Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies Michigan State University Spring 2011 ACR 828

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1 Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies Michigan State University Spring 2011 Instructor(s) Name(s): Patricia Norris Office Location: 207 Natural Resources Telephone: Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays Or by appointment Catalog Course Description ACR 828 The Art and Craft of Public Policy Analysis Public policy analysis, especially natural resource policy. Theoretical models of policy analysis. Practice translating science to policy. Values, systems and political environments in which policy decisions are made. Course Objectives Students who complete this course will: 1. Understand the role of values as the basis for policy choice. 2. Understand the role of values in the conduct of policy analysis 3. Be familiar with issues in the practice of policy analysis, including the framing of problems, methods of analysis, and use of research results. 4. Be able to identify modes of inquiry and methods of analysis that are appropriate for different types of policy analyses. 5. Understand how policy analysis and its use are affected by the political environment within which analysis is conducted and policy decisions are made. Assessment Students grades will be based upon: Short writing assignments 40% Final written report 30% Oral presentation 30% Other Policies Assignments must be submitted at the specified due date. No assignments will be accepted late - no credit will be given for assignments received after the due date. This class has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and any other forms of academic dishonesty. You can read about plagiarism at: The University policy on academic dishonesty is provided in the Student Handbook and Resource Guide, which can be downloaded from: If you must miss class, please let me know in advance if at all possible. Ringing cell phones during class are unacceptable. If you are expecting a call in an emergency situation, please inform me before class, and set your phone to alert you silently. 1

2 Required Readings The required textbooks for this course are: D.L. Weimer and A.R. Vining. Policy Analysis (5 th edition). R.A. Pielke, Jr. The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics In addition, selected topical readings will be assigned for topics in the schedule below. These readings (included in the reference list at the end of this syllabus) will be made available on the course ANGEL site. Schedule, Topics and Assignments Date Topic(s) Reading assignment(s) (to be completed before this date) Written assignments (to be turned in on this date) Jan. 11 Introduction Course objectives What is policy analysis? Salmon Fishery Case Who does policy analysis? Weimer and Vining, Chapters 1 and 2 Written assignment #1 (not graded) Jan. 18 Science, policy and policy analysis Pielke, Chapter 1 Pielke, Chapter 2 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 3 Jan. 25 The policy process and space for science/analysis Weimer and Vining, Chapter 11 Dunn, W.N. The Policy-Making Process. Sabatier, Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process. Lindblom, The Science of Muddling Through. plus additional readings individually assigned Feb. 1 Rationales for public policy Weimer and Vining, Chapter 5 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 6 Feb. 8 Rationales for public policy (cont.) Weimer and Vining, Chapter 7 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 8 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 9 Feb. 15 Feb. 22 March 1 March 8 Public policy approaches for correcting market and government failures Things governments do Doing policy analysis by the numbers Methods for analysis - Cost Benefit Analysis - Benefits Transfer Spring Break Written assignment #2 (due Feb. 8) Weimer and Vining, Chapter 10 Bardach, Things Governments Do. Written assignment #3 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 15 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 14 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 12 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 13 Dunn, W.N. Communicating Policy Analysis. Written assignment #4 Weimer and Vining, Chapter 16 Brouwer, Environmental Value Transfer: State of the Art and Future Prospects. Iovanna and Griffiths, Clean Water, Ecological Benefits and Benefits Transfer: A Work in Progress at the U.S. EPA. 2

