PMO- L2 - Puzzling and powering

definition refugee

• A person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence

• has a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion

• and is unable or unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution

different kind of refugees

• undocumented

• externally displaced person 

• internally displaced person 

• asylum seeker 

• refugee

epidemiology involuntary migration

• 117.3 million (end of 2023) 

• 1 in 69 people on earth 

conflicting policy goals 

• health goals are inclusive 

  • • grounded on inclusive and egalitarian principles and values

  • Access to healthcare services depends on legal status

• migration goals are often exclusionary and restrictive

  • legislation on refugee/migrant rights vary between countries

• refugees fall in the crack between principles and policies

hard to calculate impacts of health on refugees 

association between conflict intensity and health outcomes in conflicts 

• increasing vulnerability 

conflict Sudan

• broke out in april 2023 

• 1.2 million fled in 1 year 

• 9.1 were further displaced within the country (largest ever reported)

• a lot of hunger. 20 million (42% of the country) face acute food insecurity

new approach is needed

• first there were two sides, and the idea was to let them resolve the conflict but this has not worked. so new approach was needed; 

• change the international policy approach→ global compact on refugees.

  • strengthening and aligning incentives in the country

  • informed policies, money (who gives it, where should it go) 

• this has been questioned. john prendergast says it does not work → punishment is needed 

new approach idea

Mahmood Mamdani; 

• Focus on a race-based genocide narrative is simplistic and dishonest.

• Rather it is a political struggle over land, power and citizenship rather than purely racial violence.

• Military intervention and international punishment is a continuation of a neocolonial agenda

• Calls for a political, negotiated, and African-led solution 

colonial and socioecological legacy

• started in 1800s → Anglo - Egyptian colonialism 

  • cotton farming 

• hydro political violence → dams, canals, and wetland drainage 

  • flooding our some villages, depriving others 

• violent appropriation of rain fed agricultural areas 

  • displacing peasants and nomadic people

sudan and Gold

• gold in sudan results in economic war 

global compact on refugees

• how international humanitarian aid should be organized

• the compact should be understood as an operational agreement between states. it seeks to translate the principle of ‘international cooperation’  into concrete action 

• the impact of the compact on refugees human rights is reflected by how the compact is used in rpactice and how that usage impacts the understanding and implementation of states obligations to ensure refugees human rights are respected and protected.

• four objectives

  • ease pressure on host countries

  • enhance refugee self-reliance

  • expand access to third country solutions

  • support safe return

dangerous policy

• forced displacement response versus human rights

• states are investing in realizing goals of global compact 

• need investment in legal power of refugees and their allies to utilise human rights enforcement mechanisms 

• holding states accountable to their human rights obligations can only happen if those affected are resourced to do so 

take home message refugees

• Complexity of international conflict situations make it extremely difficult to intervene in cases of violence and conflict

• Structural issues and conflicting goals make it especially difficult to improve situation of people on the move

• Food insecurity, infectious disease, mental health issues and access to health care biggest health concerns of forcibly displaced people

• Recent international policy (Global Compact) more likely to contradict human rights obligations

important part in policy making

• have a feedback loop

• a policy is often embodied in a program 

  • what will be done 

  • who will do it 

  • when will it be done 

  • what are the resources required 

ideal model of decision making → rationalism

1. Policy makers are faced with a particular problem

2. Goals, values and objective are clarified and ranked

3. Various alternative solutions are considered

4. Costs and benefits of each alternative are investigated: cost-benefit analysis

5. Each alternative and its costs and benefits are compared with other alternatives

6. Policy makers choose the alternative that has highest net benefits

this is why feedback loops are important

rational model 

• Rational model prescribes how policy ought to be made – normative / prescriptive model

criticism on the rational model

• does not describe how policies are made in practice

• problems policy makers face are comple

• policy makers lack time and information to make predictions about all costs and benefit of all alternatives 

• Policy makers are not value-free and prefer certain types of solutions

• No one can know all options: bounded rationality → policy makers try to be rational but are limited by time, information, and capacity. 

