Model Solutions Chapter 1

Q. WHY STUDY PUBLIC POLICY?

A policy is a purposive course of action taken to deal with a problem or concern. When a problem arises
that affects a majority of people, national Governments take the onus of addressing them. Public policy is
whatever governments choose to do or not do; the lack of such statements is an implicit statement of policy. It
defines the relationship of government to its environment. It is what governments do and it affects us all; public
policy creates the environment for economic growth, socio-political stability and better standards of living.

With political polarization becoming the defining issue of our time, there is a pressing need to develop a more
precise understanding of the actions of the government and the intentions that determine such actions. We also
need to develop an in-depth understanding of what public policy is and why we sometimes justify government
involvement in solving social problems. The study of public policy includes the content, causes, and consequences
of government activity; the impact of social, economic, and political forces on public policy; the impact of
institutional arrangements on public policy; the impact of public policy on the social, economic, political and
institutional forces and processes. Studying public policy requires both insight, creativity, and imagination as
well as knowledge, training, and discipline.

The study of public policy helps to identify the characteristics of effective and ineffective policies by examining
the conditions under which government actions may promote or stifle intergenerational mobility, equal
opportunity, and better social and economic outcomes. This also helps to understand the environments in which
poorly designed public policies may create unexpected consequences and negative outcomes, such as exclusion
or political capture.

Q. DEFINE AND EXPLAIN PUBLIC POLICY WITH EXAMPLES

Public policy occurs as a response to a public problem that deserves some sort of government response
Public policy is created by the government
There is a difference between a program officially initiated and an opinion held by a set of
policymakers/politicians.
Problems and the search for solutions drive policy studies.
Public policy affects a greater variety of people and interests than do private decisions
Example:
A law that says that those caught driving while intoxicated will go to jail for up to one year is a statement of
governmental policy to punish drunk drivers.
Shrimping nets are a threat to sea turtles that get caught in the mesh and drown. In response, the National
Marine Fisheries Service (US) requires shrimp fishers to use turtle excluder devices that allow turtles to escape
if they are caught (NOAA).
Right to Nutrition Act (2013) in India

Q. HOW IS PUBLIC POLICY DIFFFERENT FROM PRIVATE POLICY?

Public problems are different from private problems in either the numbers of people affected, the numbers of
people directly or indirectly involved, and the amount of resources and type of resources required for the solution.
Public policy affects a greater variety of people and interests than do private decisions.

Both private and public policy decisions rely on the maximisation for net benefits e.g. the difference between
total benefits and costs. However, the total benefit function of the public policymaker is different from the private
policy-maker. For the private policy-makers, its benefit function is exclusive to the stakeholders it wants to
address, for example, a financial company may be addressing the profit function of its shareholders. However, the
public policy-maker usually works with a benefit function that is inclusive of the benefits accruing to different
stakeholders, for example, a traffic rule may be accruing benefits to different types of stakeholders e.g. citizens,
policemen etc .

Q. SHOW THE PUBLIC POLICY-MAKING AS A PROCESS

The stages model of public policy explains public policy as a process as shown in the figure below:
The stages may be written as:

Problem Agenda Formulation Adoption Implementation Evaluation

identification setting

What is the How is What are the What is done How does govt. Did it
problem? the problem proposed about the do what it work?
presented? solutions? problem? decides to do?

Step 1. Problem Identification: Getting Government to See the Problem

A problem is a situation that produces a human need, deprivation, or dissatisfaction for which relief is
sought, such as pollution, inflation, crime, poverty, etc. However, only those needs and wants that are articulated
by people demanding action become problems eligible for public policy solutions. Government must perceive
that a problem exists. The identification of policy problems is generally through demand from individuals and
interest groups.

Step 2. Agenda: Getting Government to Consider the Problem

Focusing the attention of the mass media and public officials on specific public problems to decide what
will be decided. The policy agenda is comprise of items which receive serious attention from official policy-
makers. Only a small number of needs and wants ever attain a place on the policy agenda of an executive,
legislative, or judicial branch of government. Generally it depends on the power, status, membership and other
resources of the persons or group who are adversely affected by the problem. A crisis event, a mass movement, or
an influential leader may get an item on the policy agenda.

Step 3. Policy Formulation: Getting Government to Consider Solutions

Development of policy proposals by interest groups, Governmnet Ministries, MP authority, think
tanks. Courses of action for dealing with public problems must be developed that will be acceptable to official
policy-makers. Proposals may be put forward by a chief executive, a legislator, an administrative agency, interest
groups, think tanks, individual citizens, etc. Proposals must have a chance of being adopted to be considered.

Step 4. Policy Adoption: Getting Government to Adopt a Solution

Selection and enactment of policies through actions by the Parliament, the President and the courts. In
order for a policy to be adopted, a majority coalition that supports the alternative must be constructed. This
depends on the official actors involved, as well as their beliefs, intentions, etc. Adoption will be influenced by
basic cultural values such as democracy, freedom, humanitarianism, and material success. Values are guides for
evaluating the desirability of goals or action.

Step 5. Policy Implementation: Getting Government to Apply the Solution to the Problem
Implementation is done though bureaucracy, regulation and other activities of executive agencies. The law,
rule, or order that results from the adoption stage can be called a public policy. Without implementation there is
virtually no effect, but the act of implementation may change the nature of the policy itself. Public administrators
are the primary implementers of public policy. Administrative agencies often have considerable latitude in the
implementation of public policy; however, Congress has oversight responsibility and the courts have the
opportunity to exercise judicial review.

