1

NATURE AND NEEDS FOR POLICY STUDIES

An Insight Paper

21 June 2014
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INTRODUCTION

Policy Studies is the combination of policy analysis and program evaluation. It "involves
systematically studying the nature, causes, and effects of alternative public policies, with
particular emphasis on determining the policies that will achieve given goals."
Policy Studies also examines the conflicts and conflict resolution that arise from the making of
policies in civil society, the private sector, or more commonly, in the public sector (e.g.
government).

It is frequently focused on the public sector but is equally applicable to other kinds of
organizations (e.g., the not-for-profit sector). Some policy study experts graduate from public
policy schools with public policy degrees. Alternatively, experts may have backgrounds in policy
analysis, program evaluation, sociology, psychology, philosophy, economics, anthropology,
geography, law, political science, social work, environmental planning and public administration.

Traditionally, the field of policy studies focused on domestic policy, with the notable
exceptions of foreign and defense policies. However, the wave of economic globalization, which
ensued in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, created a need for a subset of policy studies
that focuses on global governance, especially as it relates to issues that transcend national
borders such as climate change, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and economic development.
This subset of policy studies, which is often referred to as international policy studies, typically
requires mastery of a second language and attention to cross-cultural issues in order to address
national and cultural biases.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this insight paper is to acquire basic knowledge of the nature,
importance and concepts of public policy as well as the role of government in public policy.

CONTENT

Origin of Policy Studies

The interest in studying public policy process developed not too long ago, around the
1950s in the U.S. in the Philippines, the up C.P.A initiated the first attempts in the 1970s to male
policy studies part of the College’s programs in research, teaching and training. There are
various reasons why policy studies or policy analysis is important. But ultimately, it is aimed to
aid politicians and public administrators in making and implementing informed policy decisions
on vital as well as frivolous issues affecting people and society.

Definition of Public Policy

There are various studies about public policy and many scholars have attempted to
define public policy from different angles. Robert EyeStone terms public policy as “the
relationship of government unit to its environment.” Thomas R. Dye says that “public policy is
whatever government chooses to do or not to do”. Richard Rose says that “public policy is not a
decision; it is a course or pattern of activity”. In Carl J. Friedrich’s opinion, public policy is a
proposed course of action of a person, group or government within a given environment
providing opportunities and obstacles which the policy was proposed to utilize and overcome in
an effort to reach a goal or realize an objective or purpose.
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Nature of Public Policy

The following points will make the nature of public policies clearer in our minds:
1. Public policies are goal oriented. Public policies are formulated and implemented in
order to attain the objectives which the government has in view for the ultimate benefit of
the masses in general. These policies clearly spell outs the programmes of the
government.
2. Public policy is the outcome of the government’s collective actions. It means that it is a
pattern of course of activity of the governmental officials and actors in a collective sense
than being termed as their discrete and segregated decisions.
3. Public policy is what the government actually decides or chooses to do. It is the
relationship of the government units to the specific field of political environment in a
given administrative system. It can take a variety of forms like law, ordinances, court
decisions, executive orders, decisions, etc.
4. Public policy is positive in the sense that it depicts the concern of the government and
involves its action to a particular problem o which the policy is made. It has the sanction
of law and authority behind it. Negatively, it involves a decision by the governmental
officials regarding not taking any action on a particular issue.

Importance of Public Policy

These days policy analysis is acquiring a lot in the realm of the study of public
administration. This trend is observed all over the world. The success of policy formulation,
execution, and monitoring ultimately depends on the success of policy analysis. Policy makers
have also shown great interest in it because it ultimately helps in improving the effectiveness of
policy.

Does Government Exist? Does It Really Matter?

The people look at the government not only as an institution to which they render
obedience. For them, it is not only an agency that formulates and expresses their will and
protects their interests. They see government as ultimately responsible for the promotion and
advancement of their welfare. The government is an instrumentality designed to service the
people’s needs from womb to tomb, so to speak.

Government policies are generally aimed at achieving the betterment of the lives of the
people in a state, or in crude terms, they refer to the ability of the government to make things
either better or worse for the people.

SUMMARY

Public policies are as old as governments. Whatever is the form, oligarchy, monarchy,
aristocracy, tyranny, democracy etc., - whenever and wherever governments have existed,
public policies have been formulated and implemented. It is clear that the public policies are the
activities that the government undertakes in order to pursue certain established goals and
objectives.

Public policy addresses a host of issues like housing, transportation, education, health,
social services, among others. It creates orderly structures and standards, and a sense of
direction. Public policy is a course of action which government adopts to tackle specific public
concern or issue in the form of regulation, laws, programs or decisions. Policy may also apply to
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individuals and groups as it guides action towards a desired outcome. The term may likewise
be used to denote what is actually done even though it is unplanned, and yet sometimes it
attends to political questions and even the personal issue or controversy of a political leader.

Public policy is a purposive and consistent course of action produced as a response to a

perceived problem of a constituency, formulated by a specific political process, and adopted,
implemented, and enforced by a public agency.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

Surprisingly, a generally accepted definition of public policy has been elusive. Some
texts define public policy as simply "what government does." Others say that it is the stated
principles which guide the actions of government. Still others say that the discussion of a
definition contributes little and moves quickly to illustrate a variety of case studies.

Public policy is a purposive and consistent course of action suggests goals and the
absence of logical contradictions. The phrase "produced as a response to a perceived problem
of a constituency" implies that government is responsive to its legitimate stakeholders,
particularly citizens and voters. Then we need to identify a specific action: "formulated by a
specific political process." The action that might bring about a public policy must go somewhere
-- and we need to identify which organization has jurisdiction and might feasibly respond. Here,
we must think in concrete and specific language. There must be agency, which means that we
are dealing with established authority. The policy must be "adopted, implemented, and enforced
by a public agency." That is, some actions must be administered and implemented. Actions
must ensue. Something must happen. Try to connect the original issue to the resulting
administration. There could be a large gap. This reveals the simplistic and naive presumptions
that often underlie public policy.

The public policy has the power to reduce subjective or objective difference in order to
bring solutions to public problems. The nature of public policy, therefore, is government; and
government takes it own interests and public interests into consideration as it chooses to reduce
objectives or subjective difference in order to solve public problems effectively and
expeditiously. Public policy can directly adjust social interest relations to reduce objective
difference. However, it also has the option of setting public interests aside and merely mitigating
public dissatisfaction by reducing or diverting public expectation to reduce subjective difference.
Furthermore, government must guard and restrain public policy’s inherent negative consumption
function of public interests.
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QUALITIES AND ROLE OF A POLICY INTERPRENEUR

OR POLICY CHAMPION

Case Analysis Paper

O5 July 2014
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INTRODUCTION

“Public entrepreneurship” is the process of introducing innovation—the generation,

translation, and implementation of new ideas—into the public sector.

Political scientists have been increasingly interested in entrepreneurs—individuals who

change the direction and flow of politics. In this research note, we synthesize aspects of an
economic approach to entrepreneurship with concepts used in political science. We then tie
these theoretical observations to the emergence of entrepreneurs in local governments and test
components of our theory using observations from a large set of suburban municipal
governments. Empirically, we identify several conditions that affect the probability that an
entrepreneur will emerge in a local government, especially slack budgetary resources that the
political entrepreneur can reallocate. We also find that the probability with which an
entrepreneur is found in local government is a function of the difficulty of overcoming collective
action problems in a community.

In the literature on policy innovation diffusion, political scientists have paid little attention
to how ideas for innovation gain prominence on government agendas. By considering the
actions of policy entrepreneurs--political actors who promote policy ideas--we can gain
important insights into the process of policy innovation and innovation diffusion. Policy
entrepreneurs constitute an identifiable class of political actors. Their presence and actions can
significantly raise the probability of legislative consideration and approval of policy innovations.
Event history analyses of the determinants of legislative consideration and approval of an idea
for education reform--school choice--in the 48 contiguous United States from 1987 through
1992. The data set consists of unique information collected in a mail survey of members of the
education policy elite in each state, augmented with published statistics. Policy entrepreneurs
were identified as advocates of school choice in 26 states. While controlling for rival
hypotheses, the presence and actions of policy entrepreneurs were found to raise significantly
the probability of legislative consideration and approval of school choice as a policy innovation.
These results suggest policy entrepreneurs should be given more attention in the literature on
policy innovation diffusion.

OBJECTIVE

This case study introduces the qualities of policy entrepreneurs and the significant role
they play in policymaking.

CONTENT

A political entrepreneur refers to a political player who seeks to gain certain political and
social benefits in return for providing the common goods that can be shared by an unorganized
general public. These common goods that political entrepreneurs attempt to provide to the
populace generally include foreign- and domestic-related public policy, while the benefits they
hope to gain involve voter support, public recognition, and personal popularity.

RAUL S. ROCO

One of the best policy entrepreneurs in the Philippines was the late Senator Raul S.
Roco.
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Raul Sagabarria Roco was born in Naga City on October 26, 1941 to Suplicio Azuela
Roco and Rosario Orlando Sagabarria.

He finished his elementary schooling at the age of 10 in Naga Parochial School, high
school at the age of 14 from the Ateneo de Naga Honors Course and graduated at the age of 18
from San Beda College, Bachelor of Arts, (Magna Cum Laude) in 1960 and Bachelor of Laws in
1964 as Abbot's Awardee for over-all excellence. He was a University Fellow at the University of
Pennsylvania for his Master of Comparative Law.

Senator Roco entered the public service when he became the youngest Bicolano
delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was the head of the legal staff of Senator Ninoy
Aquino and drafted the Study Now Pay Later Law.

