Policy Adoption

Chapter 4

Policy Adoption

Introduction

Policy adoption: involves action on a preferred alternative that can win approval, not selection from among full-blown alternatives

Adoption process gives policies the weight of public authority

Grants legitimacy to the policy

The formal authority to decide rests with public officials: legislators, executives, administrators, and judges.

Todays Topics

Decision-making

Theories

Criteria

Styles

Presidential decision-making

Theories of Decision-Making

Rational-comprehensive

Incrementalism

Mixed scanning

Each entails an empirical description (how decisions are made) and a normative statement (how they should be made)

Theories of Decision-Making

Rational-Comprehensive Theory

Specifies procedures involved in making well-considered decisions

Goal is to maximize the attainment of goals (personal or organizational)

Not rational choice theory!

Rational decisions may make either large and basic or limited changes in public policies.

Theories of Decision-Making

Criticisms of rational-comprehensive theory:

Decision-makers

Do not face clearly defined problems

Lack required intellectual capacity

Are usually confronted by value conflict, not value agreement

Face sunk costs

Are not unitary actors

What are the barriers to rational action?

Theories of Decision-Making

Incremental Theory

Limited changes or additions to existing policies

Easier to reach agreement between parties when only minor changes are made to existing programs

Sequences of incremental changes can result in fundamental changes in public policy

Why is incrementalism prevalent in pluralist societies such as the United States?

Theories of Decision-Making

Criticisms of incremental theory:

Too conservative and focused on existing order

Does not allow for crisis situations

May discourage the search for or use of readily available alternatives

Does not eliminate the need for theory in decision making

Theories of Decision-Making

Mixed Scanning approach

Provides high-order, fundamental policy-making processes which set basic directions andincremental processes which prepare for fundamental decisions and work them out after they have been reached

Allows decision makers to use either rational-comprehensive or incrementalism depending on circumstances

Mixed scanning also takes into account differing capacities of decision-makers.

Decision Criteria

Decision-making can be either individual or collective process

Influences:

Values

Party affiliation

Constituency interests

Public opinion

Deference

Decision rules

Decision Criteria

Values

Organizational

Professional

Personal

Policy

Ideological

Which type of values are often underestimated in their importance to decision making?

Decision Criteria

Political party affiliation

Party loyalty

Best predictor to how members of Congress will vote on legislative issues

Influences the decisions of federal judges

In recent years, the average legislator has voted with the majority of his or her party about three-fourths of the time.

Party-Line Votes in Congress

Fig. 4.1

Source: From Jon R. Bond and Kevin B. Smith, Analyzing American Democracy (New York: Routledge, 2013), p. 260.

Decision Criteria

Constituency Interests

Delegate vs. Trustee

Agencies have constituencies comprised of interest groups

Decision Criteria

Public Opinion

Public perspectives and viewpoints on policy issues that officials consider in making decisions

Shapes general boundaries & direction of public policy

Can be permissive

Public opinion is also subject to manipulation by public officials, as through the management of the news.

Decision Criteria

Deference

Deferring to the judgment of others who are more experienced

Other legislators, party leaders, committee chairs, policy experts

Also used by judges in interpreting a statute

Decision Criteria

Decision rules

Stare decisis

Per se

Committee rules

Stare decisis: let the precedents stand

Per se: as such

Decision Criteria

Science

Now an important consideration

Decisions in the face of uncertainty?

Get more research

Precautionary principle

In which policy areas has science become an important policymaking consideration?

Public Interest

Another criterion for decision making

Normative term, but tricky to define

Private interests and public interest are not always antithetical

Can be found in widely shared interests

Can also be found by looking at the need for organization and procedures to represent and balance interests

Styles of Decision-Making

Bargaining

Most common form of decision-making

Process where two or more parties in positions of power adjust their goals to formulate acceptable course of action for all involved

Explicit vs. Implicit bargaining

Logrolling, side payments and compromise

What is the role of social pluralism in making bargaining the most dominant form of decision-making?

Styles of Decision-Making

Persuasion

Seeks to build support without modifying position

Marshaling of facts, data, and information

Skillful construction of arguments

Use of reason and logic to convince another of the correctness and wisdom of ones position

Styles of Decision-Making

Command

Ability of those in superior positions to make decisions that are binding upon those who come within their jurisdiction

More characteristic of decision processes in dictatorial rather than democratic societies

Within agencies, subordinates often seek to convert command relationships into bargaining relationships. A bureau that gains considerable congressional support may thus put itself into position to bargain with, rather than simply be commanded by, the department head.

Styles of Decision-Making

In practice, all three styles run together in decisional situations

Majority Building in Congress

Decentralization

Complex procedures

Majorities must constantly be cobbled together though bargaining to enact important legislation

Presidential Decision-Making

Presidents are policy adopters in their own right

Recognize foreign government; establish diplomatic relations; execute treaties

Executive agreements, orders

Congress delegates authority to the president

What recent executive order demonstrates the decision-making authority of the executive office? What other agencies or advisers contributed to this decision?

