Policy analysis session 5

agenda setting

the process by which government decide which issues need their attention and priorities among them

the policy agenda

list of subjects and problems onto which public officials and persons or groups external to government pay attention at a specific point in time (Kingdon)

inside initiation

officials place issues onto the formal agenda of the government without public pressure to do so

outside initiation

issues appear on the government agenda as a result of" “pressure” or lobbying from the public, individuals, groups, organizations,… outside of government

policy monopolies

both state and non-state actors attempt to control the definition and image of a problem in a way that they prefer it to be framed

policy window or policy opening

opportunity for issues to be put onto the agenda

routinised windows

regularly scheduled procedural events dictate policy agenda opening

discretionary windows

individual political preferences on the part of the decision-makers dictate policy windows

random windows

unforseen events (disasters, scandals) open policy windows

spillover windows

related issues are drawn into already opened windows in other sectors or issue areas

Kingdon: problem and condition

condition: some aspect of social life that may or may not be amenable to correction by government

policy problem: an undesirable effect of a condition that is amenable by government action

problem tractability

the degree of difficulty in the development and implementation of solutions to a problem

convergence theory (Wilensky en Sharkansky)

The idea that cultural, ideological and other factors are less significant in explaining the sets of public policies a country has than the level of economic development => countries with similar levels of development will have similar policy agenda’s and make similar policy decisions

• issues facing modern governments are converging toward a common process and will in turn elicit similar responses from these governments

power dependency model

Model from the 1980s that states that the convergence theory is too simplistic and ignores variations in substance and timing of policy across countries => while globalization and industrializations do create similar problems for modern governments in countries with similar levels of development, the specific ways that these governments deal with this are dependent on contextual, ideological and political factors

worldviews or ideologies

a diffuse set of ideas and norms that help people understand the complex reality (not easily translated into specific views on particular policy problems)

Principled beliefs

More specific ideas and norms, that have a more direct influence on the recognition of policy problems and subsequent policies

causal stories

framing of policies, their scope and sources

Use of synecdoches

narrative structures that exaggerate individual examples and use these symbolic representations to illustrate a larger point

multiple streams framework (Kingdon)

Agenda-setting happens through the coming together of three streams, that normally move fairly independent from one another, but sometimes come together to create policy windows or opportunities to put a matter on the policy agenda.

Policy entrepreneurs inside and outside of government facilitate the convergence of these streams or take advantage of these policy windows to influence the agenda.

Under certain conditions the three streams come together and open a policy window: an opportunity for policy entrepreneurs to shape the policy agenda!

The problem stream

Matters are recognized as a problem, requiring governmental action

Policy stream

Articulation of ideas in the form of proposed policy solutions (mainly by experts and analysts who find ways to improve on the status quo, examine problems and propose options to address them)

politics stream

different political factors (such as legislative/administrative turn over, elections, pressure groups, societal uproar,…)