He was elected in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1992 and as

congressman he provided the legal and constitutional bases for the historic Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program. In 1992, he was elected Senator and was chosen Outstanding
Senator by Philippine, Graphics and Pilipino Reporter. As a lawmaker, he authored numerous
laws: R.A. 7192, Women in Nation Building Law; R.A. 7164, The Nursing Act; R.A. 7877, The
Anti-Sexual Harassment Law; R.A. 8353, Anti-Rape Law and R.A. 8368, The Child and Family
Courts Act. In political reforms, he authored bills lifting the ban on political advertisements which
is Senate Bill No. 1742 and Senate Bill No. 1746; Allowing Overseas Filipino Workers to Vote.
He was chairman of the following committees, committee on banks, financial institution and
currencies and the committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws and
elected member of the executive committee of Inter Parliamentary Union.

He was appointed Secretary of Education by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in

2001.

Senator Roco married Sonia Cubillo Malasarte with whom he has six children.

THE ANTI-RAPE LAW: DYNAMICS AND POLICY FORMULATION

Initiating a Redefinition of the Rape Law: Tracing the Roots from the 8th Congress

As early as 1990, a bill seeking the redefinition of the crime rape had been filed at the
House of Representatives. Then Congressman Raul Roco of Camarines Sur filed House Bill
(HB) No. 32497 entitled an Act Prescribing a Special Law on Rape, Redefining the same as a
Crime against Persons, Institutionalizing measures for the Recovery of Rape Victims and the
Effective Prosecution of Offenders, and for other Purposes. This so-called anti-rape bill was
considered to be a pioneering initiative because of its revolutionary provisions which included
(1) the redefinition of rape from a private crime to a public crime; (2) the expansion of the
meaning of rape to include marital rape; and (3) the radical change of the meaning of rape to
include insertion of any instrument or object into a women’s genitals or anal opening by force,
threat or intimidation. Despite the novelty of the concept, the House Committee on Justice,
meeting for the first and last time (particularly on the subject bill only) on 4 December 1990,
immediately approved the bill in principle (HR 1990: 10-38). While there were some reservations
raised on the issues of marital rape and rape other than sexual intercourse, there Justice
Committee members chaired by Congressman Isidro Zarraga. In fact, majority of them
considered the bill timely, given the controversial case of Rosario Baluyot, the girl from
Olongapo City who died because a vibrator was inserted into her genitalia by an Austrian
doctor, What followed were some debates and a series of commentaries in the newspapers
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ranging from serious to ridicule, particularly on the consequences of the bill on the sanctity of
marriage, Despite early approval of the Committee Level, however, no committee report really
came out from the justice committee level and the 8th Congress adjourned without passing any
anti-rape law.

Refilling the Bill Under a New Congress

The 9th Congress (1992-1995) saw increase in the number of women legislators and
early in the ball game, women’s groups decided to take part in the legislative process to push
for the women’s agenda in the 1990s. Eleven women’s group banded together to work for a
common agenda which included the refilling of a more comprehensive anti-rape bill. Calling
themselves SIBOL or Sama-samang Inisyatiba ng Kababaihan sa Pagbabago ng Batas at
Lipunan, they submitted a draft anti-rape bill to women legislators for filing and consideration in
the 9th Congress. Among the women’s legislator, it was Congressman Glenda Ecleo who took
the cudgels for the bill and filed it, which was then read and referred to the committee on justice
on 29 October 1992. A comprehensive discussion on HB 4228 was then held by the
Committee on Justice, meeting jointly with the committee on women. But unlike the openness
shown by the previous Justice Committee in the 8th Congress, the bill met with strong opposition
from most of the members present. Some appeared to be merely cautious but the general
sentiment showed very strong degree of resistance to change.

Two more committee meetings were held on HB 4228 and in both instances, on 16
February 1994 and 16 March 1994, the anti-rape bill was torn to pieces by the uncompromising
legislators who did not believe change was necessary. For instance, Congressman Erasmo
Damasing pointed out that while he supported the move to reclassify rape from private to public,
he could not agree with changing the degree of evidence required to convict a person which,
based on bills filed, was provided for in such a manner that it “would go against the solid
dissertation of authorities on crimes and penalties” Congressman Manuel Sanchez commented
that while the bill may be timely considering cases of sodomy in other countries, he underscored
the need to be very careful about charging husbands with rape.

To the legislators, the following were therefore non-negotiable and must not be included:
(1) expansion of the meaning of rape to include marital rape, and (2) the redefinition of rape to
include forced penile penetration of a woman by any object or instrument other than the male’s
organ. But while it appeared that some had reservations on the reclassification of the crime of
rape from private to public, there were indications that the votes could be swayed. Chances of
adoption were seen as very possible. Unfortunately, however, the group SIBOL which
practically drafted the bill Congresswoman Ecleo filed had to do a “protest walk-out” to
dramatize their disgust over the watering down the bill they had submitted. At this juncture,
SIBOL and other women’s group made their position known that they could not support the
Committee’s version of the bill. No compromises were reached and thus, the 9th Congress, like
its predecessor Congress, adjourned without passing an anti-rape bill.

Pushing the Agenda Through 10th Congress

By November 1995, four months after the 1995 elections, the first meeting on the
various bills (HBs 29, 1566, 2439, 2768) seeking redefinition of and harsher penalties on rape
was held by the Subcommittees on Criminal Laws and on Disadvantaged Women, both on the
House Committee on Revision of Laws to pass a bill reclassifying the crime of rape as public,
not private- against person, not against chastity.
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A review of the minutes of the first meeting held on 6 November 1995 revealed that the
fight for the enactment of a true Anti-Rape Bill in accordance with the preferences of various
women’s groups headed again by SIBOL would not be a bit easier after five years since the
idea of reclassifying and redefining the crime of rape was introduced in the 8th Congress. For
one, this Congress was almost the same Congress that decided to dump the bill in the 9th
Congress. If the statement of the chairman, Congressman Edgar Lara, was any indication, it
seemed that the Subcommittee was rather conservative in its view of the crime of rape and
therefore traditional and resistant to a more expanded definition.

Not surprisingly, the bill came out of the Subcommittee used the traditional definition of
rape as defined in the Revised Penal Code and therefore, very well within the views and
preferences of Chairman Lara. The same Subcommittee, however, took a more liberal position
as regards the other contentious issues and recommended the reclassification of the crime from
private to public and from crime against chastity to crime against a person. It also recommended
the consolidation of the bill on marital rape into the Anti-Rape Bill. The former issue however
was deliberately debated on considering the other members favoured to redefine it as a crime
against liberty and security, with the strongest voice coming from a powerful member of the
Committee on Revision of Laws. Congressman Sergio Apostol of Leyte. Despite protestations
from women policy advocates on the mark-ups done at the Subcommittee level through
marathon hearings held almost every week, from 6-20 November 1995, the bills were reported
out with the following central issues needed to be resolved by the mother Committee on
Revision of Laws and the Committee on Women:

1. The redefinition of the crime of rape vis-a-vis the proposal to make it a gender-free
crime as differentiated from the traditional view that rape is a crime that can only be
done against a woman. Related concerns involved issues on sodomy or the act of
forcing someone to have sexual contact with an animal, the inclusion of a major
provision on marital rape, and other sexual acts that might not actually involve
penetration of women’s genital.

2. In relation to No. 1, the definition and introduction of a new crime to be called sexual
assault, a genderless crime involving unconventional sexual acts of violence and
aggression; and

3. The basic issue of the reclassification of the crime from private to public.

It must be noted that these were the very same major points of contention during the 8 th
th
and 9 Congress. And with the subject bills now within the hands of the Mother Committee on
Revision of Laws and the Committee on Women, SIBOL’s and other women’s groups’ difficult
task of even labouring and fighting against the position taken by the Subcommittee had just
begun. On 12 December 1995, the two standing Committees started the hearing on the anti-
rape bills.

Back to Square One: Repositioning and Strategizing at the Mother Committee

Among the positions taken by the women’s group, only one had been successfully
adopted at the Subcommittee level and expected to be adopted by the MotherCom with no
difficulty at all: the reclassification of the crime of rape from private to public. All other preferred
provisions of women’s groups were expected to undergo difficulty at the committee level. These
provisions refer to the following issues:
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1. Redefinition of rape to include cases involving forced anal and oral intercourse and
those which instruments and other objects other than man’s genitals (as opposed to
the traditional definition that rape as involving penetration of a woman’s genitalia by
the male’s organ;

2. Redefinition of rape to include marital rape.

Women’s groups headed by SIBOL were bent on pushing for the adoption of these
provisions and in blocking passage of a bill that merely (1) classified rape into a public crime
and (2) retained its traditional definition through the introduction of a new crime of sexual assault
to define acts of violence that did not constitute rape under the Revised Penal Code.

