2. Outline of the Lecture
• Purpose of the Colloquium
• Understanding Politics and Public Policy Relation
• Public Policy and Policy Process
• Understanding the Policy Ecosystem in Bangladesh
• What to do with Research in Public Policy Process
• How to identify a research issue?
• Important areas of research in public policy in Bangladesh
3. Definition of Policy Analysis
• # Walter Williams ( 1971 )
• “ a means of synthesizing information including research results to
produce a format for policy decisions ( the laying out of alternative choices
) and of determining future needs for policy-relevant information “
• # Jacob B. Ukeles ( 1977 )
• “ the systematic investigation of alternative policy options and the
assembly and integration of the evidence for and against each option. It
involves a problem-solving approach , the collection and interpretation of
information , and some attempt to predict the consequences of alternative
courses of action”
4. Type of Policy Analysis
• Anticipatory / Ex-ante/ Pre-hoc/ Prospective Analysis
• Policy analysis that focuses upon the possible outcomes of proposed
policies and prior to the implementation of policies. This analysis can
be conducted to anticipate the results of alternative policies in order
to choose among them or to describe the consequences of a policy.
• 1.1 Predictive analysis: refers to the projection of future states
resulting from adopting particular alternatives
• 1.2 Prescriptive analysis: refers to analysis which recommends
actions because they will bring about a particular result.
5. Type of Policy Analysis
• Descriptive / Ex-post / Post-hoc / Retrospective Analysis
• Policy analysis that refers to either the historical analysis of
past policies or the evaluation of a new policy as it is implemented.
• 2.1 Retrospective analysis: referring to the description and
interpretation of past policies (What happened ?)
• 2.2 Evaluative analysis: referring to program evaluation
(Where the purposes of the policy met ?)
6. Policy, Project and Program
• A public policy is generally characterized as a combination of
decision, commitments and actions directed towards achieving a
particular outcome or result which is deemed in the public interest.
• Public policy distinguished from public programs and projects
• A public program is a set of concrete actions and implementation
steps directed towards attainment of a public policy
• A project is typically a single segment or operating activity within a
program
7. • Policy Cycle approach views govt. as a process rather than a collection of
venerable institutions.
• Policy Cycle is a series of interlocking steps, a dialogue between
procedures and substance, between public debate and private analysis.
• A policy cycle approach can help public servants develop a policy and
guide it through the institutions of government.
Policy Cycle: An approach
10. Policy Cycle: An approach
• It disaggregates complex phenomenon into manageable steps.
• A policy cycle is normative, suggesting a particular sequence
• A policy cycle starts with a problem, seeks evidence, tests proposals
and puts recommendations before Cabinet. Its outcomes are subject
to evaluation and the cycle begins again.
11. Agenda Setting
• Agenda Setting—Establishing a list or a program of
problems or issues to be considered and acted on by
interest groups and government.
• It depends on both the saliency and the valence of the
issue.
12. Agenda Setting
• Salience: describes the quality of an issue, specifically, the notoriety
or the prominence given to an issue.
• Valence: The attraction or aversion that an individual feels toward a
specific object or event. The capacity of something to unify, instigate
a reaction, or interact with something else.
• “Problem Definition”: How a problem is defined makes all the
difference in the attention in will receive, or how it will be addressed.
13. Agenda Setting
• Kingdon’s“Agenda-Setting Model”
• Problem Stream: Problem Definition
• Policy Stream: The technical Plausibility of potential solutions to a
problem.
• Political Stream: The mood of the body politic, public opinion, and
various expediential factors that determine the salience and valence of an
issue or problem
14. Policy Formulation
• Policy Formulation:
• From passage of general laws by the legislature, to the formulating
of a specific public policy.
• Policy Formulation is a highly political process in which a number of
actors—from interest groups, to legislators, to the bureaucracy—
seek to affect legislation favorable to their specific interest.
15. Decision Making
• After policy formulation is completed (or fades from view)-
• The issue network dissolves and the participants move on to other
salient issues.
