Making Policies for Children A Study of the Federal Process (1982) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Components of the Policy Formation Process
3 Components of the Policy Formation Process
Pages 38-57
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 38... ...
5. Media presentations, including television, radio, and the popular print media such as newspapers and magazines.
|
From page 39... ...
The influence of these changes can be observed in the cases, sometimes as direct effects but more often they are mediated through other components in the process. Hence, we observe, for example, that the increasing labor force participation of women and the growth of singleparent families influenced the liberalization of the child care tax credit and the growth of child care programs.
|
From page 40... ...
slowly altered this belief and ultimately led to the passage and liberalization of the deduction itself. The long-standing debate over the appropriate role of government in the lives of children was a central element involved in the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements.
|
From page 41... ...
Unorganized constituency pressure appears most frequently at the point in the policy process at which a problem is defined: letters to Congress on tax problems, public outrage at widespread hunger in America, or public opinion of expanding welfare rolls. We interpret it as a reflection of the role of public opinion in the identifi
|
From page 42... ...
When a policy is being debated and enacted, both organized and unorganized constituency pressures appear to affect the policy process. Of pressure have a suecif in initiative focused on a , At this stage, both types _ _, ~ problem that they can support or oppose.
|
From page 43... ...
Constituency pressures were often expressions of other conflicts that happened to touch on the requirements in a particular context. We observe this symbolic use of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements more than once in our case study.
|
From page 44... ...
Aided by FRAC, which also envisioned the program as a major federal food assistance effort, WIC's supporters managed to obtain court decisions ensuring its rapid expansion. Supporters even anticipated USDA and OMB behavior and won a court order that turned agency ploys to the program's advantage.
|
From page 45... ...
Indeed, on more than one occasion, decisions concerning the proposal for FAP, the WIN program, and Title XX services brought about a de facto settlement of the controversy by postponing or resubmerging it in bureaucratic procedures. Two general observations can be made concerning the role of vision in the case of the day care requirements.
|
From page 46... ...
Although we hesitate to assign a primary role to either, we do note that vision has appeared dominant in the cases we examined. In the case of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements, vision that failed to account for prevailing interests proved incapable of realization.
|
From page 47... ...
In the case of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements, the cast changed several times as the policy debate moved in and out of the agencies and Congress. Many of the principal government participants in 1968 were replaced by new personalities in subsequent debates over revisions.
|
From page 48... ...
In addition to general behavior patterns, institutions establish a context in which policy making takes place. As noted above, the role of an institution determines to a large extent where, how, and in what capacity an actor can participate in the policy formation process.
|
From page 49... ...
It also galvanized public opinion and facilitated the expansion of food assistance programs in the 1970s. The response elicited by a media presentation appears crucial to its influence on policy formation.
|
From page 50... ...
Despite their influence in framing problems and issues, however, we observed no instances of a specific policy or program initiative's being conceived by the media. Vision and constituency pressure seem to intervene in the policy process even if the principal instigation is a media presentation.
|
From page 51... ...
Hence, the Urban Institute Is evaluation of the WIC delivery system had relatively little impact because it was introduced in the policy process after crucial decisions concerning the program's expansion had already been made. The conflict between research studies related to WIC's program operation and those related to its medical ~ustification illustrates the interaction of research with
|
From page 52... ...
During the development of the program, research and evaluation generated ambiguous results concerning the Supplemental Food Program and WIC. Scientific findings introduced as evidence in the policy debate consistently affirmed the strong link between proper nutrition and healthy fetal and infant development.
|
From page 53... ...
Research and evaluation thus became relevant to the policy formation process only insofar as selected results were useful to proponents or opponents in advancing their causes. We observe this use of research for advocacy purposes again in the formulation of the Federal InteracencY Day Care Requirements.
|
From page 54... ...
We did not encounter analyses at any stage in the formation of the child care tax deduction/credit that examined the impact of various child care tax benefits on work incentives, types of care selected, employment, or similar variables. Decision makers made consideration of the broader impact of particular individual income tax provisions less relevent to their deliberations than potential revenue loss.
|
From page 55... ...
Because the sentiment of media presentations agreed with the dominant social values, it helped define malnutrition among this group as a serious problem requiring federal government action. Popular expositions of hunger in America and the salutary effects of proper nutrition and feeding habits on fetal and infant development focused public attention on undernourished pregnant women and young children and placed them on the political agenda.
|
From page 56... ...
Program expansion became a function of judicial interpretation of congressional intent and not a function of its efficacy as adjudged by science. WIC's rapid expansion can be attributed to the interplay of organizational behavior patterns with the court decisions, the power of the appeal of feeding hungry infants, the interest groups supporting the overall child nutrition bills, and evaluations that could be interpreted as favorable.
|
From page 57... ...
In the case of the child care tax deduction/credit we note that the policy debate never quite rose to the level of the child nutrition program complex, FAP, or Title XX, nor did it sink to the intradepartmental level at which much of the day care requirements were played out. From our analysis of the interactions among components of policy making, we conclude that they create identifiable patterns suggesting a framework for understanding the process of policy formation.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.