Galloping through the Eightfold Path

Today we will be getting into the section of the course that focuses on the practice of Policy Analysis.

We start by taking a quick gallop through Bardach's "Eightfold Path"

1. Define the problem (as much as possible)
2. Assemble (some) evidence
3. Construct (workable) alternatives
4. Select (reasonable) criteria
5. Project outcomes (to the extent possible)
6. Confront the trade-offs
7. Decide!
8. Tell your story

These are practical steps and they are meant as advice for new policy analysts doing the 'applied research' that we call 'policy analysis'. We will have a few comments on each step and will use a tangible example to illustrate and get you thinking about each step.

The example is "Parking Problems on a Campus".


{By the way, you will notice some similarities between Policy Analysis steps and the Stages Model of the policy process. You might wonder what is the difference. Those stages we saw in weeks 3 and 4 were part of an attempt to describe what happens in the policy making process rather than an attempt to say what should happen (although of course we also saw that sometimes they are used to say what should happen). They also aim to describe the whole policy process, not just the applied research (policy analysis) aspect.}

Thoughts on Memo Feedback?

You might like to have a place to put comments on the memo feedback process and on the first memo more generally.

So here it is.

Judging the proposals from Ms Preacher, Mr Incentive and Ms Rule

You may want to continue the discussions in today's sections class via the comments here.

‘MyCountry’ has decided to try to contain emissions from household electricity consumption but three local politicians are championing rather different instruments.

1. Ms Preacher wants an education, awareness-raising and persuasion campaign to prompt voluntary effort (including installing electronic, instantaneous electricity meters in houses to provide instant feedback on the GHG impact of using appliances).
2. Mr Incentive wants a carbon tax (which would raise electricity bills)
3. Ms Rule wants to enact regulations requiring high energy efficiency for all household electric appliances.

How good do these policy instruments look according to some of the criteria we saw in Tuesday's lecture?

• Efficiency
• Ease of evaluation (was labeled as 'visibility', but this may not be a great name)
• Political feasibility
• Coerciveness
• Targeting
• Equity
• Ease of implementation
• Complexity
• Legitimacy

Policy instruments

This week is Policy Instrument week.

Here are a few policy objectives. For each of these can you think of SEVERAL possible policy instruments that could be used to tackle them? (bring your short list to class tomorrow)

1. To reduce domestic violence?
2. To improve equity of access to higher education?
3. To improve road safety?
4. To increase the extent of competition in the software industry?
5. To tackle over-fishing in the Gulf of Thailand?
6. To slow the spread of HIV infections?
7. To address a dangerous form of pollution?

How could we judge each instrument?

Also please try to take a peek at W&V's chapter on this and Bardach's 'Things Governments Do' (Bardach's is shorter and easier, so it is a good place to start).

Link to climate change basic information

Some of you have been asking where to look for basic information on climate change.

Don't go overboard in reading up on the issue, since we are only using it as an example. It is not the primary focus of the course!

Nevertheless, here is a link to quality introductory information on the basics of climate change science and policy discussion.

Global Warming Basics (from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change)

There are various articles at this site. Some should suit your needs, depending on the specific issue you want and how deeply you want to go.

Their 'Climate Change 101: Overview' document provides a concise and non-technical introduction to the whole issue (both science and policy basics).

The Pew Center is not necessarily 'neutral' (whatever that could mean on this issue) but they do seem to be mainstream in their approach and to be fairly careful in their citing of sources and evidence.

In the interests of avoiding information overload, I think I will leave it at that for now.

Week 5 is Market Failure Week

Difficult decisions: to cooperate or defect?

This week we have tried to raise your awareness of 'market failures' as a rationale for government action (public policy).

It has just been a little taste and to understand these ideas better you will need to do some reading and thinking. There will also be more chances to apply these ideas in the weeks ahead.

To trust or not to trust?

You should also be aware that, even within economics, there is some debate about 'market failures'. For example, some folks in the 'transaction cost analysis' school of thought have attacked the whole notion. Others join Milton Friedman in disputing that market failure is sufficient justification for government action (saying that any attempt to do so introduces 'government failures' that are even worse than the market failures they are meant to cure) .

If you 'google' the term, market failure, you will also see that various sources list a slightly different set of such failures (although there are some items on the vast majority of the lists, such as public goods, externalities, monopoly power or market power, and information problems). This can be a bit confusing.

Nevertheless, the notion of market failure is the mainstream way of explaining why government needs to act in many situations. So you will need a working knowledge of the idea's basics.

Many of the policy instruments next week will be about correction one or more of these market failures.

How could they do that to us?

Decisions, implementation and evaluation

Decisions, decisions ...

This post provides a place for comments, if any, on the material in week 4's lecture summarised below:

Decision making

• Drawing on H&R’s review of perspectives on how decisions get made
• How do Stone’s arguments in her Ch. 10 fit?

—Implementation

• What is it, and why is it difficult?
• Perspectives on possibly doing better

—Evaluation

• Various kinds (not always what they seem)