PPM Lecture 1
What is a policy?
a formal decision or plan of action adopted by an actor to achieve a particular goal
What is a public policy?
‘Public policy’ is a more specific term applied to a formal decision or plan of action that has been taken by, or has involved, a state organization.
What are the 4 stages of the policy cycle?
Problem definition and agenda-setting
Policy Formulation and Adoption
Implementation
Evaluation
What is the working definition of a public policy?
It is the plan for government (in)action, usually a written document. Its components are policy theory (problem or goal; causes or what might help us reach the goal), policy instruments (what should the government do to reach the goal), and organizational policy (reallocating money, political and legal challenges, practical side).
What is policy theory?
Account of why something happens. It is about creating public value; to solve a problem or to achieve something.
On which levels can the explanations be?
There are macro-level (structural) explanations, meso-level (institutional) explanations, micro-level (individual) explanations.
What are the four main logics behind policy instruments?
NATO: Nodality, Authority, Treasury, Organisation;
What does 'nodality' mean?
Nodality is about providing information: public information campaigns, exhortation, benchmarking, performance indicators
What does 'authority' mean?
Authority is about direct prescription and punishments: command-and-control, regulation, delegated/self-regulation.
What does 'treasury' mean?
Treasure is about financial (dis-) incentives: subsidies, taxes, user charges
What does 'organization' mean?
Organizational change is about the changes of provision structure (in how policies are made): direct provision by government (organizational reshuffle, create agencies, market incentives), private market partners (contracts, privatization), civil society (individuals, civil society organizations)
How do governance scholars explain policy outcomes?
Structure based, Institution based and Interest+idea based.
What is the structure based explanation?
Structures are large processes that are relatively fixed and difficult to break down. They determine or at least strongly influence behavior. The major processes (out of anyone’s control) lead to certain policies.
What is the institution based explanation?
The rules of the game, which are the meso-level institutions constraining and enabling actors.
A narrow view looks at the formal-legal arrangements. A broader view also looks at informal institutions, like social norms.
What does 'interest and idea based' explanation mean?
Interest and Idea based focuses on agents. It believes that beliefs motivate or inform the actions taken by the agents. Interest is a type of idea.
What does Richardson say about 'ideas as viruses'?
As many people start believing in something, and when many policy-makers start believing in something, the policies also change.