Week 1 Policy Analysis 04 01 2014 Conceptual Framework for Policy Analysis Policy analysis vs political science o Political science politics of primary importance Policy characteristics secondary less important o Policy analysis Policy characteristics of primary importance Politics secondary The extent to how much the goals are achieved is the main focus The process is secondary 1 Policy analysis Problem solving approach to politics Goal improvement of policymaking to produce policies that achieve their goals The Course Policy problems that we have and how to solve them achieve goals 2 Concept of the public interest Rossell Policy analysts have a basic notion of the public interest o Embodies in the Declaration of Independence o Some criterion necessary to judge success of a policy 3 Criteria for evaluating policymaking Equity o Similarly situated people should be treated equally Similarly Ex Americans generally accept the idea that if Donald Trump kills his wife he must get arrested and go to trial because he is a rich white dude The case about OJ Simpson is super split o Claims for the redistribution of income Issue of LUCK demands for social justice It is the characteristics that you inherit from your family our environment that count for everything o Fair distribution of services and income The Scandinavian countries are considered most egalitarian o It is similar to policy analysis in a way that it is fuzzy o Ratio of inputs to outputs or benefits divided by cost not best Efficiency criterion 2 benefits 1 cost ratio 2 is not preferred to 1 8million benefit 1million cost ratio 1 8 Always choose the option with greatest net benefit More benefit for less cost Effectiveness o Net benefit or B C Always choose the policy with the greatest net benefit Best criterion Conflict between equity efficiency effectiveness 4 American Values Specific Egalitarianism politicians o Social conscience not offended by all deficits Ex If you can t go to Hawaii 3 times a year because you re poor the politicians don t care They care if you can t pay for your food o Lack of basic needs health life basic shelter More offensive than other deficits o Basic needs the good itself or a voucher Ex SNAP used to be called food stamps They provide a lot of fatty foods that aren t good for General Egalitarianism policy analysts you minus alcohol o Equity and justice problems resolved through taxation and redistribution of income 5 Regulatory Mechanism in policy Government intervention o More command and control o Less market incentives model Command and control model o Regulation by public decision o Government officials decide the law and the specific standard Occasionally public opinion influences them Most policies in the world are command and control because it s simple Market incentive model o Regulation using private decisions o Government creates a new kind of market in previously untraded goods It s not that there is no government regulation there is just minimum regulation trying to motivate you to do the right thing o Policy is structured so it is in the self interest of the regulated entity to comply Week 2 04 01 2014 Cont d Command and Control Model vs Market Incentives Model School Desegregation o Mandatory Reassignments command control approach vs Mag Voluntary Market incentive system o Mandatory Reassignments assigning a person according to their race and address to a school of another race It was a huge disaster In the first year half of the white students assigned to black school didn t show up to school Except for the Latinos and special needs students there would be no white kids left in the Boston public school system o Mag Voluntary to try to entice people to do what is better for society So much better Simple justice Energy o One of the issues in which the professor believes the government should have no control whatsoever o Regulations of Energy Prod charges conditions of production vs Complete Marketplace Solution o Complete marketplace solution Internal to the cost of reduction You do it voluntarily The only area in this course where government control should be completely reduced This is possible because it is a tradable good and it costs money Environment o Regulations specifying pollution standards emissions technology dominant vs Pollution tax Effluent charge There is something in between that we are working on Health Government creating a market in pollution rights Ex Kyoto Protocol Cap and Trade tradable discharge permits o Even conservative economists believe that government has to intervene because the market incentive is to pollute Because reducing pollution costs so much money o National public health service vs National health insurance o UK The only non communist country that has a national public health service Right after WWII Everyone is taxed for the national health service Nothing is actually free o Market incentive State health insurance and the government subsidizes if you re poor Welfare o Publically provided goods foods health housing education small dollar amount vs Cash allotment simply give them money o Publically provided goods creates the largest obese population in the US This is because the country simply gives them cheap food Nutrition has nothing to do with obesity Weight calories in calories out o Cash allotment if they can t figure out how to use the money there will be programs Education o Requirements on goals standards characteristics public funding no child left behind vs Government provided vouchers In between Charter schools o Government provided vouchers usually funded by private organizations few state provided Ex state provided Louisiana 6 Political Feasibility 4th criterion for choosing among policies Equity efficiency effectiveness values to be achieved Political feasibility is a means to achieve them Considerations o Would it get adopted o IS it possible to design features so it will be adopted o Political costs of offering proposal Will it be implemented faithfully everyone was cheating Ex Bilingual education in MA had to taught in the mother tongue o This is an example of how people that write the legislations don t even know what they are trying to do and whether it will be effective or not Charter School a school that is publically funded and varies from state to state depending upon what is required People like it because you can hire teachers that are not in the teachers union union Boston has a cap on how many charter schools there can