SUMMARY : Policy Analysis - David L. Weimer & Aidan R. Vining
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Course
Policy Analysis
Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
Book
Policy Analysis
This is a 51 pages complete summary of the book "Policy Analysis" from D. Weimer and R. Vining. The 2 last chapters are merely superficially covered since usually not relevant for the exam. The content is ordered in chapters, paragraphs and bullet points, and also summarized in tables, handmade or ...
Policy Analysis, David L. Weimer & Aidan R. Vining, 2010
1. Preview
Report :
°Executive summary : case + policy alternatives examined + how are assessed + goals +
conclusion and why so
°Introduction : of the case + problematic + research question (does current policy provide an
adequate basis for effective management of resources ? do alternative policies offer the
prospect for better management ?)
/!\ Theoretical + empirical analyses
°Case (what’s happening) + consequences of mismanagement
°Economics of the Case : what happens in other countries with same resources but
different policies ( → alternatives)
°A Brief History of Government Regulation of Case : previous and current policy + impact
°The Current and Expected State of Case : use of resources + likely future regarding market
demand + cost-benefit analysis + flaws of current policy due to current and (likely) future
situation
°Policy Goals : what policies should govern the raw materials trade in DRC ?
How to find them ?
→ Look at failures from current policy
→ Look at what should/can be improved
→ Economic efficiency
→ Political feasibility
°Possible alternatives : compare (results of) status quo policy to alternatives + conditions for
it to work
°Comparison of the alternatives : confront each alternative AND status quo to the goals we
wanna achieve and see which one reaches the highest
°Assessment and recommendation (advice) : summarize previous paragraph in a matrix
/!\ Mere predictions, preferred alternative depends on weight the client gives to the
different goals → ADVICE
2. What Is Policy Analysis ?
Product of policy analysis = advice to inform some decision…
...implicitly (A will result in X)
…explicitly (support A because it will result in X, which is good for you)
Requires :
- the advice to be related to public decision
- that policy analysts have clients who can participate in public decision making
,Hence, policy analysis = client-oriented advice relevant to public decisions and informed by
social values.
→ idea of useful advice to clients is kept central
→ emphasizes the importance of social values
Employs social science theory + empirical methods to predict consequences of alternative
policies (like political research).
Academic research (see table p26)
- develops theories that contribute to a better understanding of society
- client is “truth”
- looks for relationships among variables describing behaviour
- lots of empirical tests
Policy research
- specifically directed at informing public policy issues
- looks for relationships among variables that can be manipulated by public policy
- result : if the government does X, Y will follow → prediction
- >< policy analysis, less closely tied to client (policy researches rather see themselves as
members of an academic discipline)
Classical planning (too broad)
- specifies goals that will lead to a better society then determine ways of achieving them
- necessary condition : centralization of authority for the creation/execution of the plan
- weakness : difficulty of specifying appropriate goals (unlikely to match reality) + problem of
cognition caused by need to collect and process information, and by monitoring numerous
economic actors
- “system analysis” (p.28)
- “planning, programming, budgeting system (PPBS)” : basic approach is to identify all
programs that have common objectives so that budget allocations to those programs can
be compared in terms of their effectiveness in achieving the objectives. (similar to PA
because influences specific decisions in the budget cycle, different because less comparisons
over programs) → weakness : limits available knowledge and analytical resources
Public administration (too narrow)
- efficient management of programs mandated by the political process
- Woodrow Wilson
- science of management (administration) is insulated from politics (lies outside the political
sphere)
- intends to bring greater expertise into public endeavors
- “public management”
,Journalism
does share some similarities with PA :
- deadline hence advice/article useless if delivered too late
- deadline hence similar strategies for gathering information (personal networks, etc.)
- effective communication is key, advice/article must be put into words that will catch and keep
the eye of readers/client (understandable language + concise writing to suit client’s time and
attention limits)
Functions of policy analysts :
- “desk officer” function : coordinate policy relevant to specific program areas + contact
for line agencies having responsibilities in the area
- policy development function : special initiatives
- policy research and oversight function
- “firefighting” function : drop whatever else they are doing to focus on urgent tasks
(from governmental departments)
Preparation for Policy Analysis :
1° capacity to gather, organize, and communicate information in situations in which deadlines
are strict and access to relevant people is limited + capacity to identify the likely costs and
benefits of alternative solutions
2° perspective for putting perceived social problems in context (understanding of how
collective action could fail, sufficiency not reached - greater social costs than benefits - )
3° technical skills to predict and assess the consequences of alternative policies
4° understanding of political behavior to predict/influence the feasibility of adoption/successful
implementation of policies
3. Toward Professional Ethics
Criteria for ethical evalution of policy
Efficiency : getting the greatest aggregate good from available resources
Equity : fairness in the way it is distributed
Protection of human life and human dignity
Three paramount values
● Analytical integrity (objective technicians)
- source of legitimacy : analytical skills
- role of analyst : provide objective advice about consequences of proposed policies
- mainly employ well-established methods (economics, statistics, etc.)
- clients are necessary evil and fortune of the client is secondary → not close to them
- no selection of personally favoured policies → honour client
● Responsibility to client (client’s advocates)
- source of legitimacy : derived from clients who hold elected office
- in return, clients deserve loyalty and confidentiality
, - vigorously promote clients’ interests
- analytical integrity prohibits lying but does not require full information nor public
correction of misstatements by clients
- easier when analyst and client have similar conceptions of the good
● Adherence to one’s personal conception of the good society (issue advocates)
- analysis = instrument for making process toward their own conception of the good
- do not focus much on values like integrity and responsibility to client
- see themselves as intrinsically legitimate players in the policy process/champions to
represent those underrepresented
- select client opportunistically (only those promoting their personal policy agenda
- loyalty to own conception of the good > loyalty to any client
see table p.42
Value conflicts
In reality, analysts act according to all 3 values. But how much of each should be sacrificed
when conflicts arise? (minimal duties analyst owes to each value)
Voice : change organization from within (protest)
Exit : leave the organization for another (resign)
Disloyalty : undercut the policy preferences/interests of the client (leak client’s plan to sb
who can interfere with them) → hope to stop bad policy w/o suffering personal
consequences (moral reason to act covertly : danger if speak out / better for country if you
stay in position)
(speak out publicly) → disclose client’s plans to potential opponents : “resign and disclose”
(whistle-blowing) → “speak out until silenced” (voice+disloyalty+eventual exit)
Conditions for whistle-blowing :
1-Exhaustion of all channels of protest within agency before attracting media
2-Moral or legal bounds have been violated
3-Violation will have demonstrable harmful immediate effects upon country
4-Unequivocal evidence
(no voice nor exit) → “sabotage” : build some subtle flaw forcing agency to abandon
implementation in some point (hard to justify tho)
see figure p.46
Examples of value conflicts
Demand for cooked results : clients demands that the analyst alter the work to reach a different
conclusion.
Misrepresentation of results : clients misrepresent what analysts have done (perjury) /!\ can
sometimes be non-intentional or justified
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