Presidential Decision-Making

Shaped and limited by

Permissibility (legality and acceptability)

Available resources

Available time

Previous commitments

Available information

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Chapter 4

Policy Adoption

Introduction

Policy adoption: involves action on a preferred alternative that can win approval, not selection from among full-blown alternatives

Adoption process gives policies the weight of public authority

Grants legitimacy to the policy

The formal authority to decide rests with public officials: legislators, executives, administrators, and judges.

Todays Topics

Decision-making

Theories

Criteria

Styles

Presidential decision-making

Theories of Decision-Making

Rational-comprehensive

Incrementalism

Mixed scanning

Each entails an empirical description (how decisions are made) and a normative statement (how they should be made)

Theories of Decision-Making

Rational-Comprehensive Theory

Specifies procedures involved in making well-considered decisions

Goal is to maximize the attainment of goals (personal or organizational)

Not rational choice theory!

Rational decisions may make either large and basic or limited changes in public policies.

Theories of Decision-Making

Criticisms of rational-comprehensive theory:

Decision-makers

Do not face clearly defined problems

Lack required intellectual capacity

Are usually confronted by value conflict, not value agreement

Face sunk costs

Are not unitary actors

What are the barriers to rational action?

Theories of Decision-Making

Incremental Theory

Limited changes or additions to existing policies

Easier to reach agreement between parties when only minor changes are made to existing programs

Sequences of incremental changes can result in fundamental changes in public policy

Why is incrementalism prevalent in pluralist societies such as the United States?

Theories of Decision-Making

Criticisms of incremental theory:

Too conservative and focused on existing order

Does not allow for crisis situations

May discourage the search for or use of readily available alternatives

Does not eliminate the need for theory in decision making

Theories of Decision-Making

Mixed Scanning approach

Provides high-order, fundamental policy-making processes which set basic directions andincremental processes which prepare for fundamental decisions and work them out after they have been reached

Allows decision makers to use either rational-comprehensive or incrementalism depending on circumstances

Mixed scanning also takes into account differing capacities of decision-makers.

Decision Criteria

Decision-making can be either individual or collective process

Influences:

Values

Party affiliation

Constituency interests

Public opinion

Deference

Decision rules

Decision Criteria

Values

Organizational

Professional

Personal

Policy

Ideological

Which type of values are often underestimated in their importance to decision making?

Decision Criteria

Political party affiliation

Party loyalty

Best predictor to how members of Congress will vote on legislative issues

Influences the decisions of federal judges

In recent years, the average legislator has voted with the majority of his or her party about three-fourths of the time.

Party-Line Votes in Congress

Fig. 4.1

Source: From Jon R. Bond and Kevin B. Smith, Analyzing American Democracy (New York: Routledge, 2013), p. 260.

Decision Criteria

Constituency Interests

Delegate vs. Trustee

Agencies have constituencies comprised of interest groups

Decision Criteria

Public Opinion

Public perspectives and viewpoints on policy issues that officials consider in making decisions

Shapes general boundaries & direction of public policy

Can be permissive

Public opinion is also subject to manipulation by public officials, as through the management of the news.

Decision Criteria

Deference

Deferring to the judgment of others who are more experienced

Other legislators, party leaders, committee chairs, policy experts

Also used by judges in interpreting a statute

Decision Criteria

Decision rules

Stare decisis

Per se

Committee rules

Stare decisis: let the precedents stand

Per se: as such

Decision Criteria

Science

Now an important consideration

Decisions in the face of uncertainty?

Get more research

Precautionary principle

In which policy areas has science become an important policymaking consideration?

Public Interest

Another criterion for decision making

Normative term, but tricky to define

Private interests and public interest are not always antithetical

Can be found in widely shared interests

Can also be found by looking at the need for organization and procedures to represent and balance interests

Styles of Decision-Making

Bargaining

Most common form of decision-making

Process where two or more parties in positions of power adjust their goals to formulate acceptable course of action for all involved

Explicit vs. Implicit bargaining

Logrolling, side payments and compromise

What is the role of social pluralism in making bargaining the most dominant form of decision-making?

Styles of Decision-Making

Persuasion

Seeks to build support without modifying position

Marshaling of facts, data, and information

Skillful construction of arguments

Use of reason and logic to convince another of the correctness and wisdom of ones position

Styles of Decision-Making

Command

Ability of those in superior positions to make decisions that are binding upon those who come within their jurisdiction

More characteristic of decision processes in dictatorial rather than democratic societies

Styles of Decision-Making

In practice, all three styles run together in decisional situations

Majority Building in Congress

Decentralization

Complex procedures

Majorities must constantly be cobbled together though bargaining to enact important legislation

Presidential Decision-Making

Presidents are policy adopters in their own right

Recognize foreign government; establish diplomatic relations; execute treaties

Executive agreements, orders

Congress delegates authority to the president

What recent executive order demonstrates the decision-making authority of the executive office? What other agencies or advisers contributed to this decision?

Presidential Decision-Making

Shaped and limited by

Permissibility (legality and acceptability)

Available resources

Available time

Previous commitments

Available information

Policy Adoption

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