The Stages Model

The Stages Model

• Issue Emergence: A problem is identified and brought to the attention of government officials and the public.
• Agenda Setting: The problem is placed on the government agenda for consideration.
• Alternative Selection: The government considers various policy options to address the problem.

• Policy Implementation: The government implements the policy.
• Policy Evaluation: The government evaluates the policy to determine its effectiveness.
  • Policy Maintenance, Succession, or Termination: The government decides to maintain, modify, or terminate the policy.
• Issue Emergence: What new issues emerge as the policy is maintained, modified, or terminated?

Stages Model Strengths

• Intuitive: The stages model is easy to understand and explain.
• Descriptive: The stages model describes the policy process in a way that is consistent with how people think about the policy process.
• Flexible: The stages model can be adapted to different policy areas and levels of government.

Stages Model Weaknesses

• Linear: The stages model assumes that the policy process is linear and sequential.
• Oversimplified: The stages model oversimplifies the policy process by ignoring the complexity of the policy process.
• Separate: The stages model separates the policy process into distinct stages, but in reality, the stages overlap and interact with each other.

Systems Thinking

• A way of thinking about natural or social phenomena as a system with various inputs that are processed and intermingle to create a discernible set of outputs.
• A way of thinking about the world that emphasizes the relationships among the parts of a system and how the parts interact with each other and the system as a whole.

The Systems Model

• Public policy is viewed as the response of the political system to forces brought to bear on it from the outside environment.
• A policy environment surrounds the political system.
  • Forces enter the political system from the environment either as demands or as support

The Systems Model

The Systems Model

• Policy Environment: The political, economic, and social context in which the policy is developed and implemented.
• Inputs: The demands and expectations of the public, interest groups, and government officials.
• Throughputs: The policy process is the interaction between the policy environment and the political system. This is the “black box” of the policy process.

The Systems Model

• Outputs: The policy outputs are the laws, regulations, and decisions that are created by the policy process.
• Feedback: The feedback is the response to the policy outputs.
• Policy Outcomes: The policy outcomes are the effects of the policy outputs and feedback.

Systems Model Strengths

• Holistic: The systems model is holistic because it considers the policy environment, the political system, and the policy process.
• Dynamic: The systems model is dynamic because it considers the interaction between the policy environment and the political system.
• Flexible: The systems model can be adapted to different policy areas and levels of government.

Systems Model Weaknesses

• Complex: The systems model is complex because it considers the policy environment, the political system, and the policy process.
• Abstract: The systems model is abstract because it does not provide a clear explanation of the policy process.

The Policy Environment

The Structural Environment

• Political System: The political system is the set of formal and informal political institutions that make and implement collective decisions.
  • The basic features of American government are the separation of powers, federalism, and checks and balances.

The Social Environment

• Political Culture: The political culture is the set of shared beliefs, values, and norms that influence the political system.
  • The basic features of American political culture are liberty, equality, democracy, civic duty, and individual responsibility.

The Social Environment

• Changing Demographics
  • The population of the United States is becoming
    • more diverse, older, more urban, more educated, more mobile.
• The government must respond to these changing needs

The Economic Environment

• Economic Conditions: The economic conditions are the state of the economy.
  • The basic features of the economy are the business cycle, inflation, unemployment, and economic growth.
  • Measured by GDP, size of industrial sector, unemployment rate, inflation rate, etc.

The Political Environment

• Often measured by the National Mood.
  • The national mood is the public’s general attitude toward government and politics.
  • Measured by the Direction of the Country question in public opinion polls.
  • Measured by the Presidential Approval Rating question in public opinion polls.

The Political Environment

The Political Environment

• Political Ads try to capture the national mood
  • It's Morning Again in America
  • Daisy
  • Willie Horton
  • Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
  • Go From There
  • Brighter Future

The International Environment

• Globalization: The increasing interdependence of countries on each other.
  • The basic features of globalization are the international economy, international organizations, and international law.

The Overall Policy Environment

• The overall policy environment is the combination of the structural, social, economic, political, and international environments.
• The overall policy environment is the context in which the policy process takes place.
• The overall policy environment influences the policy process.

The Overall Policy Environment

• Structural
• Social
• Economic
• Political
• International