POLI 359 Public Policy Making Session 3-Prescriptive Models of Public - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education

2016/2017

POLI 359 Public Policy Making

Session 3-Prescriptive Models of Public Policy Making

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

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Prescriptive Models

Slide 2

Prescriptive models stipulate how public policies

• ught to be made. Prescriptive models of policy

making include:

• Rational Comprehensive Model
• Incremental Model
• Mixed Scanning Model
• Garbage Can Model
• Normative optimum Model
• Public Choice Model

Rational Comprehensive Model

Slide 3

A rational comprehensive approach to decision making involves the following:

• A problem is identified and well defined.
• The values, goals, and objectives of the decision

makers are made explicit and ranked in order of priority.

• All options that could achieve the goal are identified.
• The costs and benefits of each option are then

compared.

• The decision maker chooses the option with the

greatest benefits and the least costs.

Strengths of the Rational Comprehensive Model

Slide 4

Advantages:

• It is a useful tool of analysis.
• It helps to identify barriers to rationality.
• It is the best possible decision making approach.
• Rational decisions may make either large and basic
• r limited changes in public policies.
• It forces decision makers to strive to make decisions

that most effectively achieve a given end.

Weakness of the Rational Comprehensive Model

Slide 5

• Decision makers are not faced with concrete,

clearly identified problems.

• It is unrealistic in the intellectual demands on

decision makers.

• Decision maker are faced with value conflict.
• Decision makers may confuse personal values with

public values.

• There is the problem of sunk cost.

Incremental Model/Incrementalism

Slide 6

• Incrementalism is a decision making model that is

characterized by limited analysis.

• The analysis yields decision that differ only

marginally from previous decisions.

• Incremental decision making is characterized by

bargains and concessions among self-interested decision makers.

• It involves minor changes to existing policies.
• National budget making is an example of

incremental decision making.

Characteristics of the Incremental Model

Slide 7

• Goals and objectives are selected.
• Empirical analysis to attain the goals are intertwined

with rather than separate from each other.

• Only some of the alternatives for dealing with the

problem are considered.

• For each alternative only a limited number of

consequences are evaluated.

• The problem facing the decision maker is

continually redefined.

Characteristics of the Incremental Model

Slide 8

• The model allows for countless ends-means and

means-ends adjustment.

• There is no single or right decision for a problem.
• The test of a good decision is that various analysts

find themselves directly agreeing on it.

• However, they do not agree that the decision is the

most appropriate means to achieve the objective.

• Incremental decision making is essentially

remedial.

Advantages of the Incremental Model

Slide 9

• The incremental process is politically expedient.
• It reduces risks and costs of uncertainty.
• It is realistiĐ iŶ reĐogŶiziŶg the deĐisioŶ ŵaker’s laĐk
• f information and other resources for acting

rationally.

• It achieves limited, practical and acceptable

decisions.

• Incremental decision is evident in pluralistic

societies such as the US.

Weakness of the Incremental Model

Slide 10

• It is too conservative and too focused on the

existing order.

• It is a barrier to innovation which is required for

effective policies.

• In situations of crisis and major changes in decision,

it provides no guidelines.

• It discourages the search for or

use of other readily available alternatives.

• It does not eliminate the need for theory in decision

making.

Public Choice Model

Slide 11

• Public choice model is the application of economic

analysis to political and social phenomena.

• It is the economic study of non market decision making.
• It argues that the behaviour of individuals is towards

self- interest maximization.

• Self-interest of the individual is evident whether in the

political or market arenas.

• Politicians want to maximize votes, bureaucrats strive to

maximize departmental budgets, voters maximize personal benefits.

PuďliĐ ChoiĐe Model ;ĐoŶt’d฀:

Slide 12

• People pursue their self-interest both in politics and

the market.

• Even if these interests are selfish, they can mutually

benefit through collective decision making.

• That government itself is a social contract. The

contract is between individuals who agree for their mutual benefit to obey law.

• These individuals obey laws and support

government in return for protection. The protection is for their lives, properties and liberties.

Characteristics of the Public Choice Model

Slide 13

• It acknowledges that the state is obligated to perform

certain functions the market cannot perform.

• It rejects the traditional notion that the intent of

policy is to serve the public interest.

• It insists rather that the intent of policy is to serve the

interests of politicians

• It claims that the behaviour of actors is opportunistic.
• It contends that government is a revenue maximizing

leviathan.

• This means the state gets maximum taxation revenue.

Advantages of the Public Choice Model

Slide 14

• It helps in explaining why political parties fail

to provide clear policy alternatives.

• It has developed its own critique of the simple

median-voter model.

• It contributes to our understanding of interests

groups and their influence on public policy.

• It identifies ways of re-orienting actors towards

serving the public interest.

Weakness of the Public Choice Model

Slide 15

• It scores low on moral attractiveness as public

policy is modeled only as rent seeking behaviour.

• The evidence on public choice model is mixed so it

is difficult to derive proper test.

• It tends to over-emphasize the supply side in public

policy making.

• If a demand side argument is raised, tension will

arise between it and the supply side argument.