Unlike in the 9th Congress which stalled the passage of the proposed anti-rape law at the
Committee level, the Committees on Revision of Laws and on Women were very quick in their
deliberations. The committees took only two meetings to come out with Committee Report (CR)
No. 224 introducing a consolidated version of all the anti-rape bills and substituting the same
with HB No. 6265 with no less than Speaker Jose C. De Venecia himself as the principal author.
By 16 February 1996, CR 224 was submitted for deliberation on the Floor. This very short span
of time from the moment the Full of Mother Committee took over the discussion of the bill gave
the women’s committee very little time to bargain and strategize for the inclusion of their non-
negotiable positions at the Committee Level. It was so quick that even what was thought to be
a non-issue, the adoption of the reclassification of the crime of rape from private to public, was a
matter not clearly resolved by the Committee. In the 12th January 1996 joint committee hearing
of the Committees on Revision of Laws and on Women, there was full discussion on whether
the crime of rape should be reclassified from private to public. A very strong position taken that
the subject crime was really a crime against liberty and security but as concession, the
Committees took the women’s position b making it a crime against person. They decided on
possibility of retreating back to the liberty and security clause if and when the Floor appeared to
be very critical of the reclassification. But even claims for reclassification from private to public
crime were not actually stated in the final form of the bill except in its title (although it was
explained during deliberations on the Floor that its status as a public crime was deemed
established by the enumeration of people who could file complaints on cases of rape). Thus CR
224 was reported out amid very strong objections from women’s groups. CR 224 of HB 6265
contained the following major provisions:

1. Redefinition of the crime of rape so as to render it committable by a woman against a

man and also by one spouse against the other, provided that the spouses are legally
separated or have been separated for more than six months;

2. Definition of a new crime to be called “sexual assault,” a genderless crime involving

unconventional sexual acts of violence and aggression committed through attendant
circumstances as in rape with penalties. Sexual assault is thus committed (a) By a
man who shall insert his penis into another person’s mouth or anal orifice, whether
the later is male or female; (b) By any person, whether male or female, who shall
insert other parts of his or her body, or any instrument or object, into the genital or
anal orifice of another person, whether male or female; or (c) By any person who
shall make another person submit to sexual intercourse with an animal, whether
through the mouth, genital or anal opening; under any of the following:

(i) With the use of force, threat, or intimidations;

(ii) When the women is deprived of reason or otherwise rendered unconscious;
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(iii) When the women is below twelve years of age or is demented;

(iv) By using drugs, intoxicants or any other noxious means; and
(v) By means of abuse of authority or relationship.

On the whole therefore, what the Committee on Revision of Laws and on Women
endorsed was not the version preferred by the women’s advocates. And with the bill now in
hands of the entire membership of the House, SIBOL’s and other women’s groups’ hope to pass
a true anti-rape bill dimmed.

Politics on the Floor: Strong Opposition, the President’s Certification and other Side
Issues

Floor deliberation on HB 6265 did not start until 20 August 1996. And at the very outset,
despite being a watered down version, HB 6265 met with strong opposition. Even if strong
sponsorship speeches from various members had not yet been concluded, House members like
Cagayan de Oro’s Erasmo Damasing started raising questions on the various provisions of the
bill. Back in the 9th Congress, his opposition was among those that stalled the adoption of the
bill at the Committee level. Major points of contention in various phases of floor deliberation
could be summarized as reflecting those very common concerns raised in the Committee
(HR1996):
 Issue on whether reclassification of the crime of rape shall be expressly stated
 Concerns regarding the effect on marriage as regards inclusion of marital rape
 Issue on the effect of pardon by the victim spouse
 Issue on the scope and applicability of the proposed law on incidents involving
man and man, woman and woman, woman and man, and other sexual
orientations;
 Issue on the use of object or instrument other than the male’s organ and the
corresponding issue on the use of the word “orifice” and anal openings instead of
just sexual intercourse which presupposes the use of contact with genitals.

After a long debate on the bill, the House passed its final form (3rd Reading) on 11 November
1996 (three months after the floor started its deliberation in August 1996), with the House voting
162 in favour, with no negative or abstention votes. Taking into consideration the amendments
made on the Floor, HB 6265 had the following major provisions:

1. Reclassification of the crime of rape from private to public, this time expressly
stated in Sec. 2;

2. Use of the traditional meaning and scope of rape which assumed that only by
having carnal knowledge of a woman can rape be committed, which in effect
debunked earlier attempts to (a) expand rape as having possibly been committed
either against a man or a woman by instead using the words “persons” and
“opposite sex” and (b) include penetration of ay person’s orifices and anal opening
by objects or instruments other than the male’s organ; and

3. Introduction of the crime of sexual assault which lumped all acts of violence that
cannot otherwise be defined as rape.
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What was striking about the bill’s legislative history was the fact that under the 10th
Congress, Speaker De Venecia was among the principal authors, in fact the first on the list.
Moreover the bill was certified urgent by President Fidel V. Ramos himself, with the Presidential
Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) taking an active part in the following up and pushing for its
approval.

Conference Committee: Strategizing, Standoff and Breakthrough

The approval of two different versions of the anti-rape bill by the House (HB 6265) and
the Senate (SBN 950) automatically brought the proposed law to a Bicameral Conference
Committee to reconcile differing or opposing provisions of the House and Senate versions.
Members included panels from both houses, usually belonging to the standing committees
where the bill originated; author or co-authors of the bills or those who were not committee
members but were otherwise elected as conferees for the House: Hon. Sator, Hon. Apostol,
Hon. Damasing, Hon. Luciano, Hon Bakunawa, Hon. Lara, Hon. Angara-Castillo, Hon. Aquino-
Oreta, Hon. Roxas, Hon. Almario, and Hon. Laurel-Trinidad. On the part of the Senate, the
following were elected conferees: Hon. Coseteng, Hon. Santiago, Hon. Roco, Hon. Drilon, Hon.
Drilon and Hon. Shahani.

Being a Malacañang-certified bill, it is necessitated an urgent call to convene the

Conference Committee after the House approved its version on 11 November 1996. But finding
a common schedule of the conferees was difficult and it was not until March 1997 (or four
months after the House approval) that the Conference Committee meeting was formally held. It
is important to note, however, that prior to this date, pre-bicameral meetings has already been
held to map-out points of conflict and cooperation between both panels. Hence the 4-month
period gave both panels the chance to strategize and negotiate, bargain and compromise even
before the actual meeting. Such pre-bicameral meetings are actually utilized precisely to
facilitate smooth approval of the bill at this level by inviting those who are not members of the
Conference panel but are considered major stakeholder, like the women’s groups in this case or
those who have registered strong opposition or apprehension.

Thus on two occasions (20 January and 7 February 1997), the conferees of both
houses met with several opposing congressmen and representatives of women’s groups
advocating the passage of the Senate version as they were not happy about the version passed
by the House. In these meetings the following were identified as the major points of discussion
that would be taken up in the conference proper:

1. The difference in terms used to refer to identical acts enumerated in both Senate
and House versions of the bill (Should the acts be called “rape” or “sexual
assault”?);
2. The provision on marital rape (To delete or not?)
3. He provision on “Presumptions” (To delete or not?);
4. The provision on statutory rape (Should the age of discernment be 2 or 14?); and
5. The difference in the penalties prescribed for rape and sexual assault.

But with the pre-bicameral meetings were held and thought to have at least smoothened and
facilitated compromises and negotiations from all sides, the March 1997 meeting bogged down
with the Chairpersons of the House (Rep. Apostol) and the Senate (Senator Coseteng) greatly
at odds (which was said to be due to Rep. Apostol’s strong objection against the presence of
women’s group during the conference meeting). This triggered a conference impasse and
extremely threatened the bill’s chances of becoming a law, with Cong. Apostol refusing to go
 13

back to the conference table. A certified-urgent bill by Malacañang and co-authored by no less
than a strong presidential contender in the 1998 elections, generated very strong pressure for
the recovering of the conference group. In place of Rep. Apostol therefore, Rep. Lara,
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Criminal Laws of the House Committee on Revision of Laws
assumed chairmanship of the House Panel (HR 1997:415). And finally on 3 June 1997, a day
before the 10th Congress adjourned its 2nd Regular Session sine die. A Bicameral Conference
Committee Report on the contentious provisions of the bill was approved. The impasse had
been broken and a breakthrough was reached by approving a compromise bill. However, there
was no record of the Bicameral Report (as usually the case) and thus, the background on how
compromises were reached could only be surmised in the discussion on the Floor, when the
report was presented by the conference panel to the entire membership of both Houses.

The Final Vote: The Result of a Compromise

As stated in this article’s discussion on the legislative mill relative to the role of
conference committee, the Floor could only ratify reject or recommit to the conference panel the
conference report. The entire membership could not be therefore introduce any amendment but
could only seek clarification from the members of the conference panel.

The transcript of the session on 3 September 1997 revealed that there were some last
ditch efforts to delay the passage of the compromise version of the anti-rape bill. Although most
of the congressman professed support for the passage of a law that would ensure protection of
women from rape, they were very much concerned about how the international community
would react if the House ratified the report. The Muslims also voiced their concern about its
implications for their religion. Despite these opposing views, the compromise version was put a
vote, finally, after seven years, spanning the 8th, 9th, and 10th Congress, the anti-rape law was
pass. Thus on 30 September 1997, Republic Act 8353 was signed into law by President Fidel
V. Ramos.

In the final version, the following compromises must be noted:

1. The introduction of the act of sexual assault (not present in the Senate but present in the
House version) as an act of rape (as preferred by the Senate) with lighter penalties (as
preferred by the House) than for a crime of traditional rape as explained in Section 2 (1)
(RA 8353), which has the corresponding penalty of reclusion perpetual or life
imprisonment to death.

2. The inclusion of rape by marital sexual assault (a compromise version meeting the
preference of the Senate panel to refer to it as rape, and that of the House panel to
provide lighter penalties] for sexual assault) with lighter penalties and with provision on
the effect of pardon by the wife as the offended victim (as preferred by the Senate).

SUMMARY

The Congressional Committee system remains an important and powerful institution in

Philippine policymaking. It provides the committees vast powers emanating from the
constitutional mandate of Congress as the lawmaking body of the land. And practically all
activities of Congress particularly that of the House of Representatives concern the committees
for it is through them that Congress is able to do its job. Having patterned our government after
that of the United States, we borrowed the very system, structures, and procedures of their
legislative process. Even traditions, particularly those which reinforce committee influence like
 14

the seniority system and to a certain extent, secrecy, are adopted in the Philippines as our very
own. Clearly, these traditions and powers, including their sources, place committees in the
center of the entire policy process. Sources of committee powers in the House of
Representatives include (1) congressional rules and procedures as embodied in the House
Rules; (2) committee’s gate keeping power; (3) conference committees; and (4) the legislature’s
inherent powers as means of checks and balances in relation to the powers as means of checks
and balances in relation to the powers of the Executive and the Judiciary.

