Critical Concept Quiz PUBL113

Social Problems

• objective component: negative consequences for large number of people

• Subjective component: perception that a condition/behaviour needs to be addressed

Sociological Imagination

• Connection between individual experiences and larger social structures

• Public issues approach

Social Policy

• Subset of public policy

• Set of principles, guidelines and government actions designed to promote (societal wellbeing), protect (individuals from social risks), and redistribute (resources)

Values

• Beliefs/principles about what a society considers important/desirable

• Shapes perception of social problems and what solutions are considered appropriate

Change

• Process by which government alter their goals/instruments/organisations for delivering social programmes as well as underlying ideas, interests and institutions which drive those shifts

Incremental change

Small, cautious adjustments to existing policy

Transformative change

• Fundamental shift in status quo of a system

• System-wide re-ordering, often following major crisis or new social consensus

Why are values and change at the core of social and public policy

Values and change helps us understand why governments act and how they adapt when society’s needs evolve

Ideaology

• Configuration of values, beliefs and assumptions about human nature, society and the state that reflects and shapes social change

• Lenses through which social problems, policy and change is defined/managed

• Connects individual values to social visions

Ideological domains

• Economic

• Social

• Political

• Cultural

Economic ideology definition

How economic life ought to organised, what values should guide production, distribution & role of the state

Political ideology definition

How power ought to be organised, what goals governments should pursue, and how society should be structured

Social Ideology definition

What norms and relationships should structure our every day life

Cultural ideology definition

Whose stories, values and symbols define collective identity

Political Ideologies

• Colonialism

• Liberalism

Colonoism

• Practice by which powerful states occupy, conquer and exploit another territory, imposing their institutions, economy and culture

• Political

Liberalism

• Centres on individual freedom, the rule of law, and limited government interventions

• Political

Economic ideologies

• Socialism

• Neoliberalism

Socialism

• advocates collective or state ownership of key industries to achieve equitable wealth distribution

• Economic

Neoliberalism

• Late 20th century strand of thought seeking to role back state intervention via deregulation, privatisation and free trade

• Economic

Social ideologies

• Social conservatism

• Social liberalism

• Social democracy

• Femenism

Social conservatism

• Values systems upholding traditional family structures and moral norms

• Social

Social liberalism

• Combines commitment to individual freedoms and equal rights with support for targeted welfare measures to ensure genuine liberty

• Social

Social democracy

• Belief in a market based economy controlled by strong welfare state and active government regulation

• Social

Femenism

• Doctrine asserting women are systematically disadvantaged by sex-based norms and institutions, and that these inequalities should be overthrown to achieve full gender equality

• Social

Cultural Ideologies

• Multiculturalism

• Biculturalism

• Eurocentrism

Multiculturalism

• Belief that multiple cultural groups should coexist with equal respect, and that public policy should accomodate cultural diversity

• Cultural

Biculturalism

• Acknowledges two founding cultures with equal partnership and mutual recognition

• Cultural

Eurocentrism

• Cultural ideology that frames European history, values and experiences as universal benchmarks, often marginilizing or de-valuing non-European perspectives

Justice

Fair distribution of rights, opportunities, resources and responsibilities

Plato’s theory of justice

• Justice exists when people perform the roles they are best suited for

• Society works best when each group fulfils its function without interfering with others

Aristotles theory of justice

• Distributive and corrective justice

• Distributive justice: allocation of benefits and resources, based on merit, contribution, or need

• Corrective justice: restoring fairness after harm. Includes punishment, compensation and dispute resolution

Utilitarianism

• Justice is the greatest happiness for the greatest number

• Policies judged by their overall outcomes

Libertarian justice

• Emphasizes individual liberty & property rights, minimal government intervention

• Nozvick’s entitlement theory: unequal outcomes are fair if . . .

