WEEK 9 : POLICY TYPES

The Public Policy Process

Some reminders

I will get your agenda memos back ASAPThen I will start reading rewritesKeep doing and sending rewrites!Visit me if you need to—don’t just wait for

office hours!The due dates on many assignments have

changed; the revised syllabus has been posted.

Don’t forget to review the notes on the midterm exam, posted on the course website.

What we’ve done so far

Introduced the idea of the policy processDescribed the goals of public policyOutlined problemsLearned about long-term and changeable

features of the policy environmentConsidered the roles of official and unofficial

actorsDiscussed groups, power, and the agenda

setting process

What’s next:

Today: Policy Types (more interesting than I thought!)

Next Week: Policy ToolsApril 6: Policy Implementation, Failure, and

LearningApril 13: The Science of Public PolicyApril 20: Class CancelledApril 27: Review, Summary, Ideas about the

Final (Final will be posted before class)

What Is a “Policy”?

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

A policy is 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.

What are some examples of these levels of policy?

ConstitutionalStatutoryRegulatorySOPsStreet-level bureaucratsSubtle changes in cognition

Codifying and Publicizing Policies

Level of Policy Where Codified Visibility of Codification

Constitutional In the federal or state constitutions

Highly visible at the federal level: the Constitution has been edited very few times. Some state constitutions are more easily amended for minor changes.

Statutory United States Code, Statutes at Large, State

Highly visible through codification in statute law, publication in Statutes at Large.

Regulatory Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations

Moderately visible through the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register.

Formal record of standard operating procedures

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

Patterned behavior by “street level bureaucrats”

Not formally codified; evidence of a “policy” may be found in some agency records

Low visibility because these are behavioral changes with variations among actors

Subtle 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.

Why does the level of policy matter?

VisibilityRespectCompliance

Policy Types

A way of predicting policy outcomesHow? By categorizing the “type” of policyWeak typology: substantive policy type

Education Environment Health

A Good Policy Typology is

GeneralizableMutually exclusiveCollectively exhaustiveExplanation and prediction:

“Knowing what kind of policy we are dealing with would allow the policy designer to predict the sorts of policy conflict that would precede the policy’s enactment, and what sort of conflict might arise after the policy is adopted and implemented.”

Theodore Lowi’s Classic Typology

Lowi: Distributive, Regulatory, and Redistributive Policy

Ripley and Franklin: Protective Regulatory Competitive Regulatory

What is distributive policy

Policies with many beneficiariesPolicies where those who pay are diffuseLogrollingExamples

Farm subsidies Local infrastructure “Pork”

What are the problems of distributive policy?

Clienteleism“Interest group liberalism”The failure to make tough decisions about

what are broader national needs.

Competitive regulatory

“Limit the provision of goods and services to one or a few designated deliverers, who are chosen from a larger number of competing potential deliverers.”

Conflict is limited, low keyExamples:

Allocation of radio and TV frequencies Utility franchises Regulation of doctors, lawyers, other professions

Protective regulatory

Protect people from negative effects of business

Not always opposed by business!But is still more contentious than competitive

regulatoryExamples

Environmental regulation Health care reform! Any safety regulation, like auto safety

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 social classes 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?

Actors, Stability, and Visibility of Policy Types

Policy type Primary actors Relationship among actors

Stability of relationship

Visibility of decision

Distributive Congressional subcommittees and committees; executive bureaus; small interest groups

Logrolling (everyone gains)

Stable Low

Protective regulatory Congressional subcommittees and committees; full House and Senate; executive agencies; trade associations

Bargaining; compromise

Unstable Moderate

Competitive regulatory

Subcommittees; executive bureaus and commissions; small interest groups

Logrolling among favored actors

Stable Very low; very little full congressional involvement

Redistributive President and his appointees; committees and/or Congress; largest interest groups (peak associations); “liberals/conservatives”

Ideological and class conflict

Stable High

Influence of Key Actors

Policy Type President, presidency, and centralized bureaucracy

Bureaus Congress as whole

Congressional subcommittees

Private sector

Distributive Low High Low (supports subcommittees)

High High (subsidized groups)

Protective Regulatory

Moderately high

Moderate Moderately high Moderate Moderately high (regulated interests)

Competitive regulatory

Low High (Regulatory agencies)

Low Moderate to low

High (regulated interests)

Redistributive High Low High Moderately low High (“peak associations” representing clusters of interest groups)

Shortcomings of Lowi’s typology

Categories are not mutually exclusiveAssignment to categories is difficultForcing into boxes

Simplification: Concentrated and Diffuse Costs and Benefits

BenefitsConcentrated among very

few peopleDistributed among many people

Costs

Concentrated among very few people

Interest group politics: conflict between groups that would benefit and those that would bear the costs. Treated as a “zero-sum” game.

Entrepreneurial politics: groups and their leaders seek to persuade policy makers to regulate 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 seek a substantive or symbolic statement of policy. Often leads to weak, ambiguous policies.

How does this relate to Lowi’s typology?

How is this different from Lowi’s typology?

Focus is on costs and benefits only, not on the intent of policy

The two dimensions are continual, not dichotomous

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 you would use to achieve your goals. Why: Avoid conflict. Conflict raises issues on agendas.

Other Policy Typologies

Substantive and Procedural PoliciesMaterial and Symbolic PoliciesPublic versus Private GoodsLiberal and Conservative PoliciesThink about how people make arguments

about these policy types