The last three Congresses – 8th, 9th, and 10th – as well as the 11th Congress- saw an
increase in the number of standing committees, subcommittees, and special committees in the
House. Most of them because of political accommodation considering that committee
chairmanship are considered a plum position given the perks that go with it, aside from the
influence one holds over certain policy areas falling within the committee chair’s jurisdiction
clearly a political mileage for someone aspiring for a much higher position.

Similarly, there has been considerable increase in the sizes of committees not only
because of the actual increase in number of members due to creation of new districts or
provinces or the appointment of more sectoral representatives or their election, in the case of
the party list representatives, but because of political accommodation. Membership in a
particular committee provides members dome influence in the direction of policy concerns and
as seen in this article, increase in membership is largely seen in Committees where getting
something for their constituent is of paramount interest.

By and large, the committee, though powerful and influential, is therefore greatly
influenced by the President and the greater body that is the Floor or the entire House
membership. In the case of the anti-rape law, for instance, the President’s instruction and
certification for the urgent approval of the bill fast tracked its passage into law. In cases like
this, the committee is seen as weak and unable to assert its power. Related to this is the fact
that the committee is subject to another power that is the Floor. And since the committee is
always subject to Floor vote, it has no choice but to accept the changes proposed and approved
on the Floor. However, once the conference committee is convened, the upper hand is again
claimed by the committee, at least as regards the specific content of the bill. For while the
subject bill is to be submitted again to the Floor, a conference committee report, once it is
approved by both the House and the Senate panels, cannot anymore be amended on the Floor.
Per the House Rules, the Floor can only seek clarification, approve, reject, or recommit the bill
to the conference committee. In the case of the anti-rape bill, the entire membership had no
choice but to approve it despite the many amendments that some congressmen were
suggesting. It was for the most part a political decision considering its implications for the 1998
elections.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

The case of the anti-rape law illustrates how compromises are made at the committee
level and how these compromises affect decision on the Floor. It is also one example of how a
policy advocacy group successfully pursued its policy preferences from the drafting of the bill, to
attending committee hearings, to lobbying each member of the Committees of both the House
and the Senate, to seeking the help of the Administration through the National Commission on
the Role of Filipino Women, and finally through the President’s intervention himself by including
it in his agenda and certifying the bill as urgent. This also clearly showed how the President’s
agenda affects congressional committee’s decision which illustrates in part how the Executive
Department leads the country’s policy direction.
 15

Republic Act No. 8353, also known as the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, is a landmark
legislation for Filipino women because it provided for a broader definition of the crime of rape
and reclassifying it from a Crime Against Chastity to a Crime Against Persons. It was signed into
law by President Fidel V. Ramos on September 30, 1997, and became Article 266-A to 266-D
under Crimes Against Persons (Title Eight) of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines on
October 22, 1997.

The crime of rape, under the old provisions of the Revised Penal Code, was considered
a "Crime Against Chastity," implying that only "virtuous" or "chaste" women can be victims of
rape. More emphasis was placed on the "loss of chastity" of a woman or the denigration of her
"value" and the staining of her honor, rather than a violation of her being. It was considered a
private crime, and only the injured party or specific family members could file a complaint
against the perpetrator. Even then, most rape survivor-victims kept quiet about their violation,
because prosecution of the case leads to embarrassment, as the defense-respondents often
sought to prove that the victim was not "chaste"--thus no rape occurred.

The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 sought to remedy the failings of the old provisions of the law
by reclassifying rape as a Crime Against Persons, thus making it a public crime. This meant that
anyone who knew about the crime could file a complaint against the offender, and even if the
victim later pardoned the offender or dropped the case, prosecution of the case could still
continue.

It broadened the definition of the crime of rape, made marital rape punishable, and
provided certain circumstances wherein rape was considered a heinous crime meriting the
death penalty.
 16

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY

By: Ross Gittell, Matt Magnusson, and Michael Miranda

An Article Review

19 July 2014
 17

INTRODUCTION

Public policy is a complex and multifaceted process. It involves the interplay of many
parties. This includes many businesses, interest groups, and individuals competing and
collaborating to influence policymakers to acts in a particular way and on a variety of policies.
These individuals and groups use numerous tactics to advance their interests. The tactics can
include lobbying, advocating their positions publicly, attempting to educate supporters and
opponents, and mobilizing allies on a particular issue. Perfect policies rarely emerge from the
political process. Most often policy outcomes involve compromises among interested parties.

When a business considers which policy to support and advocate for, considerations
include what is in their best interest – that is, which policy could help the business achieve the
greatest profits. Other considerations include the policy’s political feasibility, whether a majority
of others will support the policy, and also how cost effective and efficient the policy would be
prohibitive.

BACKGROUND OF THE ARTICLE

Chapter 3.1 of the book The Sustainable Business Case Book, v. 1.0 written by Ross
Gitell, Matt Magnusion and Michael Miranda explained that public policies are influenced by a
variety of factors. These factors include public opinion, economic conditions, new scientific
discoveries, technological change, interest groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
business lobbying, and other political activity.

The chapter stresses that public opinion and priorities have strong influence on public
policy overtime. Relevant to sustainable business is the increasing public concern about the
environment, volatile energy prices, and global climate change. This is influencing public policy
through electoral politics, citizen’s rallies, and actions that affect government decision makers.

The chapter also significantly explained that economic conditions affect the policy
environment. The Great Recession at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century
enhanced interest and support for public investments and incentives that could help to create
jobs.

The authors delved on technology advancement as one of the factors affecting public
policy. The authors emphasized that technology is constantly changing and public policies
change with technological inventions. New lower-cost and easier-to-use technologies can
increase public support for policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency and
that reduce environmental damage.

The authors also considered interest groups which include business and trade
associations, and cause-oriented citizen groups and lobbies as a factor influencing public policy.
Interest groups advocate for public policies that serves the desires of their members and further
the mission of their organization.

The chapter also discussed business efforts to influence public policy and government
include not only individual company but also business association. These associations act
collectively to promote public policies in the best interest business in general and also the
interest of specific industries and localities.
 18

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not a private company

and does not have formal affiliation or representation with the government. these are interest
groups, and they often try to influence private business behavior either directly by persuasion or
protest or indirectly by being influential in shaping public policy as the authors implied.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

Public policies are influenced by a variety of factors including public opinion, economic
conditions, new scientific findings, technological change, interest groups, NGOs, business
lobbying and political activity.

Public opinion is often a proximate cause of policy, affecting policy more than policy
influences opinion.

Public opinion seems to be much more effective in influencing policy making at the local
level than at the state or national levels. One reason for this is that issues of concern to local
governments—such as the condition of roads, schools, and hospitals—are less complex than
those dealt with by governments at higher levels; another is that at the local level there are
fewer institutional or bureaucratic barriers between policy makers and voters.

Policy can be shaped when an individual takes such dramatic steps that the public and
political leaders are compelled to take action. For example, following a tragic shooting, initiated
by one individual, the public and its lawmakers may be compelled to review gun laws and seek
changes in policy.

A nation's economy can be highly volatile and is often a function of a variety of factors. In
a strong economy, unemployment is low and consumers enjoy increased spending power. In a
struggling economy, more people are out of work and consumer confidence dwindles. As
confidence decreases, less money goes back into the economy, causing businesses to become
less profitable and jobs to disappear.

Public policy plays a central role in mediating this interface between science and
technology and society. Among its most potent impacts, policy shapes innovation — and is
therefore the key to society translating knowledge into technologies and products that benefit
all, in time. In today's globalized world, innovation can be swift and its possibilities rich; in the
digital world innovation is at once in the hands of many, yet still complex and involving many
actors and institutions. Public policy has a particularly important role to play shaping these
relations, supporting and catalyzing research, and accelerating diffusion by many paths. As our
networked world is already transforming these dynamics, gaining rapid insight to trends in
technology and innovation as they unfold, and how public policy may affect them positively is
critical to contributing to the challenges of our times.

People have also influence in public policy by taking an interest in local politics and help
candidates that represent their interests get elected. The people must get involved. Lobbyists
influence public policy all the time. They are actively engaging the people that sign policies into
law, in the interest of whomever they represent. A majority of the laws and policies that affect
our everyday life are at the state and local level.

As result of the wide variety of influencing factors that tend to pull and push policy in
different directions, public policy change often happens slowly. Absent a crisis, and sometimes
during a crisis, the influencing factors can tend to check and counteract each other, slowing the
 19

development and implementation of new policy and tending to lead to incremental radical than
radical changes in public policy. And often, the influencing agents are more effective in blocking
policy change than in having new policies adopted.
 20

THE POLICY FOCUS:

RATIONAL MODEL

INCREMENTAL MODEL

An Insight Paper

02 August 2014
 21

INTRODUCTION

Policy analysis is "determining which of various alternative policies will most achieve a
given set of goals in light of the relations between the policies and the goals". However, policy
analysis can be divided into two major fields. Analysis of policy is analytical and descriptive—
i.e., it attempts to explain policies and their development. Analysis for policy is prescriptive—
i.e., it is involved with formulating policies and proposals (e.g., to improve social welfare). The
area of interest and the purpose of analysis determine what type of analysis is conducted.

Jenkins (1978) states that public policy is a set of interrelated decisions taken by a
political actor concerning the selection of goals and means of achieving them, which is held
within the powers of the actors to achieve. It should be partly or wholly developed within the
framework of Governmental procedures, influences and organizations. Models can be used as a
simplification of reality to describe what is, or attempt to restructure and improve upon reality as
a normative prescription of what ought to be as in the case of the rational model.

