session 1

1. Public Policy Theory Primer
K. Smith & C. Larimer
Public Policy as a Concept and a
Field (or Fields) of Study
David Lockard

2. Question in Article
• Is there an academic field (discipline)of Public Policy?
– No single academic discipline
– No defining research question
– No fundamental problem
– No unifying theory, conceptual framework, no unique
analytical tools
• If derivative (derived from)- not a focus of scholarly
study in and of itself?
– Policy economist
– Policy political scientist
• Can we stitch different fields into one cloth?

3. Public Policy is “whatever
governments choose to do or not
to do” (Dye 1987)
Definition of Public Policy

4. Other Definitions of Public Policy
• “The relationship of governmental unit to its
environment” (Eyestone 1971)
• The actions, projections, or pronouncements
of governments on particular matters, the
steps they take (or fail to take) to implement
them, and the explanations they give for what
happens (or does not happen). (Wilson 2006)

5. Narrow Definition of Public Policy
• Purposive course of action or inaction
undertaken by an actor or a set of actors in
dealing with a problem or matter of concern
(Anderson 1994)

6. Common Characteristics of PP
Theodoulou (1995)
• Policy is not random
• Made by public authorities
• Patterns of actions over time
• Product of demand
• Either purposive action/inaction
• Government-directed course of action in
response to pressure
• Distinct purposes

7. Distinct Purposes
• Resolving conflict over scarce resources
• Regulating behavior
• Motivating collective action
• Protecting rights
• Directing benefits towards the public interests

8. General Agreement
Public Policy includes:
• Process of making choices and the
outcomes/actions of a particular decision
• Choices backed by coercive power of state
• Response to a perceived problem
• (Birkland 2001)

9. Babel of Tongues
• Confusion of sounds & noise
• Talk past each other rather than to one
another
• Lack of agreement on what policy scholars are
actually studying
• Key reason field is intellectual fractured
• Lack of agreement on definition of concept

10. Defining the Field(s) of
Public Policy
Can’t clearly define concept maybe
define the field(s)?

11. Defining the Field(s) of Public policy
• Lack of general agreement on concept
• Results in various disciplines with policy
orientations adopting their own definition
• Not a field of policy study but fields of policy
study.
• Policy scholars are free to jump fences
depending on question at hand.
• Instead of defining core concept define field(s)
of study?

12. Defining the Field of Policy Studies
(Policy Sciences)
• Any research that relates to or promotes the
public interest (Palumbo 1981)
• Application of knowledge and rationality to
perceived social problems (Dror 1968)
• “…examination of critical social problems”
(P.delon 1988)

13. Elements of the Field of Policy Study
• Indentifying important societal problems
(require government action)
• Formulating solutions
• Assessing impact on target problem

14. Range of Subfields of Policy Studies
Developed independently
• Policy Evaluation
• Policy Analysis
• Policy Process

15. Policy Evaluation
• Ex Post-after the fact of action or inaction
• OMG what have we done?
• Assess the consequences of government
action or inaction
• Causal relationship (Cause and Effect)
• Policy/Program and Outcome

16. Policy Analysis
• Ex ante-before the fact of action or inaction
• What should we do?
• Best policy for particular problem
• Decision rule-efficiency and effectiveness?

17. Policy Process
• Policy making process
• How and why of policy making?
• Agenda setting-Why pay attention to a
particular problem but not others?
• Why policy changes or not over time?
• Where does policy come from?

18. Advantages of Taxonomy Approach to
Policy Studies
• Subfields have rich intellectual history
• Each with own framework
• Clarifies a series of RQs for the field as a whole
(Public Policy Studies)

19. RQ for Public Policy:
Policy Process (PP), Analysis(PA), Evaluation(PE)
• How does government decide which problem
to pay attention to? (PP)
• How does government decide what to do
about a problem? (PP)
• What values should government use to
determine “best” response? (PA)
• What are the intended results of action? (PA)
• Have results been achieved? Why not? (PE)

20. So What Links Policy Fields?
• RQ & CF are important means
• improving the lot of society
• Better understand the human condition

21. The Policy Sciences
A Very Short History of
the Field of Policy Studies

22. Students of Policy Since Antiquity
• Advisers
• Plato-the Republic
• Machiavelli-The Prince
• Political thinkers: Hobbes, Locke, Madison, A.
Smith, Mill

23. Field of Public Policy Studies
• Harold Lasswell (1940-1978)-grand vision for
Policy Sciences (expert on propaganda)
• Connect social sciences with policymaking
• The Policy Orientation (1951) foundational
article (goals, method, purposes)

24. Lasswell’s Concept of Public Policy
• Policy-most important choices made in
organized or private life.
• Public Policy-response to the most important
choices faced by government.
• Policy Science-discipline to clarify & inform
those choices & assess their impact.

