Policy Paradox Stone (2002)

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Policy ParadoxStone (2002)

• Chapter 12 Rules
• John Hance
• Amy Hager
• Haichang Xin
• Ife Nelson

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Outline

• Sources of Rules
• Function of Rules
• How a Rule Works
• Political Nature of Rules
• What Comprises a Good Rule
• Perverse Incentives
• Enforceability of Rules
• Informal vs. Formal Rules

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RULES

• Policy-making relies heavily on official rules
• Laws Rules

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Sources of Rules

• Examples of Societys Many Rules
• Rules by Legislative bodies Statutory Law
• Rules by Administrative bodies Regulations
• Rules by Courts Common Law
• Rules outlined by the United States Constitution

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Function of Rules

• Some rules mandate behavior

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Function of Rules

• Some rules confer power (i.e. President of the
  United States is Commander in Chief)

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How a Rule Works

• Rules are intended to induce compliance
• Rules derive their enormous power from
  legitimacy- in that they are perceived as good
  and right (why do people obey the speed limit in
  a school zone?)

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How a Rule Works

• Rules generally have 2 parts
• 1) They prescribe certain actions to be taken
• 2) Within certain contexts or situations

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How a Rule Works

• 1) Prescribe actions to be taken
• Formulated as if.then statements
• i.e. IF you hunt deer THEN you can only do it
  between the months of October and January.
• IF you beat the best team to ever play college
  basketball, THEN you CANNOT rush the court or
  your school will be fined 25,000

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How a Rule Works

• 2) Within certain contexts or situations
• Context (rules depend on context)
• Kissing a child is a loving expression when
  performed by the childs parents, but kissing a
  child is molestation when performed by a
  stranger.
• The Gators will only rush a court or field after
  winning the NATIONAL TITLE

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The Political Nature of Rules

• Rules INCLUDE and EXCLUDE
• Rules UNITE and DIVIDE
• i.e. Those treated favorably by a rule and
  those NOT treated favorably by a rule
• Thus, rules create alliances

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In Search of Good Rules

• The tension between precision and flexibility
• The essence of precision is that both actions and
  contexts can be described without ambiguity

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Advantages of Precision (Precise Rules)

• With precision the argument is that like cases
  will be treated alike (Consistency is Fair)
• Precise rules are said to insulate people from
  the whims, prejudices, predilections and moods of
  officials
• Precise rules provide predictability
• Symbolize the Rule of Law

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Disadvantages of Precision (Precise Rules)

• Rules cannot be perfectly tailored to individual
  circumstances
• Precise rules stifle creative responses to new
  situations (we can never fully anticipate future
  circumstances- making it difficult to form rules
  or laws that account for new facts, technologies
  and context)

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In Search of Good Rules

• Must select some feature of a rule as a basis (a
  process of line-drawing)
• Vague Rules are GOOD and BAD
• The vagueness of rules leads to a large amount of
  discretion

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Making Rules in the Polis

• People try to shape rules to accomplish public
  and private purposes
• There is a tension between precision and vagueness

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Making Rules in the Polis

• When rules are made, they are usually driven
  toward vagueness
• Rules arise from crises or problems
• Social Security Act (Great Depression)
• Food and Drug Administration (Upton Sinclairs
  expose and thalidomide disaster)
• Civil Rights Legislation (marches,
  demonstrations, and urban riots)
• US Constitution (Colonial Rebellion and the need
  for order after loss of government)
• Declaration of Independence (injuries and
  usurpations of the King)

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The Origin of Rules

• Crises affect points of view
• Create a mentality of absolute prevention (that
  kind of tragedy must never happen again)
• Unites communities
• Makes people temporarily forget about other
  conflicts
• Leads to a desire for wholesale solutions (fix
  the problem) and politicians follow with vague,
  grandiose responses

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Democracy and Legislators

• Formal rules are negotiated in elected
  legislative bodies by representatives of affected
  interests
• These bodies have characteristics that lead to
  vague legislation
• Legislator desire for reelection
• Must face conflicts with opposing constituency,
  and within own constituency
• When there is a need for substantive rules,
  ambiguity is often used

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Rules and Tension

• There is always some pressure on rules from
  evasion and disobedience
• Stems from the idea that rules are made to
  prevent people from doing things they would
  otherwise do (or vice versa)
• Interplay between those they govern and those who
  enforce them
• From this, perverse incentives arise

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Perverse Incentives

• Incentives unwittingly built into a rule to
  comply with it in a way that creates new problems
  or exacerbates the existing problem
• Textile factories given production targets in
  terms of meters of cloth
• Medicare payments on basis of average durations
  and Txs for categories of diseases
• Hospitals respond by reporting some patients as
  having more severe types of diseases, or
  discharge when patients are not ready to leave

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Perverse Incentive in Practice
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Rules and Different Dimensions

• Where there are multiple goals or we care about
  several dimensions, rules governing only one
  dimension may distort behavior by forcing
  behavior in a separate dimension
• State that restricts drinking to age 21 might
  force younger people to go to more lenient states
• Strong minimum wage laws might push businesses
  elsewhere to alleviate the stress of the imposed
  rule

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Negative Aspects of Rules

• Perverse Incentives will never be eliminated
• Perverse Incentives are the result of poorly
  designed rules to some extent, but at the same
  time, people will always shirk and cut corners

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Rules Are Evolving

• Rules are continually changing depending on the
  relevant facts, values and norms

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The Enforceability of Rules
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Enforceability of Rules
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The Enforceability of Rules

• Official rules are backed by sanctions such as
  fines, revocation of privileges or imprisonment

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Informal vs. Formal Rules
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Formal Rules

• A formal rule is concrete, specific and
  enforceable
• You may not purchase tobacco products unless you
  are 18 years of age

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Informal Rules

• Informal rules are not explicitly enforced and
  they generally represent implied social norms
  (Hance et. al)
• Informal rules are heuristics or rules of thumb
• Covering your mouth when you cough
• Chewing with your mouth closed

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Rules

• Questions?