The concept of incrementalism has been widely cited over the past three decades, yet it
has not served as the basis for a cumulatively developing line of empirical and theoretical
inquiry. As a result, the highly promising incrementalist framework has contributed surprisingly
little to improving our understanding of how decision-making processes can better adapt to
humans' cognitive limitations. One indicator of the lack of progress is that policy scholars have
never made a sustained attempt to explain how practitioners can become better incrementalists.
To see whether the concept's original formulation may be obscuring the way to further progress,
we summarize and appraise four enduring criticisms of incrementalism: its alleged lack of goal
orientation, conservatism, limited range of applicability, and negative stance toward analysis.
While questioning the validity of the critics' claims, we nevertheless propose a way to reframe
the incrementalist endeavor, with the intention of stimulating both its critics and defenders to get
on with the task of learning more about how individuals, organizations, and societies can
proceed relatively intelligently despite the fact that humans rarely have a good understanding of
complex social problems and policy options.

OBJECTIVES

This paper aims to discuss how modern policy analysis is informed by two process of
decision-making.

CONTENT

Government institutions have long been a central focus of political science. Public policy
is aut hor it at ively determ ined, im plem ented, and enf or ced by these inst it ut ions.
The relationship between public policy and government institutions is very close.
Strictly speaking, a policy does not become a public policy until it is adopted, implemented, and
enforced by some government institution. Government institutions give public policy
three distinctive characteristics.

• First, government lends legitimacy to policies. Government policies are generally

regarded as legal obligations that command the loyalty of citizens.
• Second, gover nment policies involve universality. Only government policies
extend to all people in a society; the policies of other groups or organizations reach
only a part of the society.
 22

• Finally, government monopolizes coercion in societ y; only g over nm ent can

legitimately imprison violators of its policies. The impact of institutional arrangements on
public policy is an empirical question that deserves investigation. Federalism recognizes
that both the national government and the state governments derive independent legal authority
from their own citizens.

Process: Policy as Political Activity

Today political processes and behaviors are a central focus of political science. Political
scientists with an interest in policy have grouped various activities according to
their relationship with public policy. The result is a Policy process, which outlines

 Problem Identification: The identification of policy problems through demands for

government action.
 Policy Formulation: The development of policy proposals by interest groups, White
House staff, congressional committees, and think tanks.
 Policy Legitimation: The selection and endorsement of policies through political actions by
Congress, the president, and the courts.
 Policy Implementation: The implem ent at ion of policies t hr ough
organized bureaucracies, public expenditures, and the activities of executive agencies.
 Policy Evaluation: T he evaluat ion of policies by gover nment ag encies
t hem selves, outside consultants, the press, and the public. It has been argued that
political scientists should limit their studies of public policy to these processes
and avoid analyses of the substance of policies. It is not the content of public
policy that is to be studied but rather the processes by which ·public policy is
developed, implemented, and changed.

Rationalism: Policy as Maximum Social Gain

A r at ional policy is one t hat achieves "m axim um social g ain"; t hat is,
gover nm ents should choose policies r esult ing in g ains t o societ y t hat exceed
cost s by t he great est amount, and governments should refrain from policies if costs are not
exceeded by gains .First, no policy should be adopted if its costs exceed its benefits.
Second, among policy alternatives, decision makers should choose the policy that produces
the greatest benefit over cost. To select a rational policy, policymakers must(1) Know all the
preferences and their relative weights,(2) know all the policy alternatives available,(3) Know all
the consequences of each policy alternative,(4) Calculate the ratio of benefits to costs for each
policy alternative, and (5) Select the most efficient policy alternative. Rational policymaking also
requires information about alternative policies, the predictive capacity to foresee accurately the
consequences of alternate policies, and the intelligence to calculate correctly the ratio of costs
to benefits. Finally, rational policymaking requires a decision-making system that facilitates
rationality in policy formation. Large investments in existing programs and policies (sunk
costs) prevent policymakers from reconsidering alternatives foreclosed by previous
decisions.

In H · A · Simon's bounded rationality model, the rationality is conditioned. The actual

process of social activities is affected by intuition, experience, accuracy of information and value
judgments. Pure objective and rational decision-making model is only a hypothesis model, it
doesn’t exist in reality. In the bounded rationality model, the decision maker should distinguish
 23

fact from value and preferences; and he shouldn’t replace the value with the fact; also, the
decision maker should distinguish method from goal... In fact, the government has only limited
policy options and decision-maker can only do limited cost-benefit analysis. The information,
material resources, political support and time of the policy are all limited; therefore, the policy
choice has been limited. According to this situation, the assessment criteria of the policy are not
whether this policy is optimal or not, the criteria of the policy are whether it is satisfying and
second best or not. Simon’s theory doesn’t say that the decision makers can’t make any non-
incremental progress, however it tells us that the decision making process are limited by
information and power. If the policy maker can have enough material support, political support,
information and enough time then they can make some non-incremental process; if all these
factors are very limited then it is highly unlikely for them to make a very no-incremental policy
process.

Definition of the Rational Model

According to Owen E. Hughes, the rational model was well defined by Lindblom (1968,
p.12) as: 1. faced with a given problem 2. a rational man first clarifies his goals, values or
objectives and then ranks or otherwise organizes them in his mind; 3. he then lists all important
possible ways of policies for-achieving his goals 4. and investigates all the important
consequences that would follow from each of the alternative policies; 5. at which point he is in a
position to compare consequences of each policy with goals 6. and so choose a policy with
consequences most closely matching his goals.

Incrementalism: Policy as Variations on the Past

Incrementalism views public policy as a continuation of past government activities with

only incremental modifications. On the contrary, constraints of time, information, and
cost prevent policymakers from identifying the full range of policy alternatives and
their consequences. Incrementalism is conservative in that existing programs; policies,
and expenditures are considered as a base, and attention is concentrated on new programs
and policies and on increases, decreases, or modifications of current programs. Policymakers
generally accept the legitimacy of established programs and tacitly agree to cont inue
pr evious policies. Second, policym aker s accept the leg it im acy of
pr evious policies because of the uncertainty about the consequences of completely new or
different policies known programs when the consequences of new programs cannot be
predicted. Conflict is heightened when decision making focuses on major policy shifts
involving gr eat gains or losses, or "all - or-nothing, " " yes - or -no" policy decisions.

Incrementalism is a method of working by adding to a project using many small (often

unplanned), incremental changes instead of a few (extensively planned) large jumps. Wikipedia,
for example, illustrates the concept by building an encyclopedia bit by bit, continually adding to
it. In a similar vein, according to legend Virgil wrote the Aeneid in an incremental process,
averaging three lines per day, and the Georgics even more slowly at an average of one line per
day. Logical incrementalism implies that the steps in the process are sensible. Logical
Incrementalism focuses on "the Power-Behavioral Approach to planning rather than to the
Formal Systems Planning Approach."In public policy, incrementalism refers to the method of
change by which many small policy changes are enacted over time in order to create a larger
broad based policy change.

Lindblom’s incrementalism model emphasizes that the policy process is an ongoing

process. Decision-making process is largely based on decision-makers’ past experience with
 24

some slight modifications of existing policy. This is an incremental process, and the changes
within this process seemed to be slow, but the small changes may lead into some great
changes, the actual speed of changing is often greater than we thought. However, a drastic
policy change from “policy A to the next policy A1” is not only unfeasible but also undesirable; a
drastic change may threat social stability and will cause policy disruptions.

In his view, the decision-making and policy-making process are bounded to political
factor, technical factor, and they are also constrained by existing policies. And all these
constrain have determined that the decision-making process is incremental.

SUMMARY

Government institutions have long been a central focus of political science. Public policy
is aut hor it at ively determ ined, im plem ented, and enf or ced by these inst it ut ions.
The relationship between public policy and government institutions is very close.
Strictly speaking, a policy does not become a public policy until it is adopted, implemented, and
enforced by some government institution.

According to Owen E. Hughes, the rational model was well defined by Lindblom as: 1.
faced with a given problem 2. a rational man first clarifies his goals, values or objectives and
then ranks or otherwise organizes them in his mind; 3. he then lists all important possible ways
of policies for-achieving his goals 4. and investigates all the important consequences that would
follow from each of the alternative policies; 5. at which point he is in a position to compare
consequences of each policy with goals 6. and so choose a policy with consequences most
closely matching his goals.

Lindblom’s incrementalism model emphasizes that the policy process is an ongoing

process. Decision-making process is largely based on decision-makers’ past experience with
some slight modifications of existing policy. This is an incremental process, and the changes
within this process seemed to be slow, but the small changes may lead into some great
changes, the actual speed of changing is often greater than we thought. However, a drastic
policy change from “policy A to the next policy A1” is not only unfeasible but also undesirable; a
drastic change may threat social stability and will cause policy disruptions.

In his view, the decision-making and policy-making process are bounded to political
factor, technical factor, and they are also constrained by existing policies. And all these
constrain have determined that the decision-making process is incremental.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

Many models exist to analyze the creation and application of public policy. Analysts use
these models to identify important aspects of policy, as well as explain and predict policy and its
consequences.

Rational Decision-Making Model

This type of model is based around a cognitive judgement of the pros and cons of
various options. It is organized around selecting the most logical and sensitive alternatives that
will have the desired effect.
 25

Rational decision models can be quite time consuming and often require o lot of
preparation in terms of information gathering. In rational model, the first step is to identify the
problem. After the problem has been identified, the goals and objectives should be established.
Then, generate all the possible alternatives. All alternatives should be evaluated and the best
alternatives shall be selected. Lastly, the decision shall be implemented and evaluated.

Incremental Decision-Making Model

In this model, the most decisions are made as the process of muddling through. A set of
limited set of options are considered and these options are only marginally different from
existing situation. The options are considered by comparing the actual consequences. The
decisions in the incremental model are made by trial and error. Once an option is considered,
the consequences are being observed. If the consequences are fine, then that option is
considered a little more but if the consequences are negative, another option may be used. In
this model, the focus is on outcomes and trial and error.