• Again, forming a new issue network with other actors impacted by a
particular issue or problem.
•
16. Policy Implementation
• “A series of governmental decisions that attempt to turn already
determined mandates into reality”
• Political Accountability:
• Institutional checks and balances in the administrative system, with
ultimate accountability held by the legislature—which creates laws and
enabling legislation.
• The legislature exercises its authority over the administrative apparatus
through legislative oversight.
• Courts play a similar role in determining the legality or constitutionality
of a policy or program.
• Administrators are accountable for:
17. Evaluation and Termination
• Policy Evaluation
• Policy evaluation occurs after a policy has been implemented
• It involves the analysis of policy outputs and determining their outcomes
• Needed to modify existing policies—policies rarely stay in the form in which
they were initially implemented (“tweaking” policy is the next stage)
• It is concerned with the consequences public policy—did the policy do what it
was supposed to do?
• Policy Change or Termination
• Involves making adjustments to policies to improve their effectiveness.
• Policy change can involve on of two processes:
• 1. Linear Change—Replacing one policy with another
• 2. Modification—Amending a policies to fit contingencies
18. Policy Cycle – in Bangladesh
• Cabinet a small body of senior ministers responsible for directing the policy-
administration of the state. As per clause 4(ii) of the rules of business 1996, no
important policy decision shall be taken except with the approval of the
cabinet.
• Ministry is a self-contained administrative unit responsible for the conduct of
business of the government in a distinct and specified sphere.
• The major responsibility of the ministry as per clause 4(ix) of the Rules of
Business is limited to: (a) policy-making; (b) planning; (c) evaluation and
execution of plans; (d) initiation of legislative measures; (e) assisting the
minister in discharging his responsibilities to the Sangsad; (f) personnel
management at the top level; and (g) such other matters as may be determined
by the prime minister from time to time.
19. Policy Cycle – in Bangladesh
• Clause 13(4) of the Rules of Business clearly sets out that the
Finance Ministry should be consulted in matters of
• (a) preparation of export and import policy
• (b) negotiation of trade and barter agreement
• (c) determination of tariff policy
• (d) determination of pricing policy
• (e) determination of investment policy
• (f) determination of labor policy
20. • Similarly the consultation with the Ministry of Law, Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs is obligatory in matters of (a) all proposals for
legislation, (b) all legal questions arising out of any case, (c) preparation of
any contracts, international agreements, international conventions and
modifying international law, (d) the interpretation of any law, and (e) before
authorizing or the issue of a rule, regulation or bye law.
Policy Cycle – in Bangladesh
21. Policy Cycle – in Bangladesh
• Secretaries' Committees
• In addition to the cabinet committees, there are also two standing
committees, namely the Secretaries' Committee and the Secretaries'
Committee on Administrative Improvement
• National Economic Council
• The highest authority to approve major economic policies and development
strategies, and in that capacity it formulates the national policy
• Planning Commission
• The central planning body of the country. It is a body of professionals and
sector specialists engaged in the formulation of macro as well as micro-
economic plans
22. Policy Cycle – in Bangladesh
• Parliamentary Committees Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the
constitution of a number of standing committees composed of the
members of Jatiya Sangsad, for example, the Public Accounts Committee
• Foreign Donors The providers of foreign aid play a significant role both
in development and formulation of plans/projects and management
thereof in Bangladesh. There are two types of donors, bilateral donors
and multi-lateral donors
23. Limitation – Policy Cycle
• The stages model suffers from descriptive inaccuracy-empirical reality does
not fit with the classification of the policy process.
• Implementation, for example, affects agenda-setting; or a policy will be
reformulated while some field agencies try to enforce ambiguous programs;
or policy termination has to be implemented.
• In terms of its conceptual value, the policy cycle lacks defining elements of a
theoretical framework. the stages model does not offer causal explanations
for the transition between different stages.
• The policy cycle is based on an implicit top-down perspective
• The cycle framework leads toward an oversimplified and unrealistic world-
view.
