#policy process

[cheesyschriber]

Police are the Epitome of Street Level Bureaucrats

A target population has policies that are created by top-level government officials, however, these officials do not enforce or implement the policies they create because that is the job of a street-level bureaucrat. Police officers are the ones on the streets implementing the new policies at a level that is in contact with a target population. These policies usually are created by the Supreme court precedents or Congressional decisions. The policies come from the highest officials, but without the police to enforce said policies the laws mean nothing. However, street-level bureaucrats must understand the policies that they are implementing to make the policies actually effective. Right now, police officers do not need to understand the law in its entirety to be hired. I believe the implementation process of laws is extremely important, but if a change is made by high-level bureaucrats and the street-level bureaucrats can not implement correctly through malicious or ignorant actions; the policy becomes useless and the population targeted suffers.

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

Nothing Has Changed

In the world of family planning there are two options. One, you can teach planning through the lens of abstinence. Two, you can provide a comprehensive sexual education. 

In private schools across the country and most of the southern half of the country, abstinence only education is the solution. The tool these schools use to prevent teen pregnancy is abstinence. Though it might make sense on paper, the implementation shows that it is not quite working. Abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy, but that lies on the assumption that people want/choose to be abstinent. The country has spent billions to keep this form of planning in place, but fails in comparison to comprehensive sex education. 

The tool in this policy is utilizing abstinence and that tool is not working, yet it is still in place. There is a lot to learn from this massive failure, but the country refuses to listen.  

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

Failure

Last week we discussed policy implementation. Often times policy implementation is discussed in terms of failure. This may be due in some part to the fact that the success of a policy is not often publicized. Failure can come from many things, the policy tools, political climate, or social reasons. Whatever the case, with failure comes learning. Institutions themselves do not learn like people and their learning cannot be conceptualized like a person’s. Instead, the learning can be attributed to the person at the top of an institution or agency. As discussed in a previous post there are many types of learning that we try to understand. These include instrumental policy learning, superstitious instrumental learning, social policy learning, and political learning. 

How does this relate to women’s healthcare? The stakes are high when it comes to women’s health. Women’s health is not always about abortion, but in the public eye it often an unbreakable connotation. The highly political beliefs about women’s health means that its policies cannot fail. If they do fail, learning about the failed implementation process is crucial. In my next post I will discuss how one policy failed and what can learned. 

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

Extra Credit: Wyoming Gubernatorial Debate

For the past 6 months I have worked with organizations across Laramie, Wyoming to host a Gubernatorial Debate on our campus. The main goal I had in mind was informing University students in hopes of boosting voting turnout. To maintain the goal of youth involvement, it was crucial that the questions came from students. Often times it feels like decisions made in Cheyenne are made without input from UW. The University of Wyoming is a public institution and policy created in Cheyenne can have lasting effects on our education. One question that focused on student involvement made the candidates way in on how their time in office would be different. All four candidate’s answers utilized the buzz word “transparency”. Transparency has been a key vocab word in our understanding of the policy process. 

Transparency is crucial in keeping policy in the public eye and on the agenda. Wyoming has the smallest population in the Union, when there is an issue that needs to be fixed, it is very easy to make the agenda. If a potential policy goes underground, it does not go unnoticed. The Wyoming government needs transparency, because its citizens demand it.       

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

Political Learning in Women’s Healthcare

Policy implementation cannot exist without learning from its successes and failures. There are three types of learning outlined in Thomas Birkland’s Policy Process. The one I will focus on is Political Learning, “learning about making more effective political arguments in policy debate” (Birkland, 2016, p. 348). Political learning takes into account the political climate of an issue and uses political strategy to make effective decisions. 

The policy debate for women’s healthcare is a very contested topic. The advocacy for female focused healthcare needs all the help it can get. When advocacy group use political learning they take crucial steps in advancing the fight for women’s healthcare. Examples of political learning include using focusing events and policy framing to the advantage of women’s healthcare advocacy. In the case of framing, political learning could use a positive externality argument to promote the universal coverage of contraceptives. Focusing events could be used to thrust women’s healthcare into the policy agenda and back into the public’s eye. Political learning is a crucial tool in policy implementation.      

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

The Principle-Agent Problem

The Principle-Agent Problem was originally hypothesized outside the political realm, but has now been used in understanding the implementation process within public administration. There a two players that make up this theory, the principle and the agent. In terms of public administration the principle is the political leader and the agent is the street level bureaucrat. This problem occurs when, “The agent is empowered to make decisions or take actions in behalf of the principal, the problem occurs when the agents motivations do not align with the best interest of the principal” (POLS 2410). 

In a hypothetical sense, this problem is very real issue in regard to women’s healthcare. Non-religious hospitals are required to tell postpartum mothers about the high risk of pregnancy right after birth. Not only are nurses required to talk to mothers about this subject, but they also have to talk about contraceptive options. This move is meant to assist in family planning initiatives, but can very political for those who’s religion opposes the use of contraceptives. In a hypothetical situation, a nurse may feel empowered to use their code of ethics to oppose this family planning policy. The nurse’s motivation may be in the best interest of the woman, but not in the best interest of the principal.        

[uwyopolicycolleenworld-blog]

The importance of output vs outcome in the quest for better healthcare

Output and outcomes are very different pieces of the policy process. Outcomes refer to the measurable things produced by an agency or organization. Outcomes are the results of input and outputs, they can be intended or unintended.  

Outputs in relation to women’s healthcare could be more preventive screenings/tests, access to contraceptives, or female focused sex/health education. 

Positive outcomes could be less final stage cancer diagnoses and less unwanted pregnancies.  

Negative outcomes could result from “efficiency” based healthcare providers. I will discuss this negative possibility in my next post.