• Past policy determines present policy

• There are all sorts of external pressures on policy makers

incrementalist perspective

describes how policy is actually made

• Selection of goals/objectives is ‘reasoning away from the problem’, rather than ‘towards the solution’

• Policy makers look at a small number of alternatives that differ marginally from existing policies

• Of each alternative, only most obvious costs and benefits are considered

• ‘Best decision’ is the option for which there is agreement among policy makers

reinforces the status quo

puzzling needed for policy making

• problem is the point of departure 

• public policy is;

• Answering the question; what to do next? in view of some problem 

• on behalf of society 

• in order to mitigate or resolve it 

• in a collaborative process, co-determined by a broad set of factors and actors 

policy is also power play

• policy making is political process → struggle between competing interests, some in favor of change other against 

• policy is the outcome of a political process and depends on; 

  • the power balance between individuals and groups involved

  • the rules by which their struggle is organized

power versus authority

• Power = the ability to achieve desired outcomes / influence others

• Authority = the right to do so

three faces (dimensions) of power

1. power as decision making

2. power as non-decision making 

3. power as preference control → compliance through subtle means 

4. (without control; relational - embedded in social norms)

power as decision making 

• most visible and direct face of power

• power is a matter of getting people to do what they would not otherwise have done

• e.g. a government passes a new tax on sugary drinks despite strong opposition from the beverage industry

power as non decision making

• what you don’t see 

• Power as agenda setting highlights the way in which powerful groups control the agenda to keep threatening issues off the policy radar screen

• e.g. universal health care in the USA

• e.g. Tobacco companies lobbying to prevent anti-smoking laws from ever reaching parliament.

• key idea; power = ability to control the policy agenda → deciding what not to decide. 

power as preference control

• Power is most effective and most secure when it becomes so much a part of the background that it is unobserved and internalized

• people don’t resist because they’ve internalized dominant ideas as normal or right 

• fast food companies associating their products with happiness and freedom through advertising. → citizens see sugary drinks as harmless personal choice. 

power in relation to policy

• power is a matter of getting people to do what they would not otherwise have done 

sovereignty

• entails rule or control that is supreme, comprehensive, unqualified and exclusive

state organization

• Authoritarian regime: regime in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state with no constitutional responsibility to the public

• Democratic regime: regime that represents political institutions and practices which include universal suffrage, and reflects a high level of tolerance of opposition that is sufficient to check the arbitrary inclinations of the government

freedom house

• has indicators, looks into

  • civil rights

  • political rights 

  • civil liberties 

pluralism

• theory that power is widely distributed in society → power is dispersed among many groups, state acts as an impartial referee. 

• theory to make sense of power and state organization

  • Dahl (1961): There is an equal distribution of power among groups in society

  • protected by political rights to vote and to exercise free speech (lobbying, demonstration, strike, free mass media)

  • Individual citizens have the right and ability to organize in groups and associations

  • Who then compete over power

  • → Power is diffused throughout society

  • → State is neutral: does not defend the interests of one class or group, nor shows a marked bias towards particular interests

criticism pluralism

• Interest groups are not equally powerful: some form powerful coalitions of interests

• The state is not a neutral negotiator between different interests: it is easier for gov’ts to negotiate with one powerful group or coalition than with many

• Ignores external powers, e.g. transnational companies and international organizations

• Does not explain power dynamics in non-democratic societies

elitism

• Political elite = only open to members of dominant economic classes (small cohesive elite dominates decision making).

• Interest groups are not equally powerful (differences in resources)

• Policy choice is dominated by elites → primary function of the state is to ensure dominance of these elites: continuation of status quo

• The elites’ power is also manifest outside formal political arenas e.g. in the board rooms of transnational companies and international organizations

criticism on elitism

• Overstates capacity of elites to wield power

• Non-elites do challenge elites: change happens

• There are multiple groups competing for attention on specific issues

• Locates power in specific groups in society

feedback loop in democracy (David Easton’s model) 

political systems and policy process

• political system = a set of interrelated parts that converts inputs (demands and support) into output (policies) 

  • inputs → citizen demands (free healthcare) + support (taxes, voting) 

  • outputs → government decisions and policies

• feedback loop maintain equilibrium between public demands and state outputs 

criticism David Easton’s model

• Ignores power imbalances — assumes the state is neutral.

• Fails to explain self-interested state behavior (as argued by public choice theory).

• Neglects policy making within private organizations (e.g., voluntary industry codes).

• Doesn’t address coercion and repression used by some states

puzzling and powering in policy making

• ‘Puzzling’ on ‘what to do next’ = complex

  • As a result of unfavourable conditions (limited time, resources, focus ...)

  • Previous policy choices

  • Relevant aspects are not always calculable

  • Relevant aspects might go ‘unimagined’

  • “Synoptic” knowledge is beyond reach

• ‘Powering’ is part and parcel of the puzzling efforts as actors fight over which interests translate in policy

  • Their positions determined by a myriad of factors

  • Including rules for managing conflict and state organisation