FUNDAMENTALS: What is Public Policy? What Are Institutions?

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FUNDAMENTALS What is Public Policy? What Are
Institutions?

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Outline What is Public Policy? What Are
Institutions?

• Elements of Public Policy Definitions
• Elements of Public Policy Discussions
• Definitions of Public Policy
• Governments Role in Public Policy

• Instruments of Public Policy
• Ideology, Values and Public Policy
• Enduring vs New Dimensions of Public Policy
• WHAT ARE INSTITUTIONS?

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Elements of Public Policy Definitions

• a.       Governmental authorityunder the direct
  development and influence of government
  legitimacy
• b.      Develop through action or inactiondo
  something or prevent something
• c.       Carry purposes and intentionsbased on
  values, opinions, prejudices, biases policy is
  culturally driven
• d.      Have outcomes or effects on people and
  societyaffect the lives of individuals in
  direct, personal, and continuous ways
• e.       Are problem orienteda governmental
  response to a perceived need or public demand

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Elements of Public Policy Discussions

• a)      Public policy should distinguish between
  what governments intend to do and what in fact
  they actually do (governmental inactivity is as
  important as governmental activity)
• b)      Public policy ideally involves all
  levels of government and is not necessarily
  restricted to formal actorsinformal actors are
  also extremely important
• c)      Public policy is persuasive and is not
  solely limited to legislation, executive orders,
  rules, and regulations
• d)      Public policy is an intentional course
  of action with an accomplished end goal as its
  objective
• e)      Public policy is both long term and
  short term

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Public Policy Definitions

• Dye What governments choose to do or not to do
• Lasswell Who gets what, when, and how
• Rushefsky Government policies are courses of
  action made up of a series of decisions, discrete
  choices (including the choice not to act), over a
  period of time

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Public Policy Definitions, cont

• Cochran et al Public policy always refers to
  the actions of government and the intentions that
  determine those actions
• Dubnick and Bardes Public policies are the
  expressed interests of government actors,
  relative to a public problem, and the activities
  related to those interests
• Lynn Public policy can readily be viewed as the
  output of a political system that comprises
  individuals that come together in small groups
  within the framework of organizations
  characterized by hierarchy, division of labor,
  and specialization

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Public Policy Definitions, cont

• Peters Public policy is the sum of government
  activities, whether directly or through agents,
  that have an influence on the lives of citizens
  3 levels defined by the degree to which they make
  real differences in the lives of citizens
• Policy choices Decisions made by politicians,
  civil servants and others granted authority and
  directed toward using public power to affect the
  lives of citizens
• Policy outputs Policy choices being put into
  action-government doing things (spending money,
  hiring people)
• Policy impacts The effects that policy choices
  and policy outputs have on citizens

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Government and Public Policy

• a.       Regulate conflict within society
• b.      Organize society to carry on conflict
  with other societies
• c.       Distribute symbolic rewards and material
  services
• d.     Extract money

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Instruments of Public Policy

• Lawrights, regulate economic and social
  conditions, create burdens as well as benefits
• Servicesdirectly provided to citizens (defense,
  education, recreation) more contracting (police,
  prisons, garbage collection)
• Moneyprovides citizens, organizations, and other
  governments with money 51 of taxes collected
  returned to the economy as transfer payments to
  citizens

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Instruments of Public Policy, cont

• Taxesprogressive or regressive loopholes,
  incentives to encourage or discourage particular
  activities (mortgage payments and property taxes
  are deductiblemore than funds spent for public
  housing)
• Other instruments loan guarantees moral
  suasion

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Questions For You to Answer

• Why do you think its important to study public
  policy?
• What public policy areas do you believe we need
  to study more than others?

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Ideology, Values and Public Policy

• A concept that strongly affects the policy
  process is ideology. Ideology consists of a set
  of beliefs about what the world is like, values
  which are used to appraise the state of the world
  (good/bad satisfactory /unsatisfactory), and
  beliefs and attitudes about how to make the world
  conform to these values.
• Three Key Values.

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Order

• The first key value is orderthe protection of
  society, life, and property from both external
  (foreign) and internal (criminal) forces.
• The value of order also includes the importance
  of tradition and moral values based on religion.
  

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Freedom or Liberty

• The second of the political values is freedom or
  liberty-freedom from governmental restraints and
  from government tyranny.
• These include protections from arbitrary
  government, rights of those accused of crimes,
  rights to petition government, and freedoms of
  speech, press, and religion.

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Equality

• The third key value is equality. Equality may
  have three different meanings
• Political equality refers to voting - each person
  has one vote.
• Equality of opportunity, giving each person the
  right to develop his or her potential
  (procedural-as long is no one is discriminated
  against, then the outcomes of achievement are of
  little concern).
• Equality of outcome or results - here the
  emphasis is on social equality through programs.

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Enduring Dimensions of Public Policy

• a. Democracygovernment of the people, by the
  people majority public opinion proportional
  representation
• b. Public interestcommunities as the starting
  point for our policiespolicy is about
  communities trying to achieve something as
  communities

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Enduring Dimensions, cont

• c. Equity or fairnessare outcomes of
  government fair--giving veryone their due
  greatest good for the greatest number
• d. Efficiencyminimize waste outcome is
  produced with the minimum of effort expense, and
  waste

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Enduring Dimensions, cont

• e. Equalityequality of opportunity (ability to
  make of oneself what one candevelop talents and
  abilities and be rewarded for work, initiative,
  and achievementsame starting line with same
  chance of success, one finishes ahead of the
  other as a result of ability)
• Equality of results/outcomes (equal sharing of
  income, jobs, contracts, and material rewards
  regardless of ones condition in lifeeveryone
  starts and finishes the race together, regardless
  of ability, talent, initiative, or work)

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Enduring Dimensions, cont

• f. Effectivenesswhether policy accomplished
  the purpose it was intended to accomplish what
  is success and how do you know when you have
  achieved it
• g. Representationwho has power whose
  interests are represented

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New Dimensions of Public Policy

• International
• Intergenerational
• Intergovernmental

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What Are Institutions?

• A significant set of practices and/or
  relationships designed to express the will of a
  society (or a group within that society). It is
  designated to fulfill a specified need and has
  the following characteristics

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Institutions, Defined

• a. It captures societys decision to provide
  and/or protect against critical breakdown and to
  promote a better or higher level of human
  functioning. Thus interest and financial support
  are mobilized to provide service in an organized
  form.

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Institutions, Defined

• b. Each institution develops a program by which
  to meet the particular area of need for which it
  was organized
• c. The institution has a structure by which it
  organizes and delegates its responsibilities and
  its tasks. It has governing policies and
  procedures, by which it stabilizes and
  systematizes its operation

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Institutions, Defined

• d. It is a living organism, adaptable and
  susceptible to being understood and changed, much
  as other living organisms.
• e. It lives in relation to its need and in
  relationship to other institutions

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Major American Institutions

• Government
• Family
• Religion
• Education