Making Policies for Children A Study of the Federal Process (1982) / Chapter Skim
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4 A Policy Framework: Three Levels of Decision Making
4 A Policy Framework: Three Levels of Decision Making
Pages 58-71
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From page 58... ...
Third, the character of policy making differs depending on the kind of government action being contemplated -- for example, whether the issue involves the tax code and the tax-writing committees of Congress or whether it involves direct expenditure programs and, consequently, authorizing committees of Congress. A large, rapidly growing, and richly diverse body of research exists on public policy formation.
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From page 59... ...
We believe the framework presented below provides a useful basis for formulating conjectures about the complex relationships among observable elements of the policy formation process. We stress that this presentation is designed to be suggestive in interpreting complex policy developments; it is not a definitive statement of testable or tested propositions.
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From page 60... ...
The high level essentially involves deciding whether government action is warranted and appropriate. The middle level involves deciding more concretely what the government's role should be.
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From page 61... ...
Similarly, the hunger crisis of 1967-1968 also involved decision making at the high level. A mass media expose on malnourished children and adults ignited widespread public response and focused presidential attention on the problem.
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From page 62... ...
Policy proposals generally represent programmatic responses to acknowledged social problems -- for example, the establishment of the Child Abuse and Neglect Program to help deal with the problems of physical and psychological abuse of children by family members. The debate is about the results of alternative government actions -- i.e., their effectiveness and efficiency, their fairness, costs, and distributional effects, and the administrative competence of alternative agencies.
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From page 63... ...
Research and evaluation generally loom large in decision making at this level as arbiters of disputes over the effectiveness and efficiency of alternative plans. Throughout most of the process of regulation writing, the development of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements involved decision making at the low level.
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From page 64... ...
If it involves the question of how a policy or program shall be designed, decision making is generally centered at the low level. In short, an issue involving social values is resolved at the high level, an issue involving equity at the middle level, and an issue involving efficiency at the low level.
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From page 65... ...
In the WIC case we observed that once the elimination of hunger became a national goal, the policy debate shifted from the high level to the middle level. There the contest involved choosing among available programmatic means: direct distribution, food stamps, the provision of supplemental food, and other possible programs to reach the goal.
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From page 66... ...
Of means was resolved, the debate shifted again to the low level, where the major concern was for the precise design of a targeted supplemental food program. New issues arose over the purchase price of food stamps, the contents of a supplemental food package, and the requirements governing program participation.
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From page 67... ...
the drafting of the day care requirements and the negotiations surrounding the Comprehensive Child Development Act, we observe that the level of decision making shifted in response to events in the policy process and the specific and conscious actions of key participants to achieve their goals. These actions and their consequences for policy outcomes suggest that not only is our analytic framework helpful in explaining past events but also that it has operational significance for participants in future federal policy making as well.
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From page 68... ...
The changing socioeconomic status of women and their rapid entry into the labor force stimulated the establishment of the child care tax deduction/credit. Similarly, the civil rights movement contributed to the social awareness that created a favorable climate for nutrition programs, compensatory education programs, and other initiatives designed to overcome poverty.
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From page 69... ...
To achieve success at the middle level requires a different type of political support than at the high level. It requires continuous political interaction with other participants and frequently creates problems of divided loyalties.
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From page 70... ...
Coalitions of interests may be smaller than at the high level and have more specific goals -- for example, the enactment of a program or the expansion of an appropriation that does not involve issues or conflicts concerning fundamental social values. Decision making at the middle level is less visible and therefore participants are less concerned with access to the media than access to researchers and other professional communities having knowledge and strong interests in program content and size.
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From page 71... ...
If one can gain access to key actors and can attract the necessary political support, visibility, administrative control, and expertise to participate effectively, the change may produce a desired outcome; if not, it is likely to result in failure. In the next chapter we apply these general principles to participation in federal policy formation affecting children and families.
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