3 March 15 March 22, 29 Disciplines, framing and discourse Science, politics and policy analysis Shabman and Stephenson, Environmental Valuation and its Economic Critics. Bromley, The Ideology of Efficiency: Searching for a Theory of Policy Analysis. Geva-May and Pal, Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. Lindblom, Still Muddling, Not Yet Through. White, Policy Analysis as Discourse. Pielke, Chapter 3 Pielke, Chapter 4 Pielke, Chapter 5 Pielke, Chapter 6 Radin, Dealing with two cultures: politics and analysis. Written assignment #5, due March 29 April 5 Politicization of science Pielke, Chapter 7 Pielke, Chapter 8 Banzhaf, Objective or Multi-Objective? Two Historically Competing Visions for Benefit Cost Analysis. Sarewitz, "How Science Makes Environmental Controversies Worse." April 12 Making policy analysis relevant Pielke, Chapter 9 Batie, Wicked Problems and Applied Economics Lynn, A Place at the Table: Policy Analysis, Its Postpositive Critics, and the Future of Practice. Mostert and Raadgever, Seven Rules for Researchers Shabman, Natural Resource Economics Methodological Orientations and Policy Effectiveness. Shulock, The Paradox of Policy Analysis: If It Is Not Used, Why Do We Produce So Much of It? Throgmorton, The Rhetorics of Policy Analysis. April 19 Ethics and policy analysis Amy, Why Policy Analysis and Ethics are Incompatible. Beneviste, On a Code of Ethics for Policy Experts. Szostak. Interdisciplinarity and the Teaching of Public Policy. Szostak. "Politics and the Five Types of Ethical Analysis." April 26 May 3 12:45-2:45 p.m. Wrap-up and project team work Scheduled final exam time Written assignment # 6 Final written report due Oral presentations Short written assignments: In general, these written assignments should not exceed two doublespaced pages in length. Written assignment #1 (not graded) Due January 11 Write a short paragraph or two about yourself. Where are you from? What is your academic background? What is your current area of study? Have you done work in the past that you would characterize as policy analysis? What are your professional goals? Why are you interested in the topic of public policy analysis? How might you be involved in conducting public policy analysis in your future professional endeavors? For your chosen professional goals, who might you identify as your client if you are the analyst? On the other hand, might you be a client? If so, what types of analysis might you wish to commission? 3

4 Written assignment #2 Due February 8 Over the last few years, human and natural systems have collectively contributed to devastating oil spills, fires, floods, and water shortages in the U.S. Each year, policy changes federal, state and local are debated in the wake of these events and the rationales for policy changes vary. Using the language of the chapters in Weimer and Vining, what kinds of rationales (market failures, government failures, other issues) can be described as reasons for suggested policy changes? In your written discussion, you will need to focus on just two or three rationales related to one particular problem in order to develop your discussion in sufficient detail. (You should be able to conduct some cursory internet research to find news reports about these problems and discussions of debated community/state/federal governmental responses. Note: I am not asking you to talk about policy responses in this assignment. That will come in the next assignment. Written assignment #3 Due February 15 Describe three policy approaches that have been advocated in response to damages from (or in order to prevent or minimize damages from) the type of event you discussed for assignment #2. Please describe the specific policies but also discuss them in the context of the various tables in Weimer and Vining Chapter 10. Written assignment #4 Due February 22 For the policy issue of your final project, develop a political analysis matrix like the one on page 276 in Weimer and Vining. Written assignment #5 Due March 29 Describe an example of an issue that reflects tornado politics and example of an issue that reflects abortion politics. Why do you view these as examples? Written assignment #6 Due April 19 Based on the readings assigned for this date (and any other references you choose), contrast ethics of policy analysis and ethics in policy analysis. Final Written Report and Oral Presentation Due During Scheduled Final Exam time, May 3, 12:45-2:45 p.m. (Note: Working in pairs to do this final project is acceptable if you and a classmate have a common interest in a particular topic. If you choose to work with a classmate, a co-authored paper and copresented seminar will be required.) Assignment: 1. Select a policy issue of interest. 2. Undertake the process of what Weimer and Vining call problem analysis. (I am not asking you to conduct the solution analysis steps.) Specifically focus on: a. Understanding the problem Receiving the problem: assessing the symptoms Framing the problem: analyzing market and government failures Modeling the problem: identifying policy variables b. Choosing and explaining relevant goals and constraints 4

