda arises from competition

among voices seeking attention

• The policy agenda is determined politically with no

guarantee that the most significant issues will make it onto the list

• The agenda is biased towards areas already receiving

government attention.

AgeŶda SettiŶg ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 12

• The agenda is also biased towards areas with capacity

to attract political interest

• The agenda is set often not by public opinion or media

attention

• Rather it is often set by influential elites either already

in government or with access to decision makers

• Not all issues attract attention
• Those issues lacking dramatic impact, that affect

minorities or do not lend themselves to simple analysis and presentation are unlikely to find a broader audience.

Drivers of the Policy Agenda:

Slide 13

• The drivers of the policy agenda can be divided

into three categories:

• Political issue drivers
• External drivers
• Drivers within government
• Other drivers
• Political issues drivers include the following:
• Party political platform
• Key government achievement of the past
• Ministerial and government changes.

Drivers of the PoliĐy AgeŶda ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 14

• External drivers include the following:
• Economic forces (e.g. share market fluctuation,

interest rate adjustment, employment rate, etc.)

• Media attention
• Opinion polls
• Legal shifts (Supreme Court judgment)
• International relations (refugee arrivals, diplomatic

representation over human rights issues)

• Technological development
• Demographic shifts

Drivers of the PoliĐy AgeŶda ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 15

Drivers within government include the following:

• Emerging issues monitored by government policy

specialists

• Monitoring policy issues in other jurisdiction (e.g.

failure of policies in other countries)

• Ongoing monitoring of wicked problems, intractable

issues of perennial government concern

• Coordination of policy issues across government and

between structures

• Budget overruns and unfavourable audit reports.

Drivers of the PoliĐy AgeŶda ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 16

Other drivers include the following:

• Activities of interest groups
• Crisis or triggering events
• Beliefs and values of the polity

Criteria for Identifying Policy Agenda Items

Slide 17

• Agreement on a problem
• The prospect of a solution
• An appropriate issues
• A problem for whom

Policy Formulation

Slide 18

• Policy formulation is the exploration of the

various options available for resolving a problem.

• It involves the assessment of possible solutions to

policy problems.

• Policy formulation involves the development of

alternative proposals for action.

• The process of defining, considering or rejecting
• ptions is the substance of policy formulation.

Who makes Policy Proposals?

Slide 19

• Presidential staffers who develop these proposals

for parliament

• Career bureaucrats who make proposals for cabinet
• Committees or policy knowledgeable people and

interest groups. For example, interest groups may make direct proposals to legislature. Thus, if canoe fishermen in Ghana feel that an increase in the price

• f premix fuel affects them they may make proposal

to Parliament.

Characteristics of the Policy Formulation Stage

Slide 20

• Formulation need not be limited to one set of actors.
• Formulation may proceed without a clear definition of

the problem, or without formulators having much contact with the affected groups.

• There is no necessary coincidence between formulation

and particular institutions.

• Although it is a frequent activity of bureaucratic

agencies.

• Formulation and reformulation may occur over a long

period of time without building sufficient support for any

• ne proposal.

Characteristics of the Policy ForŵulatioŶ Stage ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 21

• There are often several appeal points for those who

lose in the formulation process at any one level.

• The process itself has neutral effects. Somebody wins

and somebody loses even in the working of science.

• Recommendations for a particular course of action is

done on the basis of its pros and cons.

• Ministers and the government are not bound by

bureaucratic findings in their choice of a solution.

• If the choices are not palatable politicians may seek

further information or change aspects of the equation.

Policy Adoption/Decision Making

Slide 22

• The policy adoption or decision making is the stage

where authoritative policy actors issue some formal or informal statement of intent to undertake or refrain from undertaking some action

• The process of decision making involves the sequence
• f:
• getting policy proposals out of debates and deliberations
• Selecting the preferred proposal or course of action
• Enactment of laws in parliament
• Assenting to the enactment by the president
• Some decisions are made via executive orders, court

rule.

Characteristics of the Policy Adoption Stage

Slide 23

• Decision making is not a self-contained stage, nor is it

synonymous with the entire policy making process

• Different kinds of decisions can result from a decision

making process

• Policy decision making is not only a technical exercise but

an inherently political process

• Public policy decisions create winners and losers
• There is a likely direction and scope of policy decision

making

• Sets of theories prescribe how decisions ought to be

made.

