Goals of Publi Policy Deborah Stone

Lecture 7-2007

I. Goals of Public Policy  Deborah Stone's four goals of public policy Equity or Equality Efficiency Security Liberty

 Equity There are different kinds of equality These are based on The recipients of a public good The item that is being distributed A n d t h e p r o c e s s b y w h i c h t h e t h i n g i s di di s t r i b u t e d

Stone lists at least eight different ways one can use equity language to distribute a good, often in ways that you would consider to be unequal.

 Efficiency What is efficiency? “ G e t t i n g t h e m o s t o u t p u t f o r a g i ve ve n i n p u t ” “ A c h i e v i n g an a n o b j ec ec t i v e f o r t h e l o w e s t c o s t ”

Efficiency is not an end goal; it is a means to an end It is very difficult to measure efficiency in the public sector or in politics in general. Why? What are the inputs?

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Labor  Materials Expertise Ot h e r i n t a n g i b l e s ?

What are the outputs? Products Services Values?

The market is often held up as the paragon of efficiency Thus, there are many c alls for privatizing government We o f t e n h e a r c a l l s t o r u n g o v e r n m e n t l i k e a business. K n o w i n g w h a t y o u k n o w a b o u t t h e m a r k e t a n d p o l is , w h y a r e t h e s e d e m a n d s u n r e al i s t i c ?

What characterizes a market? Voluntary exc hanges of things of value B a s e d o n t w o k i n d s o f i n f or m a t i o n

Objective information about the price and quality of   an item Subjective information about preferences  Does this information really exist?

Market failure Go v e r n m e n t s h a v e t o s t e p i n w h e n m a r k e t s f a i l ; i . e ., w hen these assumptions lead to allocat ive inefficiency or gross inequity. Examples

Correction of monopoly

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Correction of problems of information  Problems of impacts on people who are not making  the exchange.  Failure to provide collective goods (national defense,  police) Thus, government is often involved in

 Alleviating the inefficiencies of the market  Providing goods inefficiently because there is no  market way to do so  Imposing requirements for equity on the market,  thereby introducing inefficiency. The paradox: there’s always an “equal” and  “unequal” dimension.

Can Government every really look like a market? Go v e r n m e n t o f t e n r e g u l a t e s t h e m a r k e t , by r e gu l a t i n g w h o o r w h a t c a n b u y o r s el l w h a t p r o d uc t s Go v e r n m e n t o f t e n c o m p e l s i n v o l u n t a r y e x c h a n g e s : drafts labor for the army, taxes us for things w e may n o t i n d i v i d u al l y w a n t , e t c . C an t h e “ e f f i c i e n c y ” o f p u b l i c g o o d s p r od u c t i o n b e effectively measured?

To conclude, then, government cannot run like a business because

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I t i s n o t a b u s i n e s s : i t i s c o m p o s e d o f c i t i z en s a n d voter s, not buyers, sellers and producers It engages in those act ivities that are not profitable by definition I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o m e a s u r e i n pu t s a n d o u t p u t s i n government. On e p e r s o n ’s e f f i c i e n c y m a y b e t h e n e x t p e r s o n ’s gross inequity.

 Ideas on liberty People are free to unless their actions cause some sort of  harm to others This idea derives from J.S. Mill’s “On Liberty” This freedom is negative freedom, meaning that government should just let people do what they want and leave them alone But what does harm mean? No one is free to physically harm another person But w hat about other types of harms?

 Accidents  Pollution  Mistakes

Nonphysical harms M a t e r i a l a f f e c t s : i m p a c t o n w e a l t h o r w e l l -b e i n g Amenity affect s: impact on quality of life, such as billboards, destruct ion of wildlife Em o t i o n a l a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l e f f e c t s Sp i r i t u a l a n d m o r a l h a r m s

Liberty can therefore be limited by our common obligations to the Polis.

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Thus, there are harms t hat are not done to i n d i v i d u al s , bu t a r e d o n e t o t h e c o m m u n i t y

Structural harms: damage to the ability of the  community to function as a community  Accumulative harms: harms if everybody starts doing it, like cutting across lawns, sewage dumping,  jaywalking  Harms to a group that result from harms to individuals: racial discrimination, for example.

Tradeoffs between liberty (the ability to do what we want) and security (the ability to be free from a harm imposed by others) The problem of dependence

 If we provide economic security to the poor and the unemployed, do we grant them security at the cost of   their liberty (i.e., their freedom of action)?  If we value liberty, we place security in the hands of   the family or household, thereby eliminating  government intrusion T r a d e o f fs b e t w e e n l i b e r t y a n d s e c u r i t y

 If we value security, we grant greater powers to  government (and society) to make us secure We risk dependency and less freedom Government becomes more intrusive  Dependency is not good even for the poor, who are  trapped in a legal/bureaucratic tangle.

The Liberty/Equality Tradeoff 

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Pe o p l e h a v e d i f f e r e n t t a l e n t s , s k i l l s e t c . , t h u s , g o v t s h o u l d e q u a l i ze t h e s e r e s o u r c e s . T h i s i s p o s i t i v e l i b e r t y , n o t n e g a t i v e l i b e r t y , a nd m a k e s m a n y A m e r i c a n u nc o m f o r t a b l e . N e g a t i v e l i b e r t y —f r e e d o m t o Positive liberty—freedom from

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II. Problems We’ll start with the more traditional approach to this, then we will   move to discussing how Stone thinks about problem definition. Problem Defined: “A question or situation that presents uncertaint y, p e r p l e x i t y , o r di f f i c u l t y , “ [ a ] s o u r c e o f t r o u b l e o r a n n oy a n c e ”

What are some big problems in the United States that you would like to see addressed? Wh y i s y o u r ex a m p l e a p r o b l e m ? How do you or we learn about a problem?

