Transcript PowerPoint Template

Public Finance
Public Policy Paper
Igor Baranov
Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University
Public Policy Paper: General Requirements
 Groups of 4 students
 25% of the total score for the course
 What is graded?
- In-class presentation (10 minutes) according to the schedule
- Written paper submitted AFTER presentation (deadline:
April 28, 2009), up to 5,000 words
 Evaluation:
- Following Writing Public Policy Paper guidelines
- Quality of presentation
- Q&A session for the group
 Reference: Writing Effective Public Policy Papers by E.Young
and L.Quinn. OSI, 2002.
Page  2
Public Administration: Roles and Professions
 Politicians
 Civil servants
 Policy analysts
 Researchers
 Managers in public sector organizations
 Business-government relations analysts in private companies
Page  3
Policy Study vs Policy Analysis
 Policy study
– Who: researchers / academics
– Where: universities, research institutes
– What: to understand and inform the policy-making process
by carrying out primary research into specific policy issues
 Policy analysis
– Who: analysts
– Where: think tanks / policy centers
– What: designing actual policy to be implemented
Policy studies are issue-driven, whereas policy analyses are client-driven
Page  4
Areas of Difference
Policy Study
Policy Analysis
Audience
Targets other policy
specialists
Targets decisionmakers
Focus
Issue-driven: General
recommendations on
policy issues
Client-driven: Designing
specific policies to be
implemented on the
ground
Methodology
Primary research
Rarely includes primary
research
Ideas / language used
Can be quite discipline
specific / technical
Must be very clear and
simple
Length
Up to 20,000 words
Not usually longer than
5,000 words
Page  5
The Policy Cycle

Problem definition / Agenda setting
Show that a problem exists that requires government action

Constructing the Policy Alternatives / Policy Formulation
Consider all possible solutions

Choice of Solution / Selection of Preferred Policy Option
Evaluate each option and choose your preferred one

Policy design
Choosing a policy instrument and a delivery organization mix

Policy implementation and monitoring

Evaluation
A policy paper can influence any or all stages of the policy cycle
Page  6
Paper Checklist
 Which stage(s) in the policy-making process are you trying to influence
through your policy paper?
 Which stakeholders have been/are involved at each stage of the policymaking process? Who is your “client”?
 Have you identified a clear problem to address? Can you summarize it in
two sentences?
 Do you have sufficiently comprehensive evidence to support your claim
that a problem exists?
 Have you outlined and evaluated the possible policy options that could
solve this problem? What evaluation criteria did you use?
 Have you decided on a preferred alternative?
 Do you have sufficient evidence to effectively argue for your chosen policy
alternative over the others?
 Prepare “Elevator speech”
Page  7
Policy Paper: Structure
 Title
 Table of contents
 Abstract / Executive summary
 Introduction
 Problem description
 Policy options
 Conclusions and recommendations
 Bibliography
 Appendices
Page  8
Abstract / Executive Summary
 Purpose of the paper
 Definition and description of the policy problem
 Evaluation of policy alternatives
 Conclusion and recommendations
Page  9
Introduction
 Context of the policy problem
 Definition of the policy problem
 Statement of intent
 Methodology and limitations of the study
 Road map of the paper
Page  10
Conclusion and Recommendations
Synthesis of major findings
– highlights main points from the problem description and
policy options elements
Set of policy recommendations
Concluding remarks
Page  11
Writing Style
Write by paragraphs!
– Paragraph has to indicate both logical and physical
breaks in the text
Page  12