Types of Decisions

Slide 24

• Positive Decisions: Refer to the type of decisions

that alter the status quo.

• Negative Decisions: Refers to a choice to reject
• ptions to alter the status quo.
• Non decisions refer to the act of filtering out certain
• ptions out of the agenda setting or policy

formulation stages.

Policy Implementation

Slide 25

Implementation means carrying out programs of activities to achieve policy goals At the implementation stage:

• People are informed of the choice of government
• Policy instruments are created and put in place
• Staff are instructed
• Services are delivered
• Monies are spent; bills are prepared for parliament Thus,

the machine of state implements government wishes.

Who Implements Public Policy?

Slide 26

• Executive arm of government
• Bureaucratic agencies
• Parliamentarians and Assembly members
• The law courts
• NGOs and Pressure groups
• Profit making organizations

Conditions for Successful Implementation

• f Policy

Slide 27

• No crippling external constraints
• Adequate time and resources
• A suitable combination of resources at each stage
• A valid theory of cause and effect
• Direct link between cause and effect
• A single implementation agency or at least a

dominant one

• Understanding and agreement on the objectives

to be achieved.

Implementation Problems

Slide 28

• Incomplete specification: Policies are rarely complete,

able to cover every contingency.

• Inappropriate agency: The assigning of responsibility

to a particular agency will affect the expertise available.

• Conflicting objectives: All governments have multiple
• bjectives and these objectives mostly conflict rather

than converge.

• Incentive failure: If implementing agencies are not

given sufficient incentives to implement carefully and thoroughly policies can fail.

IŵpleŵeŶtatioŶ Proďleŵs ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 29

• Conflicting directives: Those who must implement

policy are often subject to conflicting instructions.

• Limited competence: The objectives that should be

extracted from programs may mismatch agency capacity.

• Inadequate administrative resources: Governments

sometimes announce new policies without providing funds.

• Communication failure: Successful program

implementation usually rests on building an effective communication network

Policy Evaluation

Slide 30

• The term evaluation is synonymous with three

words:

• Appraisal
• Rating
• Assessment
• Each of these words refers to the application of some

scale value to the outcomes of policies.

• The scale of value may be objective or subjective

depending on how people benefit or not benefit from the policy.

• It refers to how a policy has fared or performed in

action.

Activities involved in Policy Evaluation

Slide 31

• Measuring output performance – that is the actual
• utputs and outcomes the policy has delivered.
• Comparing
• utput performance against

desired results – that is, weighing actual outputs and outcomes against expected outputs and

• utcomes.
• Correcting any deviations – that is determining

whether any of the activities (issues, needs, problems) have been the right ones and that they have been sufficiently addressed.

Who Evaluates Policies?

Slide 32

• Policy makers
• Those charged with implementing the policy
• Members of the public affected by the specific policy

under consideration

• Private research organizations
• The media
• Presidential commission
• Parliamentary oversight
• Political parties

Types of Policy Evaluation

Slide 33

• Administrative evaluation
• Judicial evaluation
• Political evaluation
• Administrative evaluation is:
• It is usually conducted within government.
• It is usually focused on the examination of the

efficient delivery of government services.

• It determines whether value for money is achieved
• It entails the collection of precise information and its

compilation in a standardized format–costs and

• utcomes.

Types of PoliĐy EvaluatioŶ ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 34

• Judicial evaluation does not focus on budgets,

priorities, efficiencies and expenditure.

• It focus is on the legal issues relating to the manner

in which government programs are implemented.

• It determines whether there are possible conflicts

between:

• Government action and constitutional provision
• Established standards of administrative conduct
• Individual human rights

Types of PoliĐy EvaluatioŶ ;ĐoŶt’d฀

Slide 35

• Political evaluation of government policy is conducted

by just about everyone with any interest in political life.

• Political evaluations are neither systematic nor

necessarily technically sophisticated.

• Indeed many of these evaluations are inherently

partisan, one sided and biased.

• Partisan political evaluations often attempt to label a

policy as either a success or failure.

• This evaluation is followed by demands for change.
• Political evaluation is an ongoing activity.

Criteria of Policy Evaluation

Slide 36

• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Equity
• Appropriateness
• Adequacy
• Responsiveness