Policy-making Processes How policy is made

Problem An end or objective of politics is pursuit of the public interest However, important questions about extent to which governments, democratic or authoritarian, actually do that: –Can governments make good policies? –Can governments make rational decisions? –Are democratic or authoritarian governments likely to produce good and/or rational decisions?

Policy-making processes: May involve or exclude organized interests May involve or avoid research and analysis Different varieties: Synoptic: considers all possible alternatives and choices Incremental: proceeds one step at a time: “the science of muddling through”

Advantages and disadvantages: Synoptic Thorough and comprehensive May involve planning and coordination But also Time consuming Involves high, some would say impossible cognitive burden Incremental One step at a time Relies on feedback from civil society, organized interests But, Ignores many possible alternatives Minimal planning or coordination

Policy-making in practice Varies from society to society Rarely synoptic or wholly incremental Typically operates within an established paradigm or framework, e.g, –Classical liberal economics –Keynsian economics (from John Meynard Keynes –Monetarism –New public management (NPM) –Theories of education: Whole language v. phonetics Mainstreaming developmentally delayed children –In social work, de-institutionalization of mental patients

Attempts at `rational’ policy-making Indicative planning, coordination of investments Program budgeting – –Examine all costs Zero-based budgeting –Force all program, old or new, to be justified as if they were new New public management (NPM) –Assign very specific tasks and priorities to down-sized public agencies

Problems The impact and influence of interest groups: –Groups needed to provide information –Support and cooperation needed –Problems of agency-capture Interest group influence tends to limit the range of alternatives –Pluralism: wide range of groups but not necessarily wide range of alternatives proposed –Corporatism: limits influence (and alternatives) to those favoured by the organizations incorporated

The evenness and effectiveness of policy: James C. Scott, Seeing Like a State: policies designed by officials at the centre make no sense when they are applied –Typical of gov’ts in 3 rd world countries, authoritarian gov’ts, some democratic gov’ts: Land use policies Licensing and regulation of trade Fisheries management

Democratic v. authoritarian systems: Different views: Authoritarian government sometimes seen as more decisive or efficient But also more prone to failure: –Fewer checks or obstacles –Tendency to exclude negative or disturbing information –Fewer voices or objections heard in policy processes

Some cases: The Soviet Union: –Success in process of rapid and forced industrialization –Centrally coordinated command economy: attempt to plan the entire productive process –Ultimately fails because of Magnitude and scope of the task Politics and clientelism subverts planning, whether good or bad

Authoritarian successes and failures: People’s Republic of China + Singapore ++ Korea + Spain under Generalissimo Franco - + Nigeria under democratic rule Nigeria under military rule