Public Problems and Policy Alternatives

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Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
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Analyzing Problems

• Describe the problem
• Find causes
• Identify other aspects of the problem

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Describing The Problem

• Definitions
• Sometimes are obvious, sometimes not
• Are important for clarification (e.g., how many
  people are living in poverty)
• Allow people to communicate with one another
  effectively
• Measurements
• There are different ways to measure problems
• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Spatial
• Other

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Describing The Problem, cont.

• Comparisons
• Absolute
• Relative
• Historical

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Finding Causes

• Involves determining the contributing factors
• Answers to these questions may help to determine
  how to solve the problem, but
• They may also lead to conflict
• Where there are multiple causes
• Disagreement over which one to address

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Identifying Other Aspects

• Political considerations
• How a problem is defined can shape the
  development of potential solutions
• Future considerations
• How will the problem change and develop
• Involves forecasts and extrapolations

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Finding Information

• Internet
• Government publications
• Major newspapers and magazines
• Non-profit organizations
• Think tanks
• Journals (scholarly)
• Books

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Constructing Alternatives (i. e. courses of
action)

• What government can do
• Regulate
• Prohibit, require, license, inspect, ration,
  enforce standards
• Use fiscal tools
• Loans, subsidies, price supports, taxes, fees,
  incentives
• Educate
• Inform public
• Conduct research
• Manage
• Provide a service
• Contract for a service
• Privatize a service
• Establish a public trust

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Policy Design Questions

• Who are the relevant government agents
• Who is the target population
• How to get individuals to do something they would
  not ordinarily do, or to modify their behavior

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Means Of Changing Behavior

• Authority tools
• Invoke governments legitimacy
• People behave because an authority asks them to
• Inducements/sanctions
• Encourage behavior through incentives and/or
  penalties
• Capacity building tools
• Provide training or education to empower people

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Means Of Changing Behavior, cont.

• Hortatory tools
• Invoke images and symbols to get people to behave
  a certain way
• Learning tools
• Provide opportunities to participate in
  policymaking

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Thinking Creatively and Generating Ideas

• No action analysis (the default option)
• Begin w/status quo as a baseline
• Keeping present policies may be viable option
• Quick surveys
• Talking w/people within policy network to see
  what ideas they have
• Literature review
• Examination of material to see what has been
  proposed

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Thinking Creatively and Generating Ideas (cont)

• Case studies
• Examine what has worked in similar situations
• State governments provide opportunities
• Parallel situations/analogies
• Look at other policy areas to see if ideas can be
  adapted
• Brainstorming
• Comparison to ideal
• Envisioning ideal to generate ideas

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