M1 Reading Summaries
M1 Reading Summaries
1. Dye, Chapter 1 – Policy analysis: What governments do, why they do it, and what difference it makes
These summaries are provided as graphic organizers to prepare you for the reading assignments by giving you an overall view of the topics and structure of each chapter. They can also serve as tools for reviewing the reading assignments. Reading these summaries is not a substitute for reading the chapters.
I. What Is Public Policy?
Barack Obama and George W. Bush
Barack Obama and George Bush in the White House as a new president (Obama) takes over from his predecessor, George W. Bush (Gerald Herbert/AP Images)
A study of public policy examines what governments do, why they choose certain actions, and the impact of these actions. Public policy is worth studying because it focuses on the choices governments make and, more particularly, the intended and unintended consequences of policy decisions.
Definition of Policy –
Public policy is defined as what governments chose to do or chose not to do.
Policy Expansion and Government Growth –
As government has grown in the last century, the scope of public policy has also expanded.
Scope of Public Policy –
Although the scope of public policy has expanded greatly in the last decades, it is not all inclusive.
II. Why Study Public Policy?
Political science goes beyond an understanding of governmental institutions and processes. It also includes public policy, which focuses on the causes and consequences of government actions.
III. What Can Be Learned from Policy Analysis?
Policy analysis examines the actions of governments, the causes of those actions, and their impact. Descriptive analysis of the government examines what the government does or does not do. Why do governments take or fail to take certain actions? In this analysis, policy is the dependent variable, and the causes or determinants of public policy are the independent variables. Policy evaluation studies the results of implementing public policy. In this context, policies are independent variables, and their impacts are dependent variables.
Description –
The first step of policy analysis consists of careful description of current policy.
Causes –
Having described the components of a given public policy, policy analysis then moves to those factors that impact public policy.
Consequences –
Finally, policy analysis includes an examination of the effects of public policy.
IV. Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy
Policy analysis is contrasted with policy advocacy: the latter prescribes actions, while analysis policy analysis seeks to explain. The three main ingredients of policy analysis are: a focus on explanation, which takes precedence over prescription, a thorough search for the causes and consequences of public policies, an effort to test theories with reliable findings.
V. Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to America’s Problems
Policy analysis should assume that not all of our society’s problems can be eradicated. Government is constrained by—and cannot ever dominate—a mass of social forces. What problems should be the targets of public policy? Without agreement on this issue, public policy has little hope of success.
Limits on Government Power –
Many of society’s problems are intractable, and beyond the control of any public policy.
Disagreement over the Problem –
Where no consensus exists concerning a problem, the search for a public policy answer is greatly hampered.
Subjectivity in Interpretation –
Values inevitably come into play in the interpretation of research.
Limitations on Design of Human Research –
Research in the social sciences is fraught with limitations and difficulties, simply because human subjects are involved.
Complexity of Human Behavior –
The behavior of groups and even individuals is so complex that any findings are necessarily of limited use to political scientists.
VI. Policy Analysis as Art and Craft
Policy analysis is both an art—requiring insight and creativity—and a craft— requiring knowledge of applied sciences. Aaron Wildavsky was firm in asserting that no one model can be used and no model of choice will be presented in this text.
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