Policy Failure and Learning

Part 1

Understanding Failure

Implementation Review

Key Reminders:

• Policy implementation is very complex
• Policy isn't self-executing
• Policy design to improve implementation is challenging
• Bureaucrats have discretion

This sets the stage for understanding why policies fail

Is Implementation Technical or Political?

The Old Idea

• Administration simply does the will of the legislature
• (Wilson [1887], Goodnow [1900])

The New Idea

• Administration is a political process
• Implementation is inherently political
• (Appleby [1949], Waldo [1948], Pressman & Wildavsky [1973])

Who is Responsible for Implementation?

Consider these actors:

• The legislature?
• The executive?
• The bureaucracy?
• The courts?
• The public?
• All of the above?

Shared responsibility complicates accountability

Implementation Studies: Four Generations

1. First Generation: The "Classics" (1930s-1950s)
2. Second Generation: The "Moderns" (1960s-1970s)
3. Third Generation: The "Post-Moderns" (1980s-1990s)
4. Fourth Generation: The "New New" (2000s)

Policy Failure

Why some policies might not work

Understanding failure is essential for improvement

Possible Reasons for Policy Failure (1)

Behavioral and Goal Issues:

• People may respond or adapt to policies in ways that negate their influence
• Policies may have incompatible goals that conflict with one another
• Solutions may involve costs and consequences greater than people will accept

Possible Reasons for Policy Failure (2)

Resource and Implementation Issues:

• Inadequate resources allocated for implementation
• Policies may be watered down during administration
• Policies may address only one or few factors of multi-causal problems

Possible Reasons for Policy Failure (3)

Complexity and Context Issues:

• Many problems cannot be solved completely
• New problems may distract attention
• Federal policies implemented by state/local agencies face coordination challenges

Responses to Policy Failure

When policies fail, governments may:

• Adjust enforcement methods
• Allocate more money or resources
• Face legal/constitutional challenges
• Ignore the policy (benign neglect)
• Delegate to local governments
• Abandon or repeal the policy

Policy Failure: A Slippery Concept

Why is failure hard to define?

• Success and failure are subjective
• Multiple stakeholders have different criteria
• Timing matters for assessment
• Context shapes interpretation

Two Types of Failure

1. Theoretical Failure

• The causal theory didn't work as predicted
• Wrong understanding of cause-effect relationships

2. Programmatic Failure

• Implementation didn't work as planned
• Good theory, poor execution

Failure is in the Eye of the Beholder

Critical Questions:

• When did it fail?
• Who did it fail?
• Where did it fail?
• How did it fail?

Each question may yield different answers

Part 1 Summary

Key Points:

• Implementation is inherently political, not just technical
• Policy failure has multiple causes and types
• Failure is subjective and context-dependent
• Understanding failure patterns helps improve policy design

Next: Part 2 - Learning from Failure

Coming up:

• Challenges in defining failure
• Learning from policy failures
• Types of policy-oriented learning
• Moving from failure to success