Conditions versus problems C on d i t i o n s : t h i n g s i n t h e w o r l d t h a t m a y b e b a d , bu t t h a t w e c a n n ot d o m u c h a b o u t .

`Problems: things that are bad in the world that  something can be done about. What are some examples of things that were once  problems but that are now conditions?

What causes problems to emerge? Indicators F oc u s i n g e v e n t s T h e p r es s u r e o f s o c i a l m o v e m e n t s o r p o l i t i c a l a c t i o n -o f w h i c h s o c i a l c o n s t r u c t i o n i s a p a r t

How do conditions become problems that we can address? C ha n g e s i n t h e n a t u r e o f t h e c o n d i t i o n i t s e l f  

 Increased scientific knowledge  Increased technical capability

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Changes in the social construction of the problem

 Problems This section of Stone’s book is about how we come to understand problems and promote solutions to them. This relates very closely to the material we’ve already covered on problem identification and, to a large extent, agenda setting How do people address problems? Wi t h s y m b o l s Wi t h n u m b e r s B y at t r i b u t i n g c a u s e s By claiming interests By relying on decisions

Symbols A s y m b o l i s “ a n y t h i n g t h a t s t a n d s f or s o m e t h i n g else.” So m e e x a m p l e s o f s y m b o l s ?

Four Aspects of Symbolic Representation Narrative Stories Sy n e c d o c h e ( f i g u r e s o f s p e e c h “ i n w h i c h a p a r t i s u s e d t o r e p r es e n t t h e w h o l e .” ) Metaphors A m b i g u i t y —a c r u c i a l f e a t u r e o f s y m b o l s i n p ol i t i c s

Story lines Overview

 Narrative stories (anecdotes) Stories of decline or of progress halted

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Stories of helplessness and control

“What had formerly appeared to be ‘accidental,’ ‘random,’ ... or ‘natural’ is now alleged to be amenable to change through human agency.” Conspiracy stories Blame the victim stories Stymied progress stories Stories about how bad things happen

Causal stories Synecdoche Change is only an illusion St o r i e s o f h e l p l e s s n es s a n d c o n t r o l The “Horror Story”

“Politicians or interest groups deliberately choose  one egregious or outlandish incident...” to justify  change.  Examples: Welfare queens Excessive regulation Huge jury settlements (Examples: OSHA and the tooth fairy, the McDonald’s scalding case.)

Types of metaphors Machines and mec hanical devices W ed g e s a n d I n c l i n e s

“Thin edge of the wedge”  “Slippery slopes” ladders

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Containers

“Spill overs”  Contagious disease

Symbolize deterioration and decline The poor as having some sort of “pathology.”  Wa r 

The War on Poverty The War on Drugs  But...Carter’s “moral equivalent of war” speech  backfired.

Numbers T h e d e c i s i o n t o c o u n t s o m e t h i n g i s a h i g h l y po l i t i c a l ac t

Sometimes we choose not to count things because of   the political implications of the data So m e t i m e s n u m b e r s a r e o n l y p a r t i a l m e a s u r e s

 How do we measure an elephant? Numbers are metaphors

Numbers as metaphors C ou n t i n g m e a n s s e l e c t i n g o n e f e a t u r e o v e r a s e t o f   other features. C ou n t i n g r e q u i r e s j u d g m e n t , a n d c a n l e a d t o challenges on the basis of 

 Inclusion and exclusion Example: the Unemployment Rate

 a real difference between things being counted  Example: Hospital beds

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Causes and Causal Stories C au s a l s t o r i e s a b o u t w h a t c a u s e s p r o bl e m s The table on page 191 gives tw o dimensions to causal stories

 Actions that are either purposeful or unguided  Consequences that are either intended or unintended  D oe s i t m a t t e r i f o n e a r g u es t h a t s o m e t h i n g w a s u n g u i d ed w i t h u n i n t e n d e d c o n s e q u e n c e s ( an a c c i d e n t ) v e r s u s , s a y, s o m e t h i n g p u r p o s e f u l a n d i n t e n d e d ( a c o n s p i r a c y ) o r p u r p o s e fu l a n d u n i n t e n d e d ( i na d v e r t e n t c a u s e s ) ?

Causal Strategies in Program Definition (page 204) Sh o w t h a t t h e p r o b l e m i s c a u s e d b y an a c c i d e n t o f   nature Sh o w t h a t t h e a p r o b l e m f o r m e r l y i n t e r p r e t e d a s a c c i d e n t i s t h e r e s u l t o f h u m a n a g en c y Sh o w t h a t t h e e f f e c t s o f a n a c t i o n w e r e s ec r e t l y intended by the act or  Sh o w t h a t t h e l o w p r o ba b i li t y e f f e c t s o f a n a c t i o n w e r e a c c e p t e d a s a c a l c u l a t e d r is k b y t h e a c t o r   Sh o w t h a t t h e c a u s e o f t h e p r o b l e m i s s o c o m p l e x t h a t o n l y l a r g e-s c a l e p o l i c y c h a n g e s at t h e s o c i a l level can alter the cause.

Causal stories are, in the end, socially constructed 

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