What is Policy?
§ “advice that relates to public
decisions..” which are also “informed by social values.” (Weimer and Vining,
p.23)
§ “Policy Analysis is client-oriented
advice relevant to public decisions and informed by social values.” (Ibid.
p.24)
§ “Policy analysis goes beyond personal
decision making.” (Bardach, Intro)
§ Policy analysis is a social and political
activity. (Bardach, Intro)
§ What is Policy?
§ “Policy” we need to understand what sorts
of truth might be spoken, in what languages, and to what ends. (Bobrow, p.4)
§ The policy field includes work that seeks
only to understand and explain the process of public policy making “knowledge of,”
in Lasswell’s terms. (Bobrow, p.4)
§ The process of public policymaking
includes the manner of which problems get conceptualized and brought to
government for solution. (Sabatier, p.3)
§ Policy analysts are often required to
give advice to policymakers in incredibly short periods of time. (Patton, p.2)
§ Policy making can be considered to be a
set of processes, including at least (Kingdon, p. 2-3)
–
The setting of the agenda
–
The specification of alternatives from which a
choice is to be made.
–
and authoritative choice among those specified
alternatives, as in a legislative vote or a presidential decision, and
–
The implementation of the decision.
§ Policy is an agreed upon course of
action, be it from a legal, political, educational, economic authority, or an
agreed upon course of action of the basic unit of society – the family.
§ Policy can involve economics, statistics,
ethics, sociology, psychology, health, politics, education, environment, and so
forth.
Defining Policy Analysis
§ “Public Policy analysis can be defined as
determining which of various alternative public or governmental policies will
most achieve a given set of goals in light of the relations between the
policies and the goals.” ( Nagel p. 71)
Elements of Policy Analysis:
1.
Goals, including normative constraints and
relative weights for the goals.
2.
Policies, programs, projects, decisions,
options, means, or other alternatives that are available for achieving the
goals.
3.
Relations between the policies and the goals,
including relations that are established by intuition, authority, statistics,
observation, deduction, guesses, or by other means.
4.
Drawing a tentative conclusion as to which
policy or combination of policies is best to adopt in light of the goals,
policies, and relations.
5.
Determining what it would take to bring a
second place or other alternative up to first.
Methods of Policy Analysis:
1.
How to draw a conclusion as to which policy to
adopt from information on goals, policies, and relations.
2.
How to establish the relations between policies
and goals.
3.
How to determine what policies are available
for adoption and what goals are appropriate to consider.
Commonly used Non-Navajo method
Values implicit in the model:
World View
§ “set
of implicit and explicit assumptions about the origin of the universe and the
nature and purpose of human life.” (Chapra, 1992)
§ “Values are beliefs that ‘something good
and desirable.’ Values define what is important and consequently what is worth
striving for.” (Ibrahim)
§ Norms are “what is acceptable and
appropriate behavior in particular circumstances.” (Ibrahim)
Western Worldview
1.
Western worldview is NOT monolithic, however,
many if the values have been influenced by the Judeo-Christian tradition.
2.
West represent a continuum of values
Western values…
Certain fundamental beliefs can be noted:
a)
Democracy
b)
Liberalism
c)
Individualism
d)
Materialism
e)
Secularism
f)
Consumerism
Values implicit in the model:
Problems
§ With the emergence of pluralism, it is
difficult to define the problem, because there is no ultimate “good or bad.”
§ In addition, with the values listed it is
assumed that most things can be monetized (have a dollar value placed on it.)
Example
Navajo Nation approach
Reactive-Crisis Model
§ We rely on what the Navajo Nation gives
us to make a decision.”
§ “We do not look at the long term
impact…if it looks good we do it.”
§ “There is no analysis of the issue.”
§ “Issue is made by the people, without any
real information about the impact of the issue at hand.”
§ “Our policies consist of the Five
Management system.”
§ “Chapters have no policy plans, they
react to crisis, nobody wants to CHANGE.”
§ “ No one wants to come together and
brainstorm issues.”
Current Policy-Making Practice at the Chapter Level (on
the Navajo Nation)
Values implicit in the model:
Problems
§ Navajo Nation reacts to problems using a
non-Navajo approach, but without any real analysis.
By Dr. Anwar
Kawtharani
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