25. Lasswell’s
Distinguishing Characteristics
of the Policy Sciences
• Problem Oriented
• Multidisciplinary
• Methodologically sophisticated
• Theoretically sophisticated
• Value Oriented

26. Problem Oriented
• Focused on major problems and issues faced by
government
• Formation, adoption, execution, & assessment of
particular choices
• Key focus-not on particular stage of policymaking
(analysis, evaluation, process)
• RQ1: What should we do to best address the
problem?
• RQ2: How should we do it?
• RQ3: How do we know what we’ve done?

27. Multidisciplinary
• Use all disciplines whose models, methods
and findings could contribute to address the
problem.

28. Methodologically Sophisticated
• Advances in economic forecasting,
psychometrics, and measurement of
attitudes-helped government make effective
decisions.
• Quantitative methods

29. Theoretically sophisticated
• Understand cause and effect in the real world
• Interaction of social, economic, political
systems
• Conceptual framework required
• Sophisticated theoretical models
• Explain how and why things happen in larger
world of human relations

30. Value Oriented
• Policy sciences of democracy
• Maximize democratic values
• Realization of human dignity in theory and
fact

31. Lasswell’s Vision
• Similar to field of medicine-subspecialties-
problem oriented
• Policy science was to fill the gap between
academics and politics
• Like a doctor that diagnoses an illness
• Understand causes and implications
• Recommend treatment
• Evaluate impact
• Based on scientific grounded training

32. Hippocratic Oath of MD
• Overarching goal or purpose of policy scientist
– Greater good
– General betterment of humanity
• (first, do no harm)-not exactly

33. The Fracturing of the Policy
Sciences
Problem with Laswell’s vision

34. Contradictions in Laswell’s Vision
• Elitism v. Democracy
• Science v. Politics
• Facts v. Values

35. Internal Contradictions in Vision
• Elitism v. Democracy
• Active role of expert scientist diagnosing and treating
body politic
• Passive role of citizen-the ultimate source of sovereign
power
• Science v. Politics or Facts v. Values
• Science (objective, independent of observer, empirical
analysis solves debate, subject to universal laws)
• Politics (subjective perception, perception is reality,
based on faith or belief, held by social units, no correct
values) Values can & do dominate science-economics

36. Contradictions Fractured
Field of Policy Studies into Fields
• Policy evaluation studies
• Policy analysis studies
• Policy process studies

37. Common Root of Fields
• Methodology
• Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Quantitative Analysis
• Heroic assumptions

38. Common Root of Fields (Quantitative
Methodology) Has Problems
• Cost-benefit analysis-placing a dollar value on
human life
• Spotty historical record of number crunchers
(wars, poverty, energy)
• Academicians wary of normative values.
• Politicians wary of value-free regression
analysis

39. Central criticism of policy studies
• piggyback other fields
• borrowing conceptual framework without
reciprocating
• policy scholars are jack of all trades, master of
none
• No such thing as field of policy studies
• A field needs a theory-broad conceptual
framework-has none

40. No General Theoretical Framework
for the Policy Sciences
Why Build, When You Can
Beg, Borrow & Steal

41. Two options for Policy Studies
• ad hoc-make sense of complexity -use what
works -assume what your must in given
situation
• Science –assumptions-highly complex world of
public policymaking-set of causal
relationships-base model on broad
assumptions (economics)

42. Criticism overblown
• Policy scholars constructed many conceptual
frameworks-distributed
• Produced functional theories within wide
range of policy orientations
• Produced core research questions, resulting in
CF & impact on world

43. Conclusions
• No general definition of concept- yet.
• Not defined with degree of specificity-yet
• But a lot of interest in topic
• Activities of scholars reveal more differences than
similarities
• View field in plural with rough coherence
• Starts with central RQ or set of explanatory
frameworks to guide systematic search for
answers

44. Field of Study RQ CF Methodology Discipline
Policy Process 1)Why pay Bounded Quantitative Political Sc.
attention to Rationality Economics
some problems Multiple
but not others? Streams
2)How are Punctuated
policy options Equilibrium
formulated Diffusion
3)Why does Theory
policy change Systems Theory
Policy Analysis 1)What should Welfare Quantitative PA
we do? economics- Quantitative
2)What options- utilitarianism
C-B Analysis
problem Risk
3)which choice Assessment
Delphi
Policy 1)What have we Program Theory Qualitative PA
Evaluation done? Research Quantitative
2)what impact? Design Stats
Frameworks Expert