Course Title: Public Policy

Formulation and Implementation

CHAPTER ONE: PUBLIC POLICY AND ITS
RATIONAL

Prepared and Delivered by:

Prof. W. Gagakuma
PhD Department – ECSU
Email: wgagakuma@gmail.com
gagakuma2002@yahoo.com
Tel: 0921384609

First Semester 2011/2012 Academic Year

IS EVERYONE ON BOARD?
FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS.
 Course Objectives

By the end of this course, graduate students will

be able to:
 Define public policy
 Explain the importance of public policy
 Identify major categories of public policy and
approaches to public policy study.
 Course Outline
 Definition and conceptual framework of public
policy
 Rational behind public policy
 Major categories of public policy
 Approaches to policy study
 The limits to public policy
 MODE OF ASSESSMENT & PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION

 Term Paper……………….…………….………………………30%
 Case study………………………..……………..……………….10%
 Test………………….………………………………….………20%
 Final exam………………………………..……………………..40%
 Total……………………………………………………………100%

5
 Individual Assignment
 Consider a recent policy formulated in your Ministry,
Department, Agency or Administration and carryout
the following tasks:
 Describe the process used in formulating the policy –
(2 pages)
 Describe the problem that the policy is intended to
solve (1 page)
 Describe the stakeholders that are affected by this
policy and the nature of the impact or effect on each
of them - (2 pages)
 Is the policy working well? - (1 page)
 Propose a method for conducting further studies in
order to make policy changes - (4 pages) 6
Definitions and conceptual
framework of public policy
 What is Public Policy?

The authoritative statements or actions of

government which reflect the decisions, values,
or goals of policymakers.
 What is Public Policy?

 Public policy is the sum of government activities,

whether pursued directly or through agents, as those
activities have an influence on the lives of citizens.
 Public management policies are Government-wide
institutional rules and routines that guide, constrain,
and motivate the public service, typically managed by
central agencies (e.g. Ministry of Civil Service, Public
Procurement Authority etc.)
 What is Public Policy?
 The combination of basic decisions,
commitments, and actions made by those
who hold or affect government positions of
authority.
 What governments do.
 NB:
– Public policy is not (solely) legislation.
– Public policy is a process.
 Rational behind public policy
 Why is public policy important?
Plenary Discussion
 Suggestions:
 Try to promote economic efficiency
by correcting for market failure
 To redistribute benefits and/or costs
of natural resource use
– Among members of current generation
– Among generations
Why Undertake Policy Analysis?

 Scientific understanding: improve

knowledge of society
 Professional advice: apply social
science knowledge to solution of
practical problems
 Policy Recommendations: moral
obligation on social scientists to
advance specific polices?
What can be learned from policy
analysis?

 Description of the policy

 Causes of the policy
 Consequences of the policy
Use of Analysis

 Analysis and advocacy are different

 Analysis –
– Explanation rather than prescription
– Scientific search for cause and
consequence
– Accumulating reliable research
findings of general interest.
Conceptual Framework-What is
Included in Public Management Policy

Expenditure Planning Civil Service and

Process and Financial Labour Relations
Management
Policy Domain
Organization and
Audit and Evaluation Methods

Procurement
What Public Management Policies are
Not
 Broad Political Reform
 Political Decentralization
 Executive Leadership
 Program Designs
 Reform Themes
Major categories of public policy
 Types of public policies

I. Incentive based policies

A. Market based incentives
B. Government sponsored incentives
II. Direct public action
A. Command and control (Regulation)
B. Public production
 Incentive based policies
A. Market based incentives correct for
market failure by establishing and
enforcing property rights and then
allowing the market to work
– Examples:
» Establishing water rights
» Tradable fishing quotas
» Land ownership rights
 Incentive based policies

B. Government sponsored incentives

 Taxes or fees in markets where the price
is too low
» Examples: fees for fishing in public waters;
grazing on public lands
 Subsidies in markets where the quantity
is too low
» Examples: providing free tree seedlings; for
soil conservation investments by farmers
 Direct public action

A. Command and control refers to government

issuing orders, “promulgating regulations”
regarding for example access and use of
natural resources
 Examples: size and quantity restrictions
on catch in fisheries; habitat protection to
preserve endangered species
 Direct public action

B. Direct public production of public

goods and services that the market
would not produce enough of.
 Examples: National parks, wildlife
refuges and forests; public beaches;
flood control projects
 Market based incentives:
Property right policies

Correcting for market failure through

the assignment (and enforcement) of
property rights
 Approaches to policy studies
Three general approaches
1. Analycentric approach : It focuses on individual
problems and solutions ; its scope is micro-scale and its
outcome is of technical nature. Its aim is to identify the
most effective and efficient solution in technical and
economic terms
2. Policy process approach : Its focus is political process
and stakeholders ; scope is meso –scale and outcome is of
political nature
3.Meta-policy approach : It is a system and context
approach ; scope macro-scale and outcome is of structural
nature
 Meaning of Meta Analysis

 Meta-analysis refers to the analysis of analyses. It

refers to the statistical analysis of a large collection of
results from individual studies for the purpose of
integrating the findings. It connotes a rigorous
alternative to the casual, narrative discussions of
research studies which typify attempts to make sense
of the rapidly expanding research literature. (Glass,
1976)
 In a meta-analysis, research studies are collected,
coded, and interpreted using statistical methods
similar to those used in primary data analysis. The
result is an integrated review of findings that is more
objective and exact than a narrative review 25
 METHODOLOGY

It includes :
 Qualitative methods
 Quantitative methods
 Case studies
 Survey research
 Statistical analysis
 Model building
One common methodology to define the problem
and evaluation criteria ; identify all alternatives ;
evaluate them ; and come out with best policy
 The limits to public policy
studies
 Limits on governments powers
 Disagreements over the problems
 Analysis itself is a subjective process
 Limitations on the design of research
 Complexity of Human Behaviours
 Difficult skill to acquire
 An applied sub field of economics, politics, law,
public administration, sociology etc.
 No one model of choice for analysts to
test/use that will give the best results.
Thank You

28