Transcript Administrative Coordination

Policy Analysis and
Implementation Evaluation (I)
Introduction
• Public administration is an activist part of government, the
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means via which government intervenes in the social,
economic, and financial lives of the government. And, this
intervention is done via public policy.
Public policy is a course of action taken by government
entities to address a particular issue(s). Objectives, target
population, and means are embedded in that policy
statement.
Public administrators are the primary actors involved in the
implementation of public policy. And, if the results of any
public policy are not successful, then where could be the
problem….in policy, implementation or both? This is called
Policy Analysis and Implementation Evaluation.
Policy Analysis can be prospective or retrospective.
The traditional managerial, political and legal perspectives
can be helpful in evaluating public policy.
The Growing Concern with
Policy Analysis
• In the whole public policy formulation process,
implementation is considered as Achilles heel.
Objective understanding of any public policy is not
possible.
• As public administration provides more services to
people, it also engages in more extensive regulatory
activities.
• Public administrative intervention in the economy,
society and polity makes policy analysis more
salient. The modern techniques of social sciences
have solved this problem.
The Growing Concern with
Policy Analysis
• Retrospective policy can be strengthened by a
number of related administrative developments,
which can include allocating budget for policy
analysis after implementation or by allowing
public access to information, developing program
budgeting or by placing sunset clause.
• The outgrowth of policy formulation is the policy
output which are made by public administrators
(violation of politics-administration dichotomy).
Policy impacts by contrast are concerned with
performance or the achievement of stated
objectives and the answer to this concern is
elusive.
Impact Analysis
• Before the impact of policy can be ascertained, it
is essential to identify the contents of that policy
in operational terms, which is not always easy or
possible.
• In principle, impact of all such policies can be
evaluated but in practice, it becomes difficult to
separate the impact of the policy from other
factors.
• Impact analysis can be defined as “being
concerned with examining the extent to which a
policy cause change in the intended direction”.
Limited Opportunities of
Experimentation
• One way to try to asses the impact of policy is via
applying to one segment but not to the other
composed of similar individuals. It is known as
“experimental design”.
• Introducing control group can be very useful to
ascertain causality in experimental analysis but
there are hindrances in carrying it out in public
administration.
• Problem of causality can also arise in preprogrampostprogram analysis, it can be overcome by
establishing “rate of change”.
Limited Opportunities of
Experimentation
• True experimental designs are not possible in
public administration so quasi- experimental
design could be a good alternative.
• Interpretation of results should be very cautious.
Strong policy analysis must also consider long
run.
• Policy analysis is still useful even if it does not
create an impact.
Process Analysis and
Implementation Studies
• Policy analysis should not focus only on
impacts; it can also be used to assess the
process through which a policy is being
implemented.
• Policy analysis concerns the way in which a
particular policy or a program is implemented
because implementation really affects the entire
policy.
• Methods of implementation studies include case
studies, historical analysis, observation and
extensive interviewing.
Process Analysis and
Implementation Studies
• Factors affecting implementation identified
via studies include decision points, financial
crunch, ambiguous objectives, lack or no
competent staff, resistance to status quo or
too much political interference.
• Implementation studies suggest that process
analysis should be a step before impact
analysis but usually this does not happen.