Course “Comparative politics”

1.

Lecture 9:
Comparative
Public Policy
COURSE “COMPARATIVE POLITICS” (PROF. L.
SMORGUNOV)

2.

Lecture topics
Spheres of Comparative Public Policy
Internationalization of Public Policy
Policy Process Comparison
Political System and Public Policy

3.

The 1st book
on
comparative
public policy
“Comparative public
policy is the study of
how, why, and to what
effect different
governments pursue
particular courses of
action or inaction” (p.
3).

4.

Why we need comparison in
public policy?
“A first aim is to look for guidance in designing better policies.
The fact that different countries often adopt alternative strategies
for dealing with similar problems represents a kind of natural
experiment”.
“A second aim in comparing public policies is to gain a deeper
understanding of how government institutions and political
processes operate as they deal with concrete problems”.
“The third reason for studying policies across national boundaries
lies in the growing interdependence that is a hall mark of our
times. Problems such as the environment or economic
management frequently spill over national borders”.

5.

Position of Comparative Policy Analysis
Normative theory and philosophy
Comparative Public
Policy
Applied sciences

6.

1. Spheres of comparative
public policy
Public policy of various states can be represented in the form of resource
allocation from national and international sources. Purely quantitative
evaluation of public policy suggests the scale of the public sector and its
structure.
Public policy is characterized by the distribution and redistribution activity
of the government. When comparing countries, it is important to answer
the question, what benefits and why are redistributed in a given society.
Public policy regulates human behavior, i.e., uses coercion and incentives
for the implementation of the agreement on the allocation of resources and
their distribution. Different systems use different methods for controlling
behavior and the inclusion of the population in the processes of production
and distribution of public goods.
When countries study one another to draw lessons about which policies
work best to reach particular goals, they are engaged in comparative policy
analysis. The best practices are the results of comparison.

7.

Taxonomy of comparative
public policy
Main theoretical trends
Determinants of policy
Policy outputs and
evaluation
General subjects
Different concepts of
society
Different definitions of
policy
Methods and elements
of study, different
approaches:
- Economic school;
- Cultural school;
- Institutional school;
- Eclectic approach;
- Political class
struggle.
Level of economic
development
Social cleavages
Elites
Bureaucracy
Government
Executive-Legislative
relations
Political regimes
Political parties
Voting behavior and
electoral systems
Interest groups
Judiciary
Globalization
Policy spheres: health,
immigration, taxation,
education, fiscal, social
care, environment
Evaluations:
(1) Short-term: policy
influences, effectiveness
(2) Long-term: systematic
conditions: democracy
crisis, crisis of welfare state
and/or capitalism; different
variants of corporatism
(3) Analytic: relevancy of
empirical data, conceptual
development, system
differentiations
(4) Prescriptive

8.

2. Internationalization of Public
Policy
The most overt examples of the internationalization of public policy
stem from economic integration agreements adhered to the countries
(the World Trade Organization, the Maastricht Treaty, BRICS, EAEC,
OPEC+ agreements).
Market forces of various types motivate governments to
internationalize their policy- making concerns and processes (human
and labor migration, foreign exchange market transactions, oil market)
Foreign economic pressures and dynamics have had a growing effect
on a variety of domestic policy areas.
Speed of communications and the importance of international trade in
global economy is the factor of internalization of public policy.
INTERDEPENDENCE OF COUNTRIES

9.

3.Policy Process Comparison
Cross-national studies of the policy-making process in industrialized
countries demonstrate that there is no single process through which
public policies are made. Instead, different institutional frameworks,
procedures, and traditions result in significant variation in the style and
mechanisms of policy making.
Despite such differences, however, it is possible to identify five stages of
policy making that are common to all countries.

10.

Stages of Policy Process
Agenda
Setting/Identification of
Issues or Problems
Policy
Assessment/Evaluation
Policy Implementation
Policy Formulation
Policy
Adoption/Legitimization

11.

Stages in policy process
Issue Identification
◦ Publicized demands for government action can lead to
identification of policy problems.
◦ Attention that prompts the need for government
action.
Agenda Setting
◦ Government begins to give serious consideration

12.

