Policy Analysis
Part 1: Meta-analysis of Policy (making): Methods and approaches –
Macro approach
1. The development of public policy analysis and policy sciences
Overview of introductory session
o Public policy and public policy analysis?
o Actors and types of policy analysts (HB CH1: pp.1-13 & 16-18; CH2: pp.20-23)
o Organisational issues
o Compulsory literature and further reading
o Overview of the syllabus / lectures
o Info about the exam and portfolio assignment
Public Policy
o Governments make Public policy =/= Politics, Polity
o Studying public policy
• Why are certain decisions taken at certain times and not others?
• How do policy decisions add up into policy regimes or mixes? Are those decisions in
contrast incompatible or contradictory?
• Do decisions result in recognizable patterns, or can we merely discern (quasi)random
accumulations of multiple decisions in the past?
• What actors are involved in public policies, what do these policy actors do, why and
what difference do they make?
o Public policy includes healthcare access, environmental protection, education funding,
economic growth, social welfare, security measures, technology regulation, immigration
management…
Public policy analysis…
Analysis of policy (hierover gaat vak) Analysis for policy
Descriptive Applied
Theoretical Prescriptive
Policy sciences Applied Policy Analysis
Academic Policy Analysis (kan zonder applied, maar niet omgekeerd
o Policy analysis ≠ policy studies
• Policy analysis: focuses mainly on the effects of policy outputs, and says very little
about the policy processes that created those outputs
• Policy studies: broader in scope, examining not just individual programs and their
effects, but also their causes and presuppositions, and the processes that led to their
adoption
o Exam Question: Juist of fout vraag:
• Academic policy analysis does not need to
be concerned with applied policy analysis
• --> Juist, maar niet in omgekeerde richting!
o Never a question about the difference
1
,Public policy analysis
o Academic discipline
• Multi-disciplinary
• Multi-method
• Problem-oriented
• Mapping of contexts, alternatives and effects
o Daniel Lerner & Harold Lasswell: The Policy Sciences (1951)
• The "policy sciences" are defined as "the disciplines concerned with explaining the
policy making and policy executing process, and with locating data and providing
interpretations which are relevant to the policy problems of a given period" (p. 14)
• De “policy sciences” w gedefinieerd als “de disciplines die zich bezighouden met het
verklaren vh beleidsvormings- en uitvoeringsproces, en met het lokaliseren van
gegevens en het verstrekken van interpretaties die relevant zijn voor
beleidsproblemen v/e bepaalde periode”
• The term "policy“ is used "to designate the most important choices made either in
organized or private life" (p. 5)
Definitions of policy (Niet op examen wat is Dye’s definition)
o Thomas Dye (1972): Public policy is “anything a government chooses to do or not to do.”
• Advantages: catchy, Mentioning the government
• Specifies that the primary agent of public policymaking is a government
• Clarifies that private decisions by business, social groups, or individuals are not in
themselves public policies
• Only governments can make authoritative decisions on behalf of citizens, that Is, ones
backed up by legitimate sanctions for transgressors in events of noncompliance –
beslissingen die worden ondersteund door legitieme sancties vr overstreders in geval
vn niet-naleving
• Public policymaking involves a fundamental choice on the part of governments to
either do something or to do nothing about a problem and that this decision is made
by elected politicians and other government officials
• So, also the things that the governments ignore to do, like climate change (the
decision not to take actions against the) migrant crisis…
• public policy is a conscious choice/decision by government, so government actions
and decisions often yield unintended consequences (f.e. the black market with the
regulation of the tobacco consumption)
• This definition highlights the need to carefully examine conscious, deliberate
government decisions in order to further develop that understanding
2
, o William Jenkins (1978): Public policy as “a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political
actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them
within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power of
those actors to achieve.”
• Focus on decision making
• Public policy making as goal-oriented
• Specifies clearly that policy-making comprises “a set of interrelated decisions” ( ><
while Dye’s model could be misconstrued as limiting policy making to a single choice
opportunity and result)
• Differences between Jenkins and Dye’s definition
▪ Jenkins offered a much more precise conceptualization of public policy than
Dye’s definition provides, while illustrating many of the same themes
▪ Dye’s definition presumes that an underlying process exists behind decision
making, it does not state so explicitly. Jenkins presents policy-making as an
inherently dynamic process and explicitly acknowledges that governments
rarely address problems with a single decision. Policies involve a series of
decisions that cumulatively contribute to an outcome
▪ Jenkins recognizes that a governments capacity to formulate and implement
its decisions exerts a significant influence on public policy making and policy
outputs and is a major consideration in assessing the types of actions
governments consider
▪ Jenkins’s definition recognizes, in a way that Dye’s does not, that limitations
on a government’s ability to think and act can constrain the decision options
being considered and can advance or undermine the success of policy-making
efforts
o James Anderson (1975): “A purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in
dealing with a problem or matter of concern for the population.”
