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W E E K 9 : P O L I C Y T Y P E S

The Public Policy Process

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Some reminders

I will get your agenda memos back ASAP

Then I will start reading rewrites

Keep doing and sending rewrites!

Visit me if you need todont just wait for officehours!

The due dates on many assignments have changed;the revised syllabus has been posted.

Dont forget to review the notes on the midtermexam, posted on the course website.

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What weve done so far

Introduced the idea of the policy process

Described the goals of public policy

Outlined problems

Learned about long-term and changeable features ofthe policy environment

Considered the roles of official and unofficial actors

Discussed groups, power, and the agenda settingprocess

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Whats next:

Today: Policy Types (more interesting than Ithought!)

Next Week: Policy Tools

April 6: Policy Implementation, Failure, andLearning

April 13: The Science of Public Policy

April 20: Class Cancelled

April 27: Review, Summary, Ideas about the Final(Final will be posted before class)

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What Is a Policy?

Public policy:What the government, acting on ourbehalf, chooses to do or not to do.

A policyis a statement by government of what it

intends to do or not to do, such as a law, regulation,ruling, decision, or order, or a combination of these.

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What are some examples of these levels of policy?

Constitutional

Statutory

Regulatory

SOPs Street-level bureaucrats

Subtle changes in cognition

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Codifying and Publicizing Policies

Level of Policy Where Codified Visibility of CodificationConstitutional In the federal or state

constitutions Highly visible at the federal level: theConstitution has been edited very fewtimes. Some state constitutions are

more easily amended for minor

changes.Statutory United States Code, Statutes at

Large, StateHighly visible through codification instatute law, publication in Statutes at

Large.Regulatory Federal Register, Code of Federal

Regulations Moderately visible through the Code ofFederal Regulations and the FederalRegister.

Formal record of standard

operating procedures

Operating Procedures Manuals Low visibility because S.O.P.s are oftenonly internally published.

Patterned behavior by

street level bureaucrats Not formally codified; evidenceof a policy may be found insome agency records

Low visibility because these are

behavioral changes with variations

among actorsSubtle changes in

cognition, in emphasis on

problems, etc.Not formally codified. Often

revealed by the behavior of

street level bureaucrats

themselves.

Very low visibility. Not codified, and

changes in perceptions and emphases

may be subtle.

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Why does the level of policy matter?

Visibility

Respect

Compliance

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Policy Types

A way of predicting policy outcomes

How? By categorizing the type of policy

Weak typology: substantive policy type

Education Environment

Health

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A Good Policy Typology is

Generalizable

Mutually exclusive

Collectively exhaustive

Explanation and prediction: Knowing what kind of policy we are dealing with would allow

the policy designer to predict the sorts of policy conflict thatwould precede the policys enactment, and what sort of conflict

might arise after the policy is adopted and implemented.

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Theodore Lowis Classic Typology

Lowi: Distributive, Regulatory, and RedistributivePolicy

Ripley and Franklin:

Protective Regulatory Competitive Regulatory

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What is distributive policy

Policies with many beneficiaries

Policies where those who pay are diffuse

Logrolling

Examples Farm subsidies

Local infrastructure

Pork

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What are the problems of distributive policy?

Clienteleism

Interest group liberalism

The failure to make tough decisions about what are

broader national needs.

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Competitive regulatory

Limit the provision of goods and services to one or afew designated deliverers, who are chosen from alarger number of competing potential deliverers.

Conflict is limited, low key Examples: Allocation of radio and TV frequencies

Utility franchises

Regulation of doctors, lawyers, other professions

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Protective regulatory

Protect people from negative effects of business

Not always opposed by business!

But is still more contentious than competitive

regulatory Examples Environmental regulation

Health care reform!

Any safety regulation, like auto safety

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Redistributive policies

Taking from one group, and giving to another Intended to manipulate the allocation of wealth, property,

personal or civil rights, or some other valued item among socialclasses or racial groups.

Not just from the rich to the poor!

Extremely contentious

Winners and losers

Zero sum games

Some people treat values as limited resources. Examples?

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Actors, Stability, and Visibility of Policy Types

Policy type Primary actors Relationshipamong actors Stability ofrelationship Visibility of decision

Distributive Congressionalsubcommittees and

committees; executive

bureaus; small interest

groups

Logrolling

(everyone gains) Stable Low

Protective regulatory

Congressionalsubcommittees and

committees; full House and

Senate; executive agencies;

trade associations

Bargaining;compromise Unstable Moderate

Competitive

regulatory Subcommittees; executivebureaus and commissions;small interest groups

Logrolling among

favored actors Stable Very low; very littlefull congressionalinvolvement

Redistributive President and hisappointees; committees

and/or Congress; largest

interest groups (peak

associations);

liberals/conservatives

Ideological andclass conflict Stable High

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Influence of Key Actors

Policy Type President,presidency, and

centralized

bureaucracyBureaus Congress as

whole Congressionalsubcommittees Private sector

Distributive Low High Low (supportssubcommittees) High High(subsidized

groups)ProtectiveRegulatory Moderatelyhigh Moderate Moderately high Moderate Moderatelyhigh (regulated

interests)Competitive

regulatory Low High(Regulatoryagencies)

Low Moderate tolow High (regulatedinterests)

Redistributive High Low High Moderately low High (peakassociations

representing

clusters of

interest groups)

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Shortcomings of Lowis typology

Categories are not mutually exclusive

Assignment to categories is difficult

Forcing into boxes

Si lifi i C d d Diff C

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Simplification: Concentrated and Diffuse Costsand Benefits

Benefits

Concentrated among very

few people

Distributed among many people

Costs

Concentrated

among veryfew people

Interest group politics: conflict

between groups that would

benefit and those that wouldbear the costs. Treated as a

zero-sum game.

Entrepreneurial politics: groups

and their leaders seek to

persuade policy makers toregulate in the public interest, in

the face of opposition from the

groups that would bear the cost.

Distributed

among many

people

Clientele oriented politics:

close clientele relationships

between policy makers,regulators, and the regulated

interest.

Majoritarian politics: Relatively

loose groups of people, or those

acting on their behalf, who seeka substantive or symbolic

statement of policy. Often leads

to weak, ambiguous policies.

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How does this relate to Lowis typology?

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How is this different from Lowis typology?

Focus is on costs and benefits only, not on the intentof policy

The two dimensions are continual, not dichotomous

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What does this mean to you?

How you frame a policy is really important. You can show that Everyone will benefit, but few will pay

Everyone will benefit, but everyone pays a lot

Those who pay deserve to pay If interest group liberalism is really true, what is your

goal as a group? Keep conflict quiet

Venue shopping

You should choose what sort of broad policy tool youwould use to achieve your goals. Why: Avoid conflict. Conflict raises issues on agendas.

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Other Policy Typologies

Substantive and Procedural Policies

Material and Symbolic Policies

Public versus Private Goods

Liberal and Conservative Policies Think about how people make arguments about

these policy types