5 Note that you began this process with written assignment number 2 evaluating the market and/or government failures associated with the damages from various natural resource damages and assignment number 4 developing the political analysis matrix. 3. In response to the proposition of DeLeon and Steelman that a key step in policy analysis is to evaluate goals in terms of diverse ethical criteria, Szostak suggests the following critical thinking processes that should be applied in policy analysis: distinguish assumptions, arguments, evidence, ethical statements and conclusions; have a clear pattern of reasoning to follow; be aware of, and seek to overcome, ambiguity in word usage; be alert to the limits of evidence, and hostile to assertions not backed by evidence; appreciate that there is generally some element of truth (and error) in competing arguments. Re-read the Szostak articles, and read the article by deleon and Steelman (on ANGEL). In the process of problem analysis, pay close attention to the discussion of diverse ethical criteria in DeLeon and Steelman and the critical thinking strategies outlined by Szostak. 4. Your full assignment will include a written report (you might consider targeting the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management) and a formal presentation. References: Amy, D.J. Why Policy Analysis and Ethics are Incompatible. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 3(1984): Banzhaf, H.S. Objective or Multi-Objective? Two Historically Competing Visions for Benefit Cost Analysis. Land Economics. 85(2009):3-23 Bardach, Things Governments Do. Appendix B in A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press Batie, S.S. Wicked Problems and Applied Economics. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 90(2008): Benveniste, G. On a Code of Ethics for Policy Experts. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 3(1984): Bromley, D. The Ideology of Efficiency: Searching for a Theory of Policy Analysis. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 19(1990): Brouwer, R. Environmental Value Transfer: State of the Art and Future Prospects. Ecological Economics. 32(2000): deleon, P. and T.A. Steelman. Making Public Policy Programs Effective and Relevant: The Role of the Policy Sciences. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 20(2001): Dunn, W.N. Communicating Policy Analysis. Chapter 9 in Public Policy Analysis An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Dunn, W.N. The Policy-Making Process. Excerpted from Policy Analysis in the Policy-Making Process. Chapter 2 in Public Policy Analysis An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Geva-May, I. and L.A. Pal. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. Policy Evaluation and Policy Analysis Exploring the Differences. Evaluation. 5(1990):

6 Iovanna, R. and C. Griffiths. Clean Water, Ecological Benefits and Benefits Transfer: A Work in Progress at the U.S. EPA. Ecological Economics. 60(2006): Lindblom, C.E. The Science of Muddling Through. Public Administration Review. 19(1959): Lindblom, C.E, Still Muddling, Not Yet Through. Public Administration Review. 39(1979): Lynn, L.E., Jr. A Place at the Table: Policy Analysis, Its Postpositive Critics, and the Future of Practice. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 18(1999): Mostert, E. and G.T. Raadgever. Seven Rules for Researchers to Increase their Impact on the Policy Process. Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences. 12(2008): Radin, B.A. Dealing with Two Cultures: Politics and Analysis. Chapter 4 in Beyond Machiavelli: Policy Analysis Comes of Age. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press Sabatier, P.A. Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process. PS:Political Science and Politics. 24(1991): Sarewitz, D. "How Science Makes Environmental Controversies Worse." Environmental Science and Policy. 7(2004): Shabman, L. Natural Resource Economics Methodological Orientations and Policy Effectiveness. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 67(1985): Shabman, L. and K. Stephenson. Environmental Valuation and its Economic Critics. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 126(2000): Shulock, N. The Paradox of Policy Analysis: If It Is Not Used, Why Do We Produce So Much of It? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 18(1999): Szostak, R. Interdisciplinarity and the Teaching of Public Policy. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 24(2005): Szostak, R. "Politics and the Five Types of Ethical Analysis." International Journal of Politics and Ethics. 2(2002): Throgmorton, J.A. The Rhetorics of Policy Analysis. Policy Sciences. 24(1991): White, L.G. Policy Analysis as Discourse. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 13(1994):