  • Justice acquisition (property obtained fairly)

  • Justice in transfer (voluntary exchange)

  • rectification(correct past injustice)

Rawls theory of justice

Justice based on fair rules chosen by rational individuals and decided in the ‘original position’

• ‘Veil of ignorance’ encourages fair and protective principles

• Two principles of justice

1. Equal liberty: basic freedoms for all

2. Difference principle: inequality allowed only if it benefits the least advantaged

Capability approach

• Justice is ensuring people have real opportunities to live well

• Focus is on what people are able to do and be

Femenist theories of justice

Focus on power struggles impacting women

• Ethics of care (emphasizes relationships, empathy, care and interdependence)

Indiginous justice

Emphasizes relationships, collective wellbeing, and the restoration of balance within communities

• Maori concepts on justice draw on concepts including mana, rangatiratanga, utu and whakapapa

Environment and climate justice

• Focus on fair distribution of environmental harms and responsibilities

• Concern for future generations

Constitutionalism

Exercise of power, particularly of descion making

Tradition

• Repetition over time, over centuries

• Beginnings many centuries ago - anglo saxon and Maori

Te Ahumairangi

Physical recognition of parliaments significant relationship with Te Ati Awa Taranaki Whanui (who’s land parliament sits on)

Tika Tikanga Maori

• Broad term including concepts, values and practices

• Ideas to do with dissemination of power

Maori legal norms/ Tikanga based legal norms

• Whakapapa

• Whanaungatanga

• Mana

• Utu

• Hui

• Tapu

Hui

• Establishment of the prime instrument of Maori constitutionalism

• Important gathering which has outcomes of descions that impact peoples wellbeing

Te Tiriti articles

Article 1 - Kawanatanga

Article 2 - Tino Ranitiratanga/ authourity over Taonga

Article 3 - Protection of citezenship (equal rights)

Article 1 - Kawanatanga

Maori texts - chiefs alow crown to have kawanatanga (form of governance) to control settlers and maintain order

English texts - Maori cede sovereignty

Article 2 - Tino Rangitiratanga/Authority over Taonga

Maori text - guarantees Maori total authority/cheiftanship over their lands, resources, taonga and way of life BUT if Maori wanted to sell land they must sell to the Queen

English text - Maori will keep their land and resources, BUT, if Maori want to sell any land, they promise to sell to the queen

Article 3 - Protection and Citezenship (equal rights)

Maori are given the same protections (rights and duties) as British subjects

Waitangi Tribunal

Established in 1975 to investigate claims of treaty breaches

Principles

1. Kawanatanga (the crowns right to govern)

2. Tino Rangitiratanga (Maori right to self-determination)

3. Partnership (Maori and Crown are equal partners)

4. Active protection (crown have right to actively protect Maori)

5. Options (Maori have right to do things their own way)

6. Equity (Outcomes for Maori to be equitable)

7. Redress (crown to right wrongs it has done to Maori)

Te Tiriti aligned policy

• Acknowledges Maori as Tangata whenua and affirms the Crowns obligations

• Ensures equitable outcomes

• Recognises Maori as partners in governance

Tokenistic Policy

• Offers appearance of inclusion or responsiveness without actually sharing power, resources or descion making authourity

• Symbolic or superficial inclusion of Maori

Crown-Centred control

• Mode of governance in which the crown retains exclusive authourity over policy areas without geniine sharing of power or recognition of Maori self-management

Written constitution

• Written in form of book or document

• Made and enacted by a constitutional assembly

• Usually less flexible

• Definite (can be quoted support/against any power exercised by government)

Unwritten constitution

• Is not framed as a single document

• Result of gradual process of constitutional evolution

• Depends mostly on unwritten rules or conventions which do not require formal amendment

• Cannot be produced in evidence, has to be proved in quoting its sources and practices

Parliament constitute

• Members of parliament

• Speaker

• Leader of the opposition

• Administrative staff

• Governor General

Sovereigns role

• Summon and dissolve parliament (governor general formally opens parliament and can dissolve it before an election)

• Grant royal assent (when house basses a bill, governor general approval turns it into law(

The house of representatives role

• Forming the government

• Legislating

• Representation

• Approving budgets

• Holding the government to account

Types of bills in parliament

• Government bills

• Members bill

• Local bills

• Private bills

Government bills

• drafted and introduced by ministers as part of the government official legislative

• government also decides the sequence in which these bills are debated in the house

Members bill

• Any MP who isn’t a minister can propose these

• A ballot selects what can make it onto the agenda

• Only a small number become law

Local bills

• Brought forward by a local authority to address issues that impact only their district

• Local MP usually shepards these through the house

Private bills

• Rare and narrowly focused, change the law for a specific person or organization

• Sponsoring MP takes responsibility for guiding the bill through each parliamentary stage

Parliaments role in public/social policy

• Sets parameters for social policies

• Budgetary controls enable MP’s to enable resources

• Question time and petitions sustain ongoing scrutiny, compelling the Executive to justify social policy descions in public