Step 6. Policy Evaluation: Did It Work?

What was the policy content? What was the output, the outcome, the impact? Did it work? To what degree
were the objectives of the policy met? To what extent was the problem solved?

Q. EXPLAIN THE FOUR MAJOR TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY

Regulatory--a policy that imposes limits on the behavior of some identifiable groups or individuals; reduces the
freedom or discretion to act or not act. Carries punitive sanctions, for example, regulation of criminal activity,
business activity, access to public goods; gun control; consumer protection; FDA regulation of drugs, banking
regulations; etc.

Distributive--a policy that benefits some people but at not discernable costs to others; allocates government
benefits to individuals and groups; uses public funds; little direct competition or challenge from other groups; no
direct costs to any identifiable group; clear winners but no clear losers; Example: agricultural subsidies,
government sponsored research; river improvements

Re-distributive--a policy that makes a deliberate re-allocation of resources among identifiable social groups;
there are clearly identifiable winners and losers; power is re-divided between haves and have-nots; difficult to
enact because of strong opposition from potential losers; Examples: welfare, housing subsidies, progressive
income tax, social security, etc.
Constituent- a policy that involve the creation and regulation of government agencies and can also refer to
policies that establish the way a government functions. Constituent policies are structural in that they include
the creation of government agencies, usually under the executive branch, that work.

Eg Primary education for every child below 14 years

Right to Nutrition Act: The National Food Security Act, 2013 was notified on 10th September, 2013 with the
objective to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate
quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

Q. EXPLAIN THE SYSTEMS MODEL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND CRITICALLY EVALUATE IT

The systems model views public policy process as the product of a system that is influenced by and influences
the environment in which it operates. The inputs are the various issues, pressures, information, and the like to
which the actors in the system react. The outputs are, in simplest terms, public policy decisions to do or not do
something. The systems approach to political analysis is shown in figure below:

The intra-societal environment comprises of ecological system, biological system, personality system, social
system. The extra-societal environment comprises of international political systems, international ecological
systems, international social systems. Akove figure gives an idea of what Easton describes as apolitical system.
Inputs are seen as the physical, social, economic and political products of the environment. They are received into
the political system in the form of both demands and supports. Demands are the claims made on the political
system by individuals and groups to alter some ' aspect of the environment. Demands occur when individuals or
groups, in response to environmental conditions, act to effect public-policy. The environment is any condition or
event defined as external to the boundaries of the political system. The supports of apolitical system consist of
the rules, laws and customs that provide a basis for the existence of apolitical community and the authorities.
The support is rendered when individuals or groups accept the decisions or laws. Supports are the symbolic or
material inputs of - a system (such as, obeying laws, paying taxes, or even respecting the national flag) that
constitute the psychological and material resources of the system.

At the heart of the political system are the institutions and personnel/bureaucracy for policy-making. These
include the chief executive, legislators, judges and bureaucrats. In the system's version they translate inputs into
outputs. Outputs, then, are the authoritative value allocations of the political system, these allocations constitute
public policy or policies. The systems theory portrays public policy as an output of the political system. The
concept of feedback indicates that public policies may have a modlfying effect on the environment, and the
demands generated therein, and may also have an effect upon the character of the political system. Policy outputs
may generate new demands and new supports, or withdrawal of the old supports for the system. Feedback plays
an important role in generating suitable environment for future policy.

Critical evaluation

The systems theory is a useful aid in understanding the policy-making process. Thomas Dye says that the value
of the systems model to policy analysis lies in the questions that it poses. e.g. What are the significant dimensions
of the environment that generate demands upon the political system? What are the significant characteristics of
the political system that enable it to transform demands in to public policy and to preserve itself over time? How
do environmental inputs affect the character of the political system? How do characteristics of the political
system affect the content of public policy? How does public policy affect, through feedback, the environment and
the character of the political system?

The usefulness of the systems model for the study of public policy is, however, limited owing to several factors.
It is argued that this input-output model appears to be too simplistic. This model is accused of employing the
techniques of welfare economics, which is based on the maximisation of a clearly defined 'social welfare function'
which is difficult.

Another shortcoming of the traditional input-output model is that it ignores the fragmentary nature of the 'black
box'. The missing ingredients in the systems approach are the "power, personnel, and institutions" of policy-
making. Political decision-makers are strongly constrained by economic factors in the environment in the
political system which is not considered." The Estonian model also ignores an important element of the policy
process, namely, that the policymakers have also a considerable potential in influencing the environment within
which they operate. The traditional input-output model would see the decision-making system as "facilitative"
and value-free rather than "causative", i.e., as a completely neutral structure.

Further, it is argued that both the political and bureaucratic elite fashion mass opinion than masses shape the
leadership's views. The concept of 'within puts: as opposed to inputs has been created to illustrate this point.
Thus, policy changes may be attributed more to the political and administrative elite's redefinition of their own
views than as a product of the demands and support from the environment. Quite often, policy initiation does
emerge from the bureaucracy.

Finally, policy-making involves not only the policy content, but also the policy-maker's perceptions and values.
The values held by the policy-makers are fundamentally assumed to be cruciaI in understanding the policy
alternatives that are made which is not considered.