Four models of Agenda Setting
Public Support for Government Action
High
Initiator of
current debates
Low
Societal actors
Outside initiation
Inside initiation
Government
Consolidation
Mobilization
Source: Adolino J., Blake Ch. Comparing Public Policies. CQ Press, 2013, p. 13.

13.

Stages in the Policy Process
Policy Formulation
Policy proposals can be formulated through
political channels by policy-planning
organizations, interest groups, government
bureaucracies, local legislatures, and the
government, president and parliament.
Development of possible solutions;
consideration of several alternatives

14.

Stages in the Policy Process
Policy Adoption/Legitimization
◦ Policy is legitimized as a result of the public
statements or actions of government officials; both
elected and appointed—the governments, president,
parliament, local legislators, agency officials, and the
courts. This includes executive orders, budgets, laws
and appropriations, rules and regulations, and
administrative and court decisions that set policy
directions.

15.

Four Scenarios of Subsystem
Decision Making
Complexity of the Policy Network
High
Policy issue
constrains
Low
High
Incremental
decision making
Satisficing
decision making
Low
Optimizing
adjustment
Rational decision
making
Source: Adolino J., Blake Ch. Comparing Public Policies. CQ Press, 2013, p. 21.

16.

Stages in the Policy Process
Policy implementation
When speaking of the implementation stage, we are concerned with what is
done to put a public policy into effect.
There are the specific policy instruments used to put the policy into effect:
1. Direct government instruments – whether through regulation, the direct
provision of services, or the operation of state-owned enterprises.
2. Market instruments – ranging from deregulation to incentives intended
to motivate certain behaviors within a largely free market.
3. Voluntary instruments – governments mobilize there powers of
persuasion to convince the public to address policy concerns.
4. Mixed instruments – the combination of some or all of these options.

17.

18.

Why evaluate?
Determine policy outcomes
Identify policy strengths
Identify and improve weaknesses
Justify use of resources
Increased emphasis on accountability
Professional responsibility to show effectiveness.

19.

4. Political system and public policy
(Peters, Doughtie, McCulloch, 1977)
Input behavior
integrative
integrative
Decisionmaking
fragmented
fragmented
Depoliticized
democracy:
redistributive policy
(Sweden)
Consociational
democracy: regulative
policy (Netherland)
Centripetal democracy:
self-regulative policy
(the UK)
Centrifugal democracy:
distributive policy
(France)

20.

The styles of public policy-making
The UK
France
Sweden
Changes in
politics (1-3)
No radical (3)
Partly radical (2)
Radical (1)
Centralization (13)
Small
centralization (3)
High
centralization (1)
Centralization (2)
Consultation (1-3) Moderate
intensive
consultation (2)
Limited
consultation (3)
Extensive
consultation (1)
Transparency (13)
Moderate close
(2)
Open (1)
Conflict level (1-3) Moderate low (2)
High (1)
Low (3)
Deliberation (1-3)
Moderate
deliberation (2)
High deliberation
(1)
Close (3)
Low deliberation
(3)

21.

Literature
ADOLINO, JESSICA, BLAKE, CHARLES.
COMPARING PUBLIC POLICY. ISSUES AND
CHOICES IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES.
WASHINGTON, DC: CQ PRESS, 2013. 463 P.
DODDS, ANNELIESE. COMPARATIVE PUBLIC
POLICY. N.Y.: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2013. 408
P.

22.

Literature
DIEZ, JORDI, FRANCESCHET, SUSAN.
COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY IN LATIN
AMERICA. TORONTO: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
PRESS, 2012. 328 P.
INNOVATIVE COMPARATIVE METHODS FOR
POLICY ANALYSIS. BEYOND QUANTITATIVEQUALITATIVE DIVIDE / ED. BY B. RIHOUX, H.
GRIMM. N.Y. : SPRINGER, 2006. 344 P.

23.

Journals

24.

Comparative Policy Analysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=iuh5ftq0vAg#t=181
Thank you!