1. THE POLITICAL & CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY & ITS ADMINISTRATION CHAPTER 2

2. THE POLITICAL & CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY & IT’S ADMINISTRATION
WHAT IS PUBLIC POLICY
Public Policymaking in a Republic
Executive Powers

3. WHAT IS PUBLIC POLICY? Is a Decision Is a Response Creates Order
Gives Direction
Gives Guidance
PA cannot exist without it
Any policy is a decision. Whatever govt decides to do or not do.
Is a response to a political issue.

4. PUBLIC POLICY MAKING Is Hierarchical Street Level Bureaucrats
Is Democracy in a Republic
People are Sovereign
Government is Agent of People
Evolved from Greeks
The broadest policy is made at the top, but officials at lower levels, aka STREET LEVEL BUREAUCRATS, have discretion in interpreting and implementing the policy.
Democracy = In US, the people are considered soverign, they thru their elected officials make policy.

5. ROLE OF EXECUTIVE POWER
3 Theorys
1. Conservative/Restricted
2. Liberal/Executive Perogative
3. Stewardship
3 Theories/Views
Restricted/Literalist View: Pres Taft was extremely conservative, and felt that unless there was some specific grant or power or authority, President could exercise no power. He was merely an agent of Congress – Congress must pass the law in order for him to be able to do something.
2. Prerogative Theory: Pres Lincoln & John Locke believed that under certain conditions (extraordinary national emergency), Pres had extraordinary powers to preserve the nation, even if those acts are unconstitutional (severe limb to save the life). This has been rejected by recent Supreme Courts (Truman’s takeover of steel mills, and Nixons refusal to respond to subpoena).
Stewardship theory – Pres Teddy Roosevelt felt that Pres holds in trust the interests of all people and is free to take any actions in the public interest, that is not expressly forbidden.
3 models still alive today. Boris Yeltsin is Prerogatist. Most others vacillate back and forth from being Literalists or Stewards.

6. THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS
THE POLITICAL & CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY & ITS ADMINISTRATION
THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS
Agenda Setting
Decision Making
Implementation
Evaluation
Feedback

7. THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS
Agenda Setting
Issue – Attention Cycle
Decision Making Approaches
Rational (7 phases)
Incremental
It’s Really About Power!
Major sources of agenda items? Executive and legislators & increasingly Special Interests!!
Agenda can change (Maben & Universal Collection)
Media is used to force an issue into public consciousness. (Past Experts: MLK, Jr re: Civil Rights issues. Present Local Experts – Florez & Ag Air Bills & Nicole re: Megans Law)
Actors often get involved (Charlton Heston & NRA, e.g.)
Issue Attention Cycle (page 51)
Decision making is ultimately driven by the individual, the sense of urgency they perceive, their knowledge and familiarity with the subject and their political will to do something.
Go over 7 phases of Rational decision making and the 7 reasons for Incrementalism. Explain why some favor one vs other.
Power! Decisions seldom made on the merits of issue alone, because merit is in eyes of beholder, based on their idealogy, biases, and attitudes. Decision is usually a compromise of the differing idealogies, not necessarily the BEST thing to do. Administrators are NEEDED to make political wishes reality.

8. THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS
Implementation
SOP’s
Decision Rules
Evaluation
Assessment
Criteria = Efficiency & Effectiveness
Feedback
Makes Process Cyclical
Creates Input
The process of putting things into effect. Translating the edict into action. It is the directives to allow for orderly arrival at goal. It is where the Devil is often said to reside – In the details. The “How To”. Most administrators act in good faith and seek to deliver the program, goods or service as they interpreted the edict, but much can go wrong. (Think of Ex??)
It is difficult. Requires interaction between goals (intent) and outcome.

9. POWER EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Pluralism
Separation of Powers
Power Shifts among competitive groups
Cultural dimension
Group Theory
Why does governnment do some of the seemingly irrational things it does?
e.g. Encourage tobacco production at home and sales abroad, but discourages US citizens from smoking.
PLURALISM –
a. Constitutional arrangement: composed of multiple elements (exec power, legislative and judicial)
These 3 areas function independent of each other and have different priorities and pressures, some of which can be in conflict with each other. (Separation of Powers doctrine did not seek to avoid conflicts, just preclude the exercise of arbitrary power.)
Political processes emphasize role of competitive groups in society. Power shifts from group to group.
3. pluralism has a cultural dimension – welfare is best served by preserving ethnic cultures rather than integrating and blending.
Group theory – ideal is for all interest groups to be represented
Legislature referees the competing coalitions , and records the terms of the winners via new laws.
Bureaucrats deal with the losing interests seeking more favorable actions despite the rules passed. Groups can be incipient, conscious and organized. \\
Incipient – interest exists but not recognized
Conscious – interest is recognized but is not yet organized
Organized – conscious group with established objectives and method to promote their interest.

10. POWER INTERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Organizational Goals
Internal Power Relationships
POWER = The ability to get things done the way u want them done.

11. THE CULTURES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THE POLITICAL & CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY & ITS ADMINISTRATION
THE CULTURES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The Outside cultural environment
The Inside cultural environment
Culture of community affects the issues that dominate the Agenda.
Culture determines who the policy makers and bureaucrats are
Culture determines the values of society/ the rules or boundaries/what is acceptable or not.
Culture of Cynicism – began with U-2 incident. A spy plane that crashed over Russia that Pres of US lied to citizens and said was a weather research plane gone off-course. Russia captured the pilot, jailed him for 10 years and later exchanged him for a cptured ‘Russian spy – thus revealing to US public that Eisenhower had lied to them!
Org culture created by attitudes and behavior by early org shapers, the nature of the orgs work and the attitude and values of the new members.
Org culture can predict how an org will respond in certain circumstances.