Judiciary two important constitutional principles

• Rule of law

• Separation of power (helps to create a balance of power within and between the different parts of government)

Functions of NZ Judiciary

• Resolving disputes

• Applying statutes

• Developing common law

• Judicial review

Role of courts

enforce legal framework within which social programmes operate

Role of tribunals

provide accesible venues for redressing discrimination, thereby shaping social norms and influencing policy makers to amend legislation or practices deemed unjust

Executive

• Cabinet Ministers and Ministers outside cabinet

• Cabinet is the central descion making body of executive government

• collective responsibility is central to cabinets functioning (once an issue has been decided in cabinet all cabinet ministers must back it - or resign)

Political executive and social policy

• Cabinets control over the annual budget makes it the arena where social policies are negotiated and endorsed

• PM convenes ad hoc committees

• Cabinet presents unified front on social policy (through collective responsibility)

• social policy in a framework of democratic accountability and collective responsibility

Public Sector (Permanent executive) role

• Policy advice and design

• Service delibery and implementation

• Accountability and performance management

• Importance of neutrality and professionalism

• Adaptive reform and innovation

Public service principles in the 2020 Public service act

• Be politically neutral

• Provide free and frank advice

• Merit-based appointments

• Open government

• Stewardship of the public service and NZ’s system of government

Roles of officials

• Consistent with the Public Service Principles in the 2020 Public service act

• Serve the ministers and the executive

Policy Actors

Individuals, groups or organisations that influence/shape/implement/affected public policies

State/Government Actors

Formally empowered to make, implement and enforce policy descions

Non-state/Societal actors

Influence policy through advocacy/lobbying/research/service-delivery/public-mobilisation

Importance of policy actors

• Building support and legitimacy

• Eabling effective implementation

• Ensuring accountability and learning

• Bringing issues to the political agenda

• Designing policies that reflect diverse needs

Official actors

• Legislative

• Executive

• Judiciary

• Local government

Unoffical actors

• Citezens

• Political parties

• Treaty partners

• Interst groups

• Advocacy groups

• NGOs

• Media

Policy Process

Set of inter-related activities through which governments translate public problems into policy solutions

Policy cycle

1. Agenda setting

2. Policy formulation

3. Descion making

4. Implementation

5. Policy evaluation

Agenda setting phase

• Outside iniative model: lobbying to get issue onto government agenda

• Inside-iniative model: issues identified and put onto agenda inside government

• Mobilisation model: political leaders place issue on formal agenda then mobilise for public support

• Consolidation model: policy makers consolidate support by involving the public

Policy formulation phase

• Identified public problems are translated into specific proposals for action

• Involves elimination of policy options until one, or only a few are left from amongst which the policy makers make their final descion

Descion making phase

• Governments choose a specific course of action, or in some cases, deliberate inaction from among the policy alternatives developed

• models . . .

  • Rational comprehensive model

  • Incremental model

  • Mixed scanning model

Rational comprehensive model

• Comprehensive logical process

• Identify and define probelem

• Establish clear objectiveness

• Analyse all options

• Select best alternative

Incremental model

• Small, gradual changes to existing policies

• Focuses on modifying current policies

• Relies on negotiation and compromise between stakeholders

• Descion shaped by political feasibility

Mixed scanning model

• Strategic vision and incremental steps

• Broad scan and targetted incremental steps

Policy Implementation Phase

• Implementation phase is where a governments formal policy descion is translated into action through the development of programmes, regulations, services, or enforcement mechanisms to acheive the intended objectives

Realities of policy implementation

• Nature of the problem

• Size of target group

• Extent of behaviour change can be challenging

• “implementation gap” is common

• Political and public support can change

• Resource and capability constraints

• Monitoring and feedback loops

Approaches to policy implementation

Top down approach: directed and controlled by central policy makers

Bottom up approach: local implements and stakeholders shape how policies are put into practice

Policy Monitoring and Evaluation phase

• Monitoring: Systematic, ongoing collection of information on specified indicators to provide management and stakeholders with indicators to provide management and stakeholders with indications of the extent of progress and achievement of the objectives

• Evaluation: application of systematic methods to assess the design, implementation and utility of public policies and programmes

Social learning

Occurs when policy evaluation leads to changes in underlying beliefs, norms, or problem defintions, not just instruments or settings

Lesson drawing

process by which policymakers adapt ideas/programmes/strategies from elsewhere to their own political, economic or cultural context