• Problem in 1 country may not be a matter in another country
• Which definition Is best according to you?
o There is no perfect definition
o Exam Question:
• What does some definition have to offer that others don’t
• What are the advantages en disadvantages of several definitions
• Anderson insist in making a distiction. What is this distinction. Why is it important.
• Is dye Blind for some important aspects of Policy?
• How does Andersons vision contributes to contstructivism
• How does Anderson’s definition match with Agendasetting
Actors & Institutions
o The figure is not perfect
o Organisation of society → Unions, Employers, organisations, pressure groups, NGO’s,…
o Media has a special place
o International system → European unions
3
, Actors
o Elected politicians
o Administrative officials
o Political parties, and their study centers
o Interest groups, NGOs
o Research organisations, academic institutes, think tanks
o Mass media
o (Voters/Citizens/individuals…)
o Power to make policy >< Role as policy adviser/analyst/ worker
• As stakeholder
• As target group
• Capable/not to influence pm
The policy cycle model
o Advantages
• Helps to reduce complexity
• Mapping and clarifying the roles of actors, institutions and
ideas/interests
o Disadvantages
• Policy is non-systematic, non-linear
• Idiosyncratic problem solving (= eigenzinnige probleemoplossing)
• Stages compressed or skipped (= fasen ingekort of overgeslagen)
• Causes and effects unclear
advantages disadvantages
Helps to reduce complexity Policy is non-systematic, non-linear
Mapping and clarifying the roles of actors, Idiosyncratic problem solving
institutions and ideas/interests Stages compressed or skipped
Causes and effects unclear
Stages of the policy cycle
Lasswell 1965 Brewer 1974
1. Intelligence: collecting + disseminating 1. Invention/initiation
knowledge 2. Estimation
2. Promotion: supporting selected 3. Selection
alternatives 4. Implementation
3. Prescription: decision for an alternative 5. Evaluation
4. Invocation: decision of rules of selected 6. Termination
alternative = reversed order as compared to Lasswell’s
5. Application: implementation through model
the administration
6. Termination: ending the process
7. Appraisal: evaluation according to the
initial goals
• Disseminating = verspreiden of bekendmaken, vooral in de context van info, kennis of nieuws
• Estimation = inschatting
4
Part 1: Meta-analysis of Policy (making): Methods and approaches –
Macro approach
1. The development of public policy analysis and policy sciences
Overview of introductory session
o Public policy and public policy analysis?
o Actors and types of policy analysts (HB CH1: pp.1-13 & 16-18; CH2: pp.20-23)
o Organisational issues
o Compulsory literature and further reading
o Overview of the syllabus / lectures
o Info about the exam and portfolio assignment
Public Policy
o Governments make Public policy =/= Politics, Polity
o Studying public policy
• Why are certain decisions taken at certain times and not others?
• How do policy decisions add up into policy regimes or mixes? Are those decisions in
contrast incompatible or contradictory?
• Do decisions result in recognizable patterns, or can we merely discern (quasi)random
accumulations of multiple decisions in the past?
• What actors are involved in public policies, what do these policy actors do, why and
what difference do they make?
o Public policy includes healthcare access, environmental protection, education funding,
economic growth, social welfare, security measures, technology regulation, immigration
management…
Public policy analysis…
Analysis of policy (hierover gaat vak) Analysis for policy
Descriptive Applied
Theoretical Prescriptive
Policy sciences Applied Policy Analysis
Academic Policy Analysis (kan zonder applied, maar niet omgekeerd
o Policy analysis ≠ policy studies
• Policy analysis: focuses mainly on the effects of policy outputs, and says very little
about the policy processes that created those outputs
• Policy studies: broader in scope, examining not just individual programs and their
effects, but also their causes and presuppositions, and the processes that led to their
adoption
o Exam Question: Juist of fout vraag:
• Academic policy analysis does not need to
be concerned with applied policy analysis
• --> Juist, maar niet in omgekeerde richting!
o Never a question about the difference
1
,Public policy analysis
o Academic discipline
• Multi-disciplinary
• Multi-method
• Problem-oriented
• Mapping of contexts, alternatives and effects
o Daniel Lerner & Harold Lasswell: The Policy Sciences (1951)
• The "policy sciences" are defined as "the disciplines concerned with explaining the
policy making and policy executing process, and with locating data and providing
interpretations which are relevant to the policy problems of a given period" (p. 14)
• De “policy sciences” w gedefinieerd als “de disciplines die zich bezighouden met het
verklaren vh beleidsvormings- en uitvoeringsproces, en met het lokaliseren van
gegevens en het verstrekken van interpretaties die relevant zijn voor
beleidsproblemen v/e bepaalde periode”
• The term "policy“ is used "to designate the most important choices made either in
organized or private life" (p. 5)
Definitions of policy (Niet op examen wat is Dye’s definition)
o Thomas Dye (1972): Public policy is “anything a government chooses to do or not to do.”
