Title: Public Finance Public Policy Paper
1Public Finance Public Policy Paper
- Igor Baranov
- Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg
University
2Public Policy Paper General Requirements
- Groups of 4 students
- 25 of the total score for the course
- What is graded?
- - In-class presentation (10 minutes) according
to the schedule - - Written paper submitted AFTER presentation
(deadline April 28, 2009), up to 5,000 words - Evaluation
- - Following Writing Public Policy Paper
guidelines - - Quality of presentation
- - QA session for the group
- Reference Writing Effective Public Policy Papers
by E.Young and L.Quinn. OSI, 2002.
3Public Administration Roles and Professions
- Politicians
- Civil servants
- Policy analysts
- Researchers
- Managers in public sector organizations
- Business-government relations analysts in private
companies
4Policy Study vs Policy Analysis
- Policy study
- Who researchers / academics
- Where universities, research institutes
- What to understand and inform the policy-making
process by carrying out primary research into
specific policy issues - Policy analysis
- Who analysts
- Where think tanks / policy centers
- What designing actual policy to be implemented
- Policy studies are issue-driven, whereas policy
analyses are client-driven
5Areas of Difference Policy Study Policy Analysis
Audience Targets other policy specialists Targets decision-makers
Focus Issue-driven General recommendations on policy issues Client-driven Designing specific policies to be implemented on the ground
Methodology Primary research Rarely includes primary research
Ideas / language used Can be quite discipline specific / technical Must be very clear and simple
Length Up to 20,000 words Not usually longer than 5,000 words
6The Policy Cycle
- Problem definition / Agenda setting
- Show that a problem exists that requires
government action - Constructing the Policy Alternatives / Policy
Formulation - Consider all possible solutions
- Choice of Solution / Selection of Preferred
Policy Option - Evaluate each option and choose your preferred
one - Policy design
- Choosing a policy instrument and a delivery
organization mix - Policy implementation and monitoring
- Evaluation
- A policy paper can influence any or all stages of
the policy cycle
7Paper Checklist
- Which stage(s) in the policy-making process are
you trying to influence through your policy
paper? - Which stakeholders have been/are involved at each
stage of the policy-making process? Who is your
client? - Have you identified a clear problem to address?
Can you summarize it in two sentences? - Do you have sufficiently comprehensive evidence
to support your claim that a problem exists? - Have you outlined and evaluated the possible
policy options that could solve this problem?
What evaluation criteria did you use? - Have you decided on a preferred alternative?
- Do you have sufficient evidence to effectively
argue for your chosen policy alternative over the
others? - Prepare Elevator speech
8Policy Paper Structure
- Title
- Table of contents
- Abstract / Executive summary
- Introduction
- Problem description
- Policy options
- Conclusions and recommendations
- Bibliography
- Appendices
9Abstract / Executive Summary
- Purpose of the paper
- Definition and description of the policy problem
- Evaluation of policy alternatives
- Conclusion and recommendations
10Introduction
- Context of the policy problem
- Definition of the policy problem
- Statement of intent
- Methodology and limitations of the study
- Road map of the paper
11Conclusion and Recommendations
- Synthesis of major findings
- highlights main points from the problem
description and policy options elements - Set of policy recommendations
- Concluding remarks
12Writing Style
- Write by paragraphs!
- Paragraph has to indicate both logical and
physical breaks in the text