Lindblom’s incrementalism model can work go in a stable situation. However, it has

some limitations and inadequacies. Firstly, it is a conservative approach; it is generally suitable
for relatively stable environment. In order to make the policy process work well, the former
policy should be good. However, once the social conditions and the environment changed
dramatically, the incremental decision-making model may not work well. History has shown that
certain moment in social development requires substantial policy adjustments, and sometimes it
is even necessary for the policy makers to abandon former policy. In these situations, the
incremental method could be useless or even has some negative effects. In these cases, I think
the bounded rationality policy model can work better. Because in this model, policy maker can
make new policy by using limited information through careful calculations. Although in the
bounded rationality model, the first trial of new policy is not perfect, but it can provide a useful
base for further improvement for next incremental process

In conclusion, I think whether policy process is rational or incremental should depend on

different situations. Also, in order to discuss whether a policy process is rational or non-
incremental we should limit the time span of the policy process. The incremental process works
better in a stable environment and it does not require a clear policy goal; if the policy process is
theoretically limited within a short policy period, then there will be no major changes. The non-
incremental process may work better in a rapid changing situation. The bounded rationality
model shows that the policy makers could make useful policy with limited information and
resources.
 26

PARTNERSHIPS, COALITIONS AND NETWORKING

A Case Analysis Paper

23 August 2014
 27

INTRODUCTION

Can policy network structures explain policy outputs? Policy network structures describe
the relations among collective political actors (political parties, interest groups, state
administration, etc.) participating in a given policy domain. Policy outputs are the result of
negotiations and interactions among collective political actor during a decision-making process.
Therefore, relations between collective actors should be an element allowing us to understand
policy outputs.

Understanding how policy networks affect policy outputs is important mainly because
policy outputs are potential solutions to political problems and as such regulate society. In
different situations, different policy outputs might be preferable. If we know how
policy network structures influence policy outputs; we might be able to design the policy
networks that produce preferable outputs.

This cannot be achieved in isolation. To be effective in this area the government must
reach out to form alliances and achieve some leverage in joining the ever shifting coalitions
which are consistently redefining social issues, expanding constituencies, promoting
constructive engagement, enhancing mutual learning and finally engaging in political action for
social change. This forms the bedrock for policy advocacy, and further calls for the articulation
of varied and flexible mechanisms through which citizens define and process broad range of
interests, meet individual and group needs, make popular participation feasible. Towards this
end, they usually facilitate/encourage the development of a dense mosaic of independent,
politically conscious, but voluntary and people-driven organizations, which strengthen the direct
participation of citizens in both local and national decision making processes. Such initiatives
provide essential training grounds in democratic citizenship.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to explain the vital role and relevance of partnerships, coalitions and
networking in public policy arena.

CONTENT

Legislation and other policy initiatives have proven to be among the most effective
strategies for achieving broad public health goals. Both formal and informal policies have the
ability to affect large numbers of people by improving the environments in which they live and
work, encouraging people to lead healthy lifestyles, and providing for consumer protections.

In the arena of public health, community mobilization is a relatively young concept.

Traditionally, public health activities have been performed in a medical model, with the provider-
expert at the center, delivering services to individuals. Addressing today's public health
problems, however, requires a community as well as a medical approach. It is not effective for a
public health professional to enter low-income neighborhoods and lecture residents to stop
smoking and eat five-a-day servings of vegetables to reduce their risk of cancer or heart
disease. These messages fail to capture the interest of communities confronting more urgent
concerns of violence, drug use, unemployment, and the struggle to keep families together.
Instead, health departments must be willing to meet with communities and share the agenda,
prioritizing community concerns as well as health department goals.
 28

Changing organizational practices involves modifying the internal policies and practices
of agencies and institutions. This can result in improved health and safety for staff of the
organization, better services for clients, and a healthier community environment. Advocating for
organizational change at agencies such as law enforcement, schools and health departments
can result in a broad impact on community health.

Coalitions and networks composed of community organizations, policy makers,

businesses, health providers and community residents working together, can be powerful
advocates for legislation and organizational change. Coalitions and networks also provide an
opportunity for joint planning, system-wide problem solving and collaborative policy
development to ensure that the voices of all community sectors are represented in public health
prevention programs.

This strategy reaches an influential group of individuals "in and out of the health field"
that have daily contact with large numbers of people at high risk for injury and disease. By
educating providers to identify and intervene in public health issues, professionals,
paraprofessionals and community activists working with the public can become front-line
advocates for public health. Providers can encourage adoption of healthy behaviors, screen for
health risks, contribute to community education, and advocate for policies and legislation.

National TB Program

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobeacterium tuberculosis

that is mainly acquired by inhalation of infectious droplets containing viable tubercle bacilli.
Infectious droplets can be produced by coughing, sneezing, talking and singing. Coughing is
generally considered as the most efficient way of producing infectious droplets.

In 2007, there are 9.27 million incident cases of TB worldwide and Asia accounts for
55% of the cases. Through the National TB Program (NTP), the Philippines achieved the global
targets of 70% case detection for new smear positive TB cases and 89% of these became
successfully treated. The various initiatives undertaken by the Program, in partnership with
critical stakeholders, enabled the NTP to sustain these targets. Nonetheless, emerging
concerns like drug resistance and co-morbidities need to be addressed to prevent rapid
transmission and future generation of such threats. Coverage should also be broadened to
capture the marginalized populations and the vulnerable groups namely, urban and rural poor,
captive populations (inmates/prisoners), elderly and indigenous groups.

Last 2009, the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Department
of Health led the process of formulating the 2010-2016 Philippine Plan of Action to Control TB
(PhilPACT) that serves as the guiding direction for the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Learning from the Directly-Observed Treatment Shortcourse
(DOTS) strategy, the eight (8) strategies of PhilPACT are anchored on this TB control
framework. Moreover, these strategies are also attuned with the Government’s health reform
agenda known as Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP) to ensure sustainability and risk protection.

Vision: TB-free Philippines

Goal: To reduce by half TB prevalence and mortality compared to 1990 figures by 2015
 29

Objectives:

The NTP aims to:

1. Reduce local variations in TB control program performance

2. Scale-up and sustain coverage of DOTS implementation
3. Ensure provision of quality TB services
4. Reduce out-of-pocket expenses related to TB care

Strategies:

Under PhilPACT, there are 8 strategies to be implemented, namely:

1. Localize implementation of TB control

2. Monitor health system performance
3. Engage all health care providers, public and private
4. Promote and strengthen positive behavior of communities
5. Address MDR-TB,TB-HIV and needs of vulnerable populations
6. Regulate and make quality TB diagnostic tests and drugs
7. Certify and accredit TB care providers
8. Secure adequate funding and improve allocation and efficiency of fund utilization

Program Accomplishments:

Significant progress has been achieved since the Philippines adopted the DOTS
strategy in 1996 and at the end of 2002-2003, all public health centers are enabled to deliver
DOTS services. Because of the Government’s efforts to continuously improve health care
delivery, there have been progressive increases in the detection and treatment success. While a
strong groundwork has been installed, acceleration of efforts is entailed to expand and sustain
successful TB control. All stakeholders are called upon to achieve the TB targets linked to the
MDGs set to be attained by 2015. However, with the emergence of other TB threats, more has
to be done. Likewise, with the ongoing global developments and new technologies in the
pipeline, constraints will hopefully be addressed.

The 2010-2016 PhilPACT as defined by multi-sector partners, through broad-based

collective technical inputs, underlines the key strategic approaches towards achieving these
targets at both national and local levels. The Plan aims for universal access to DOTS including
strategic responses to vulnerable groups and emerging TB threats. Nationwide, a wide array of
health facilities are installed and equipped to provide quality TB care to the general population.
This involves participation of private facilities (clinics, hospitals), other health-related agencies or
NGOs and other Government organizations. Coverage for DOTS services, at least in the public
primary care network has reached nearly 100% in late 2002. Ever since, diagnosis through
sputum smear microscopy and treatment with a complete set of anti-TB drugs are given free
through the support of the Government. Training on TB care for different types of health workers
is being conducted through the regional and local NTP Coordinators. The conclusions during
the program implementation review (PIR) done by the DOH of selected public health programs
on January 2008 reveal the following:

 Extent and quality of nationwide TB-DOTS coverage have reached levels necessary for
eventual control since 2004 up to present
 30

 NTP continues to add enhancements and improvements to TB care providers for better
delivery of services

Partner Organizations/Agencies:

The following are the organizations/agencies that take part in achieving the objectives of the
National TB Control Program:

 Philippine Business for Social Progress

 Philippine Coalition Against TB
 Holistic Community Development Initiatives (HCDI)
 National TB Ref Laboratory
 Lung Center of the Philippines
 Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)
 Bureau of Corrections
 Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
 Department of Education (DepEd)
 Armed Forces of the Philippines-Office of the Surgeon General (AFP-OTSG)
 Phil Health
 Research Institute of Tuberculosis/ Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association Philippines, Inc.
(RIT/JATA)
 Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc. (PTSI)
 Kabalikat sa Kalusugan
 Samahang Lusog Baga
 National Commission for Indigenous Peoples
 Department of National Defense-Veterans Memorial Medical Center (DND-VMMC)
 Occupational Health and Safety (OSHC); Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC)
 World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF)
 International Committee of Red Cross
 Korea Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH)
 World Health Organization (WHO)
 United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
 Committee of German Doctors for Developing Countries

SUMMARY

Legislation and other policy initiatives have proven to be among the most effective
strategies for achieving broad public health goals. Both formal and informal policies have the
ability to affect large numbers of people by improving the environments in which they live and
work, encouraging people to lead healthy lifestyles, and providing for consumer protections.

Coalitions and networks composed of community organizations, policy makers,

businesses, health providers and community residents working together, can be powerful
advocates for legislation and organizational change. Coalitions and networks also provide an
opportunity for joint planning, system-wide problem solving and collaborative policy
development to ensure that the voices of all community sectors are represented in public health
prevention programs.

