KAY 386: PUBLIC POLICY

LECTURE 2Reading: Parsons, pp. 16-41.

Course Agenda

Course Syllabus and Slides will be available at http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~myildi

z/ Select the readings to be read

after the midterm Select the topics for newspaper

assignments

Meanings of Public Policy Public policy (PP) as rationalization of the

state and politics as a policy-making activity. Concerned with what decision policy makers

have or do not have. Empirical assumptions:

the laws that govern human behavior exist independent of human control,

the units of analysis in social systems are highly similar over time and space.

Enlightenment Notion in PP Background of the growth of the policy

approach The world is full of puzzles and problems which,

through the application of human reason and knowledge, could be solved.

Policy science as the desire for knowledgeable governance.

The acquisition of facts and knowledge about problems so as to formulate better solutions.

The analysis of policy requires that we have an understanding of the historical, legal, anthropological and geographical contexts of PP.

The growth of PP The growth of PP as a distinct field of

academic activity may be dated to the late 1960s.

In 1972 the Policy Studies Organization was founded.

1970s and 1980s witnessed an explosion of think-tanks and research institutions in which interdisciplinary approaches to policy thrived.

In the 1980s and 1990s the PP field has spread beyond America to other countries.

The growth of PP-2 Expansion of government as a

problem solver In the US, in 1960s, governments

increasingly required more information and analysis about education, transport, health, etc.

A belief in social science as a form of engineering and medicine.

Harold Lasswell

A pre-eminent moving spirit behind the growth of a policy science approach. Supply of data is needed for the making of

rational judgements on policy decisions Policy sciences are contextual, problem-

oriented, multidisciplinary, multi-method, and involved in the synthesis of ideas and techniques.

Policy scientist is an integrator of knowledge and action.

Policy analysis is “speaking truth to power”. Setting up of early think-tanks in 1940s.

Other Important PP Scholars Herbert Simon- bounded rationality Charles Lindblom- incremental approach David Easton- proposing a model of

political “system” Conceptualizing the relationship between

policy-making, policy outputs and its wider “environment”.

Yehezkel Dror and Lindblom agree that policy-making is far too complex to be captured in any model.

Institutional Settings Institutional settings that one can find

policy analysts (not mutually exclusive): Universities Independent research institutions & think-

tanks In-house policy units Pressure and lobby groups Political parties Freelance consultants

PP Frames Frames of analysis are models of organizing problems,

giving them a form and coherence. It involves constructing a boundary around reality which

is shared, or held in common by a group or community. Main frames in PP are:

Welfare Economics Public Choice Social Structure Information Processing Political Philosophy Political Process Comparative Politics Management

Political Policy Processes in PP Stagist approaches Pluralist-elitist approaches

Focusing on power and its distribution Neo-Marxist approaches

Application of Marxian ideas on PP Sub-system approaches

Application of communities, networks… Policy discourse approaches

Influence of language and communication patterns on PP

Comparative PP approaches (not mutually exclusive)

Socio-economic approaches How PP is the outcome of economic and social factors

Party government approaches How party competition and partisan control of

government matters to PP Class struggle approaches

How political forms of class struggle affect PP Neo-corporatist approaches

Influence of organized interests on PP Institutionalist approaches

The role of the state and social institutions in shaping PP

Methods of the comparative PP approach

Single case studies of one party area in one country

Statistical analysis of several case studies and countries

A more focused comparison of a policy area or sector between a selected number of comparable countries

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Does human behavior, on which

policy analysis is based, depend on universal principles?

Did Turkey/Turkish scientists produce any original solutions to public policy problems, which became an example to other countries?