POLICY IMPACT, EVALUATION AND CHANGE by Daisy Besing and Sylvia Fabula

POLICY IMPACT, EVALUATION, AND CHANGE

Policy outputPolicy outcomes

“results”

Things actually done by agencies in pursuance of

policy decisions and statements

The consequences for society, intended and unintended, that stem

from deliberate governmental action or

inaction.

Policy Impact - Are an amalgam of outputs and outcomes

Policy Impact: Dimensions1. Policies affect the public problem

at which they are directed and the people involved.

2. Policies may affect situations or groups other than those at which they are directed.

3. Policies have consequences for future as well as current conditions; for some policies most of their benefits of some of their costs may occur in the far future.

4. Policies have positive effects or benefits, they also entail costs.

5. The effects of policies maybe either material or symbolic.

POLICY EVALUATION

1. Judgments about the worth or effects of particular policies, programs, and projects

2. Center’s on process, on the operation or administration of a policy or program

3. Systematic evaluation

THREE (3) EVALUATION DESIGNS

1.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN – Classic method for evaluating a policy or program. The use of this design may not be possible because of cost, time, and ethical or other considerations.

THREE (3) EVALUATION DESIGNS

2. QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN –

-Différence-in-difference- Matching (eg by observed similarities- The process of random selection is not in

use. Rather than the treatment group is compared with another group (a comparison group)that is similar in other respects.

3. BEFORE -AND-AFTER STUDY - compares the results of a program after a period of implementation with the condition existing prior to its inception.

Before-and-after studies often have low costs and take less time conduct

THREE (3) EVALUATION DESIGNS

1. Modify current policies and programs and to help design others for the future.

2. Delay a design 3. Justify and legitimate a decision already made4. Extricate themselves from controversy about future directions by

passing the buck5. Vindicate the program in the eyes of its constituents, funders, or

the public. 6. Satisfy conditions of a government or foundation grant through

the ritual of evaluation.

EVALUATION FINDINGS CAN BE USED TO :

POLICY EVALUATION PROCESS

A. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT - - Intended to control the actions of agencies, or to evaluate agency actions, as when individual members or committees seek to determine whether administrators are complying with program objectives established by congress.

TECHNIQUES 1. Casework – Intercession with agencies as a consequence of

constituents’ demands and requests2. Committee Hearings and Investigations 3. The Appropriations Process4. Approval of Presidential Appointments5. Committee Staff Studies

POLICY EVALUATION PROCESS

B. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE (GAO) • Audit the operations and financial activities of Federal Agencies, to evaluate their programs, and to report its findings to congress. • Review and analyze the results of government programs and activities carried on under existing law, including the making of cost-benefit studies, and to make personnel available to assist congressional committees in handling similar activities.

3. PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSIONS

Likely to have the greatest effect when its report coincides with other supporting events and accords with the president’s policy preferences, when it includes some members who hold important governmental positions and are committed to its recommendations, and when commission staff personnel return to governmental positions in which they can influence acceptance of its recommendations.

POLICY EVALUATION PROCESS

4. ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES- “agencies want to get some notion how their programs are working; what can be done to improve them”

Formative Evaluation – Designed to assist officials in making mid-course corrections or adjustments in programs to improve their operation.

Summative Evaluation – Broader and more thorough in scope and are used to inform upper-level policy makers of the over-all effects of important policies and programs.

POLICY EVALUATION PROCESS

1. Uncertainty over policy goals2. Difficulty in determining casualty3. Diffuse policy impacts4. Difficulties in data acquisition 5. Official resistance6. A limited time perspective 7. Evaluation lacks influence

POLICY EVALUATION PROCESS

POLICY EVALUATION : THE USE AND MISUSE OF COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS - is a formal, quantitative evaluation

technique that requires identifying the costs and benefits of either a

proposed or actual policy and translating them into monetary

values for purposes of comparison

MAJOR STEPS IN PERFORMING COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

1. Identify all of the effects or consequences of a policy and categorize them as cost or benefits for various groups.

2. Dollar values are placed on the various costs and benefits

3. Inflation may diminish the dollar’s value, or purchasing power

4. If benefits exceed costs, the policy is acceptable, if it costs exceed benefits, it should be rejected, or a better way of doing it should be found.

Reasons for Policy Termination

- The policy is no longer effective.- The need for the program no longer exists.- Budgetary requirements force the end of the policy or program.

Reasons for Policy Termination

- An evaluation study makes the case that the policy is unsatisfactory in impact or outcome.- The political environment may no longer support the goals of a policy.- Some policies or programs are terminated purely for ideological reasons.

LISTS OF TERMINATED POLICIES

1. FAIR-TRADE LEGISLATION (1975)2. COMMERCIAL ARILINE REGULATION (1978)3. REGULATION OF PETROLEUM PRICES (1980)4. SYNTHETIC-FUELS RESEARCH (1985)5. REVENUE SHARING (1986)6. CRUDE-OIL WINDFALL PROFIT TAX ACT (11986)7. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION CONTROLS (1996)8. GLASS STEAGALL ACT (1999)

REFERENCES:1. PUBLIC POLICY MAKING, 7TH EDITION BY JAMES E. ANDERSON; 20112. http://www.snmp.com/snmpconf/Interim-Knoxville/policy-termination/sld005.htmhttp://policyimpacttoolkit.squarespace.com/introduction/

REPORTERS:

DAISY T. BESINGMARIA SYLVIA THERESA T. FABULA