• Advantages: catchy, Mentioning the government
• Specifies that the primary agent of public policymaking is a government
• Clarifies that private decisions by business, social groups, or individuals are not in
themselves public policies
• Only governments can make authoritative decisions on behalf of citizens, that Is, ones
backed up by legitimate sanctions for transgressors in events of noncompliance –
beslissingen die worden ondersteund door legitieme sancties vr overstreders in geval
vn niet-naleving
• Public policymaking involves a fundamental choice on the part of governments to
either do something or to do nothing about a problem and that this decision is made
by elected politicians and other government officials
• So, also the things that the governments ignore to do, like climate change (the
decision not to take actions against the) migrant crisis…
• public policy is a conscious choice/decision by government, so government actions
and decisions often yield unintended consequences (f.e. the black market with the
regulation of the tobacco consumption)
• This definition highlights the need to carefully examine conscious, deliberate
government decisions in order to further develop that understanding
2
, o William Jenkins (1978): Public policy as “a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political
actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them
within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power of
those actors to achieve.”
• Focus on decision making
• Public policy making as goal-oriented
• Specifies clearly that policy-making comprises “a set of interrelated decisions” ( ><
while Dye’s model could be misconstrued as limiting policy making to a single choice
opportunity and result)
• Differences between Jenkins and Dye’s definition
▪ Jenkins offered a much more precise conceptualization of public policy than
Dye’s definition provides, while illustrating many of the same themes
▪ Dye’s definition presumes that an underlying process exists behind decision
making, it does not state so explicitly. Jenkins presents policy-making as an
inherently dynamic process and explicitly acknowledges that governments
rarely address problems with a single decision. Policies involve a series of
decisions that cumulatively contribute to an outcome
▪ Jenkins recognizes that a governments capacity to formulate and implement
its decisions exerts a significant influence on public policy making and policy
outputs and is a major consideration in assessing the types of actions
governments consider
▪ Jenkins’s definition recognizes, in a way that Dye’s does not, that limitations
on a government’s ability to think and act can constrain the decision options
being considered and can advance or undermine the success of policy-making
efforts
o James Anderson (1975): “A purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in
dealing with a problem or matter of concern for the population.”
• Problem in 1 country may not be a matter in another country
• Which definition Is best according to you?
o There is no perfect definition
o Exam Question:
• What does some definition have to offer that others don’t
• What are the advantages en disadvantages of several definitions
• Anderson insist in making a distiction. What is this distinction. Why is it important.
• Is dye Blind for some important aspects of Policy?
• How does Andersons vision contributes to contstructivism
• How does Anderson’s definition match with Agendasetting
Actors & Institutions
o The figure is not perfect
o Organisation of society → Unions, Employers, organisations, pressure groups, NGO’s,…
o Media has a special place
o International system → European unions
3
, Actors
o Elected politicians
o Administrative officials
o Political parties, and their study centers
o Interest groups, NGOs
o Research organisations, academic institutes, think tanks
o Mass media
o (Voters/Citizens/individuals…)
o Power to make policy >< Role as policy adviser/analyst/ worker
• As stakeholder
• As target group
• Capable/not to influence pm
The policy cycle model
o Advantages
• Helps to reduce complexity
• Mapping and clarifying the roles of actors, institutions and
ideas/interests
o Disadvantages
• Policy is non-systematic, non-linear
• Idiosyncratic problem solving (= eigenzinnige probleemoplossing)
• Stages compressed or skipped (= fasen ingekort of overgeslagen)
• Causes and effects unclear
advantages disadvantages
Helps to reduce complexity Policy is non-systematic, non-linear
Mapping and clarifying the roles of actors, Idiosyncratic problem solving
institutions and ideas/interests Stages compressed or skipped
Causes and effects unclear
Stages of the policy cycle
Lasswell 1965 Brewer 1974
1. Intelligence: collecting + disseminating 1. Invention/initiation
knowledge 2. Estimation
2. Promotion: supporting selected 3. Selection
alternatives 4. Implementation
3. Prescription: decision for an alternative 5. Evaluation
4. Invocation: decision of rules of selected 6. Termination
alternative = reversed order as compared to Lasswell’s
5. Application: implementation through model
the administration
6. Termination: ending the process
7. Appraisal: evaluation according to the
initial goals
• Disseminating = verspreiden of bekendmaken, vooral in de context van info, kennis of nieuws
• Estimation = inschatting
4