Tuberculosis has been a major cause of illness and death in the Philippines yet TB
control efforts have historically, been fragmented and uncoordinated. The National TB Control
 31

Program of the Department of Health has made significant advances in improving the quality
and extent of its control efforts but the private sector and even other departments of government
have not been integrated into the overall TB control activities. Recognizing the need for a more
unified and concerted effort the Department of Health, assisted by the Philippine Coalition
against Tuberculosis organized various stakeholders into a working group to develop this
Comprehensive and Integrated Policy for TB Control in the Philippines. Beginning in January
2002, the organizing committee began a series of stakeholders’ meetings and on World TB Day,
March 2002, a Memorandum of Agreement in which each stakeholder committed their support
and involvement in the policy development process was signed.

Using the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) as the core policy, two main working
groups were formed. The first group was to develop the guidelines for the implementation of the
NTP in government agencies other than the Department of Health. This group included the
Departments of Health, Education, National Defense, Interior and Local Governments, Justice,
Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Social Welfare and Development, Science and Technology, the
National Economic Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency and the National
Council for Indigenous Peoples. The second group was tasked with establishing policies that
would formalize the involvement of the private sector, particularly private physicians, in TB
control. This group was comprised of the representatives of the Social Security System,
Government Services Insurance System, Employees Compensation Commission, the Philippine
Health Insurance Corporation, the Philippine Medical Association, Association of Health
Maintenance Organizations of the Philippines, Employees Confederation of the Philip
pines, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Occupational Safety and Health Center (DOLE)
and the Overseas Workers and Welfare Administration.

This resulting policy presents several significant achievements. First, the “Guidelines for
Implementation by Government Agencies” formalizes and operationalizes the collaboration
between the Department of Health and other departments of government with regards to the
NTP. Second, the “Guidelines for Implementation by Private Physicians” will provide clear
directions on the clinical management of TB by private practitioners that will comply with NTP
policy. The “TB Benefits Policy of the SSS/GSIS/ECC” has unified the policies of these different
agencies and aligned them with the NTP. The pioneer “TB outpatient benefits package” of the
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation” is presented for the first time in this policy.

The organizing committee concludes with three recommendations: 1) that a final

meeting be held before the end of 2002 to formally obtain the official commitments of each
stakeholder in the acceptance and implementation of the policy, 2) that a one-year grace period
for dissemination and training regarding the policy beginning August 22, 2002, be implemented
prior to full implementation in August 2003, and 3) that the organizing committee and all
stakeholders be reconvened after two full years of implementation to evaluate the policy and
recommend any necessary revisions.

CASE STUDY

Partnership, coalitions and networking plays a vital role in the policy process. The
government must reach out to facilitate the development of policy outputs because policy
outputs are potential solution to political problems.
 32

Despite the limitation of resources, the TB research program has progressed to the
attainment of each objective by the initiation progress that could help understand, control and
prevent multi-drug resistant TB.

Tuberculosis is a major public health program in the Philippines. Through the National
TB Control Program, the Philippines achieved the global target of 70% case detection rate and
89% treated success rate. With partnership and coalition with critical stakeholders, the program
was able to sustain these targets. The National TB Control program is managed by a central
team at the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Department of Health.
This team develops policies and plans and provides technical guidance to different levels
overseeing the implementation of the programs at the municipal and barangay levels based on
NTP policies and standards.

The Philippines has achieved improvements in case detection and exceeded the target
for treatment success despite numerous challenges, particularly in making services accessible
in difficult geographic and socioeconomic settings. The country aims to further improve access
to diagnostic and treatment services, especially for highly vulnerable groups, while sustaining
high cure and treatment success rates particularly among smear-positive PTB cases. Efforts will
be directed at improving diagnostic capabilities in DOTS facilities and hospitals, addressing
barriers to follow-up examinations for patients under treatment as well as the factors that
promote treatment default and improving the referral system to reduce transfer-outs. Factors
that contribute to TB mortality such as diagnostic and treatment delay and co-morbidities need
to be addressed as well. Finally, the TB information system will be strengthened to improve its
usefulness for surveillance, planning and decision-making. With the current trend of NTP
performance, it is predicted that the country will achieve Millennium Development Goals and
Stop TB partnership targets before 2015.
 33

POLICY DELIVERY:
REDISCOVERING THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

A Critique Paper

06 September 2014
 34

INTRODUCTION

Although contracting out to voluntary organisations began in earnest in the mid-1980’s,

the sector’s involvement in public service delivery has grown rapidly in recent years in both
scale and scope, fuelled by policy goals of a mixed economy of providers and meeting the
increasing needs (and demands) of an ageing, atomised population.

Over the period since 2000 the sector’s statutory income has grown faster than total
public spending, suggesting that the voluntary sector has become a more important contributor
to GDP and a notable player in the provision of public services. It is important to remember,
however, that even with recent growth, expenditure on the voluntary sector accounts for only
2% of total government spending.

This is an exciting and challenging time for people working in the voluntary sector. Over
the past five years we have seen a growing understanding of and emphasis on working with, the
voluntary sector across government. Partnership working has become the norm—in intent, if not
always in practice. Policy initiatives which are expected to impact on people in the voluntary
sector are increasingly developed in consultation with the sector. And the 1998 Compact has
embedded the notion of the sector in government policy.

It is important at this point in time that the Philippines’ voluntary sector does not simply
accept that this is how it will be and goes unthinkingly down the route of service delivery.
Instead, we should be examining what role voluntary organizations should play in society, what
their relationship with the Government should be and look at where voluntary organizations best
fit into a mature democracy. There are three possible scenarios for how the relationship
between voluntary organizations and the Government might develop.

Voluntary sector organisations are widely valued and trusted because of their
independence. Independence gives people confidence that charities and other voluntary
organisations are pursuing a mission that is not state sponsored or driven by private gain but is
furthering the public good. The voluntary and community sector (VCS) is at a crossroads. In
recent years it has expanded the role it plays in the direct delivery of public services and this
shift has received sustained and continuing support across the political spectrum. But are we
clear about why such an expanded role is desirable? Should we want the VCS to continue to
expand its role in public service provision? What are the risks if this were to happen?

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to discuss and recognize the important role of voluntary policy delivery
sectors.

CONTENT

Defining the VCS is notoriously difficult. Indeed, the government itself has often failed to
nail down a specific definition and instead has stressed the sector’s heterogeneity. In 2002 the
Treasury argued that the VCS was ‘wider in scope than “general charities” and the “voluntary
sector”, inclusive of organisations reflecting the characteristics of social enterprise, but narrower
in scope than “non-profit”, “third sector” or “social economy”’ (HM Treasury, 2002, p. 7). The
picture is further complicated, and any definition broadened, by the development of new forms
of voluntary association –foundation hospitals being one such recent development. Such a
 35

definition would link the VCS closely with at least one common understanding of ‘civil society’
(see Edwards, 2004 for further discussion).Under any definition it is important to emphasise, as
the government does, that the VCS is heterogeneous. Voluntary and community organisations
(VCOs) can be more or less formally organised – some are well established and permanent
while others may be formed on an ad hoc basis and be only temporary. They can be more or
less independent. They can be more or less grounded in voluntarism. They can, for example,
either have a large number of volunteers or be largely professionalised. They may have different
key objectives: some may provide a service, some may exist to provide a ‘public benefit’ while
others will act as pressure group. Lastly VCOs come in a variety of different sizes ranging from
small organisations based in just one community to larger organisations with national (or even
global) reach. Just as it is difficult to define the VCS as an entire sector, it is hard to use these
different variables to make clear distinctions between different segments of the VCS. It is not
easy, for example, simply to make a divide between (smaller) ‘community-based’ organisations
and (larger) ‘voluntary’ organisations. But there are differences and it is clear that some
organisations are more suited than others to providing public services and entering into
contractual relationships with the state. These are likely to be larger, and more professional and
have a service provision role. Many other parts of the VCS will be less suited to providing public
services. These organisations are more likely to rely on volunteers, be less professional, have
less expertise with delivery of public services and be more independent. Though making this
distinction is not straightforward; the crucial point is that for large parts of the VCS debates
about delivering public services are not generally relevant this has been the focus of recent
policy.

The government has embarked a radical programme of public service investment and
reform. The goal is world-class public services to external opportunity, tackle poverty and
improve the quality of life for all. Securing reform will take time, but the key principles are clear:
services need to be more responsive to customer concerns and they need to be flexible enough
to meet the needs of particular communities and groups. This means that there must be more
discretion at the local level about how best to deliver services and more community involvement
in helping to shape services, against a backdrop of national standards.

Voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) including social enterprises have a key
role to play in this. They grow out of the determination to provide high quality support to
particular groups, are often uniquely placed to reach marginalised groups and enable individuals
to participate actively in their local communities. The VCS continues to make a significant
contribution to service delivery and strengthening communities. It is a key partner in delivering
government policies.

The voluntary sector or community sector (also non-profit sector or "not-for-profit"

sector) is the duty of social activity undertaken by organizations that are not for-profit and non-
governmental. This sector is also called the third sector, in contrast to the public sector and the
private sector. Civic sector or social sector is other terms for the sector, emphasizing its
relationship to civil society.

A key determinant in the development contribution of nongovernment organizations

(NGOs) is the relationship between NGOs and the state. NGOs may run parallel activities; they
may play oppositional roles; or they may represent weaker members of society, organizing them
to become more influential in decision making and resource allocation. This “civil society”
function entails moving from a “supply side” approach, concentrating on project delivery, to a
“demand side” emphasis, helping communities articulate their concerns and participate in
 36

development processes. Donors can use the policy dialogue to encourage governments to
foster a more enabling environment for NGO activities.

