POLS206 WK12 - PP in AU and Multiple Streams Analysis

federalism

a division of powers as a possible solution to social cleavages

a system of government where the same territory is controlled by two levels of government, dividing power between a central national government and smaller regional or state governments

 like australia - a lot of competing interests

• Keep everyone happy by letting ppl make their own decisions

• e.g. western australia a lot of mining, victoria big on agriculture instead

• Because of these diff incentives and avenues, they have the power to do that instead of centralization that would garner a lot of conflict

pragmatic federalism

a problem-solving approach to governance that emphasizes flexible, issue-based cooperation over rigid constitutional theory. It allows governments and coalitions to bypass political gridlock, enabling willing states or regions to test new policies and address urgent challenges collectively

coalitions of the willing

Rather than forcing all states or members to adopt a policy simultaneously, it allows those with shared strategic interests to pioneer agreements

what are the arguments of the indigenous voice referendum

1. Au is sovereign and should maintain its absolute sovereignty. Shouldn't cede any level of jurisdictional autonomy

2. Indigenous ppl never ceded sovereignty, therefore it ought to be legitimately institutionalized in the structures of au gov.

what is the indigenous voice to parliament

chosen by indigenous peoples, representative, community led

advise government on matters relating to wellbeing of aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples

cannot be removed by successive governments

route to inform policy

Even within aboriginal community there was some push back

 

Idea of indigenous voice was a compromise in itself

But it was written in constitution - can't change easily

May lead to better outcomes   that took indigenous voices into account

Push in indigenous communities - this is nowhere near enough

were stricter gun laws a policy success or failure?

increased ansolute numbers of private firearms, but decrease proportion of households with firearms

• decline in suicide rate, mass shooting, homicides of women

policy crystallization

the stage in the political or legislative process where broad, abstract ideas and competing public interests solidify into concrete, actionable regulations, standards, and laws.

what is the multiple streams framework?

Draws heavily on garbage can model

• Awareness that there is not one single solution to every problem

• Even depending on how you frame the problem there are many kinds of problems

• Fumbling in the dark to find one that fits in the current moment

• Like garbage can - have multiple different streams that come together to the policy being made

  • Concept of change - POLICY WINDOW

  • Its in that policy window that there is room for change to happen

  • Very dependent on who is in the room/who is pushing those ideas out there

what is included in MSF?

problem stream

policy stream

political stream

policy window

problem stream

attention is given to a problem

policy stream

a feasible solution to the problem is available

political stream

the motive to turn the solution into policy

ideology is a huge factor

policy window

opened by any one stream - when all three streams overlap

1. There is outside pressure for change because a crisis just happened

2. Something recognized as a problem within the policy community

3. There are existing solutions floating around

speaks to PET focus events

policy entrepreneur

The language of investing to seek reward

• Time, effort, political capital

• Entrepreneurs are very well connected

• Have close relations to political/policy community

• Usually have some kind of claim to being an expert in that area -> know a lot of ppl in positions of power fingers all in some important pies

• Consistently pushing for their solution

• If successful, they are often good storytellers

• Can pay attention to the conditions of diff streams - awareness - keep pushing for policy solution even if conditions aren't in your favour

strengths of MSF

attractiveness of the metaphor

intuitive feel of its description of policymaking

generalizability

weaknesses of MSF

missing some nuance of the policy environment

possible to combine with ACF and PET