5 - Policy Formulation

Question 1

What is policy formulation?

Answer 1

Policy formulation refers to the process of generating options on what to do about a publicly recognized problem

Question 2

What are some key characteristics of policy formulation, according to Jones (1984)?

Answer 2

• There might be multiple groups of actors involved
• The problem might lack a clear definition nor are affected groups necessarily involved in the formulation
• The process is never neutral, there are always winners and losers

Question 3

What are the four phases of policy formulation?

Answer 3

1. policy appraisal which concerns how evidence on policy alternatives is identified and collected by various actors
2. dialogue where policy actors discuss the preferred solution
3. policy formulation where public officials draft policy proposals
4. consolidation where formulators legitimise their choices and try to win converts from the ranks of the disaffected

Question 4

What are the two types of constraints encountered in policy formulation?

Answer 4

1. Substantive constraints, related to the ease of solution of a problem
2. Procedural constraints, i.e. institutional limitations

Question 5

What are the possible scenarios in problem-centred policy design?

Answer 5

1. Optimal policy-making: equal level of political and technical concerns/feasibility
2. Populist policy-making: high political concern, little technical concern on applicable solutions (e.g. fighting crime)
3. Technocratic policy-making: high technical concern, little concern about the political feasibility (e.g. raising taxes to deal with the homeless)
4. Contested/ineffective low policy-making: neither political nor technical concerns

Question 6

What is the NATO model?

Answer 6

It is a framework to classify policy tools according to:
1. Nodality: information-based
2. Authority: legal powers
3. Treasure: financial resources
4. Organisation: available formal organisations

Question 7

What are some nodality-based policy tools?

Answer 7

• Public information campaigns
• Exhortation
• Benchmarking and performance indicators
• Commissions and inquiries
• Nudging

Question 8

What are some authority-based policy tools?

Answer 8

• Regulation
• Delegated or self-regulation
• Advisory Committees

Question 9

What are the limits of nodality-based tools?

Answer 9

• Information campaigns: they help but do not autonomously induce policy change, for which other conditions must be present
• Benchmarks: subject to gaming and evasion
• Commissions: may introduce uncertainties into policy formulation and their outcome is shaped by the personal preference of the members

Question 10

Pros and cons of regulations

Answer 10

Pros:
- Low information needed
- Highest effectiveness in contrasting activity entirely undesirable (e.g. paedophilia)
- Their predictability makes them useful in times of crisis.
- Low-cost
Cons:
- Distort the market and can promote economic inefficiencies
- Do not consider individual circumstances

Question 11

Treasure-based policy tools

Answer 11

• Financial incentives (e.g. grants, tax incentives, loans)
• Financial disincentives (e.g. tax, user charge)
• Funding for Advocacy, Interest Groups, and Think Tanks

Question 12

Pros and cons of financial incentives

Answer 12

Pros:
- Easy to establish
- Flexible (actors spend the money autonomously)
- Prioritising certain issues, may promote innovation
- Politically friendly, since benefits are concentrated and costs shared among all the population
Cons:
- Expensive
- Costly to assess (i.e. not appropriate during crises)
- Market distortion
- Not feasible due to international agreements (e.g. WTO)

Question 13

Pros and cons of financial disincentives

Answer 13

Pros:
- Easy to establish
- Promote innovation by motivating a search for cheaper alternatives
- Flexible (i.e. the government decides their amount)
- No bureaucratic enforcement machinery
Cons:
- Precise and accurate information
- During experimentation, resources might be misallocated
- Not appropriate during crises
- Might encourage evasive behaviour

Question 14

Organisation-based policy tools

Answer 14

• Direct provision
• Public enterprises
• Partnerships
• Family, Community and Voluntary Organisations
• Market creation
• Government (re)organisations

Question 15

Pros and cons of direct provision

Answer 15

Pros:
- Low information requirement
- The large size of public agencies involved allows for effective solutions
Cons:
- Bureaucratic slowness
- Shaped by political trends rather than the needs of the population
- No competition, thus economic inefficiency
- Inter- and intra-agencies political conflict may harm the measure effectiveness

Question 16

Pros and cons of family, community and voluntary organisations

Answer 16

Pros:
- They require no involvement from the government side, although the government must set the conditions for those organisations to develop
- Efficient, since they rely on scarce funds and volunteers
- Flexibility (e.g. faster than governments in providing aid after natural disasters)
Cons:
- Lots of time is needed to keep the organisations running
- Might lose the democratic character in favour of an oligarchic one
- Voluntarily efforts are not applicable to all problems

Question 17

Pros and cons of market creation

Answer 17

Pros:
- Easy to establish and regulate
- Provide the state with financial resources
Cons:
- May encourage speculation by bigger firms, impeding smaller actors to enter the market
- Smaller actors might be forced to cheat
- High enforcement cost
- Is based on economic resources rather than societal needs

Question 18

What are policy bundles, policy mix and policy packages?

Answer 18

They are multi-policy, multi-goals and multi-instrument mixes

Question 19

What are the 4 communities of policy advisors?

Answer 19

https://imgur.com/a/IlmGvFA

Question 20

How might policy formulation be modelled?

Answer 20

https://imgur.com/a/NcCcdhx