In some countries, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are major contributors to

development processes. This is not uniform, however. In a number of countries, NGOs are
weak or play more of an oppositional rather than operational role and governments are highly
suspicious of them. A number of factors influence the development impact of NGOs; many of
which are determined by the relationship between the NGO sector and the State.

The principal avenues by which governments can influence the operational environment for
NGOs are:

a. Nature and quality of governance (pluralism, accountability, etc.).

b. The legal framework (registration, reporting requirements, etc.).
c. Taxation policies (on imported goods, local philanthropy, etc.).
d. Collaboration with NGOs (when? sector? nature of partnership?).
e. Public consultation and information (policy impact of NGOs).
f. Coordination (role for governments in coordinating NGO activities).
g. Official support (government funding, official contracts).

SUMMARY

The government has embarked a radical programme of public service investment and
reform. The goal is world-class public services to external opportunity, tackle poverty and
improve the quality of life for all.

Voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) including social enterprises have a key
role to play in this. They grow out of the determination to provide high quality support to
particular groups, are often uniquely placed to reach marginalised groups and enable individuals
to participate actively in their local communities.

A key determinant in the development contribution of nongovernment organizations

(NGOs) is the relationship between NGOs and the state. NGOs may run parallel activities; they
may play oppositional roles; or they may represent weaker members of society, organizing them
to become more influential in decision making and resource allocation. This “civil society”
function entails moving from a “supply side” approach, concentrating on project delivery, to a
“demand side” emphasis, helping communities articulate their concerns and participate in
development processes. Donors can use the policy dialogue to encourage governments to
foster a more enabling environment for NGO activities.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

In the short term, there is an important need for further work on the nature of a
successful local ‘civic architecture’. Local government in particular, but also central government
needs to be incentivised to engage constructively with the VCS. This could are doing well. In the
longer term, if policy makers are to achieve a balance between seeing the VCS as a possible
service provider and as a contributor to the strength of communities and civil society, key
existing policy objectives and targets may need to be revised.

Until this happens it is likely that the focus of government and, crucially, funding streams
will continue to disproportionately favour developing the VCS with an eye to enabling it to deliver
 37

more public services. For example, while schemes like the Adventure Capital Fund, which aims
to develop new models of sustainable funding for the sector, remain small, the Future builders
fund represents significant government spending. And this opens up the dangers this paper has
highlighted: that government policy will undermine the very added value which the VCS has and
its importance in a strong civil society. A more nuanced target could attempt to measure not just
direct delivery of public services but the ‘robustness’ of the funding base and the support
available for the sector as a whole. It is right to challenge and reform the state. The need to
match increasing public demands and to provide services which add ‘public value’ (by being
accountable to citizens, providing services tailored to users’ needs and increasing public trust)
highlights the continued role that the VCS will play in public service reform. But at present it is
questionable whether the balance struck between this objective and a civil renewal agenda is
the right one. The state needs to find more and better ways of using VCS policy to develop the
‘little platoons’ upon which the strength of civil society rests

The importance of the voluntary sector in working in partnership with public services to
care and support people in our communities has been recognised for a long time.

But as the recession bites and there is a great deal of speculation about sweeping cuts
in public sector funding, there is also concern about the effect this will have on the voluntary
sector and the services they provide.

But there is another way of looking at this. If the voluntary sector has the advantage of
being more effective and flexible in providing certain aspects of care, then maybe we can turn
the pressure on public funding into a virtue. Perhaps now more than ever, the voluntary sector
can play an even greater role in the planning and delivery of community services. Perhaps the
current circumstances provide us with an opportunity too good to miss.
 38

POLICY MONITORING, REFORMS AND

CONFLICT RESOLUTIONS

An Insight Paper

20 September 2014
 39

INTRODUCTION

Monitoring policy development and implementation is an integral component of the

policy cycle and can be applied in sectors including agriculture, health, education, and finance.
Policy monitoring can improve policy information, collaboration among stakeholders, and the
use of evaluation techniques to provide feedback to reframe and revise policies. Waterman and
Wood derived policy monitoring from agency theory, describing a process where policymakers
monitor the actions of their bureaucratic agents who implement and enforce policies. This
monitoring allows policymakers to compensate for their agents’ greater knowledge of the policy
process, and enables them to be well-informed decision makers. Thus policy monitoring allows
policymakers and interested actors to systematically examine the process of creating a policy,
implementing it, and evaluating its effects.

Policy reform entails understanding the successes and failures of various reforms
through a cross country comparison of reform policies and experiences in different regions.
Questions to address: (1) Why were some countries able to undertake reform while others were
not? (2)What factors enabled some countries to achieve success in implementing reform
programs, while for others, these programs failed? (3)What were the characteristics of reform
programs that helped them deliver outcomes? It is apparent that a focus on the standard
economic analysis with its emphasis on macroeconomic imbalances and projected policy
impacts on long-run growth was not sufficient in understanding the complexities of the reform
process. A more detailed study is needed to adopt a multidisciplinary approach with a strong
emphasis on political economy and to understand the behavior of various stakeholders – how
they reacted to new policy regimes and institutional configurations.

Conflict resolution, otherwise known as Reconciliation, is conceptualized as the methods

and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Often,
committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating
information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of the group (e.g., intentions;
reasons for holding certain beliefs), and by engaging in collective negotiation. Dimensions of
resolution, typically parallel the dimensions of conflict in the way the conflict is processed.
Cognitive resolution is the way disputants understand and view the conflict, with beliefs and
perspectives and understandings and attitudes. Emotional resolution is in the way disputants
feel about a conflict, the emotional energy. Behavioral resolution is how one thinks the
disputants act, their behavior. Ultimately, a wide range of methods and procedures for
addressing conflict exist, including but not limited to, negotiation, mediation, diplomacy, and
creative peace building.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to explain the dynamics of policy monitoring, reforms and conflict
resolutions.

CONTENT

What is policy monitoring?

Policy monitoring is about gathering evidence on a policy while it is being implemented

and then using your findings to influence future courses of action. This paper explores three
main components of policy monitoring work:
 40

• gathering evidence
• analysing evidence
• influencing policy decisions.
•
A. Gathering Evidence

1. Identifying the problems, causes and solutions

This is one way to get started with policy monitoring. Investigating the causes of and
possible solutions to a problem can help you to decide which policies it would be most relevant
for you to monitor.

2. Developing your own approach to policy monitoring

Begin planning your approach to policy monitoring by thinking about three important
questions:

• From what perspective will you monitor policies?

• What level of participation will you build into your work?
• What does adopting a team approach to policy monitoring mean?

Monitoring perspectives

There is no way to monitor government policies from a neutral position. All policy
monitoring is informed by a perspective of some kind. Organizations are motivated by different
principles, beliefs and priorities. It may be a commitment to human rights, compassion for the
poor, dedication to non-violence, the desire to strengthen democracy – to name just a few
possibilities. In planning your approach to policy monitoring, a good starting point is to be
explicit about your guiding principles and perspective. This will help you to define the broad aim
of your policy monitoring.

Working in a participatory way

There are no hard and fast rules about who should be involved in monitoring policies.
The work could be undertaken as a small project team, as an organisation or a network.
However, experience shows that the more participation you can build into the process, the more
effective your policy monitoring work will be in the long-term. Who participates – and how – can
vary greatly.

A team approach to monitoring

Various policy stakeholders could be involved in monitoring its implementation.

It is useful from the outset to consider what it means to develop a team approach to policy
monitoring. Policy monitoring can, of course, be undertaken by a single CSO. It is not
impossible for a large organisation, with diverse skills and a broad membership base, to
undertake policy monitoring on its own. Yet in most cases, there is a need for various
organisations and individuals to collaborate when monitoring a policy:

• Some organisations or people may have skills or contacts that could play a
 41

crucial role in gathering evidence.

• Others may have experience in analysing different kinds of information.
• Some may have greater capacity than others to advocate to different
audiences.
• Some organisations may be able to contribute in more than one way, but
working at different levels.

Challenges in information gathering

It is not easy to monitor policies when you cannot access relevant and reliable
information. ‘Transparency’ is often used to describe the degree of openness or access to
information in a country. What can you do when you cannot get hold of government documents
about a particular policy? First, you could find out if there is a law giving citizens the right of
access to information. If so, it should be possible to lobby for access to the documents you
need. If transparency exists only in law, but not in practice, you may need to campaign for
greater access to government information. In countries where access to information is not
guaranteed as a right, this will be an even more challenging task.

Collecting policy documents

The role of policy documents is to:

• provide a written, contestable benchmark for holding governments to account for

their promises
• reveal at least some of the reasoning and planning that lies behind a government
strategy or intervention
• provide a window on what progress is being made to roll out policies, once they have
been adopted.

Identifying the Policy Stakeholders

This consists of:

• the government, which has the formal mandate to make, implement and enforce
policies all the individuals,
• organisations and agencies that play a role in designing, implementing and
evaluating the policy,
• and all the people who experience benefits or harm as a result of a policy being
in place.

Why is it important to pay attention to stakeholders?

There are at least two important reasons to identify different kinds of stakeholders:

 You are seeking people who can make a difference in the policy area you are interested
in. These are individuals or organisations that have power over the policy process and/or
have the ability to make or influence decisions about future policy directions. It is
essential to identify these stakeholders as they represent the target audience you want
to influence with the results of your monitoring work. Be aware of stakeholders who may
 42

have the power to block your advocacy efforts.

 You also want to pinpoint people who can assist and support your monitoring work. This
may include organisations, networks or individuals that you could team up with to
undertake this work. It is also useful to identify key people who may not be involved
directly in monitoring, but can assist you in getting access to information, to other
stakeholders and to opportunities for gathering evidence or presenting your findings.
Such people are sometimes described as gatekeepers, because they can ‘let you in’ to
places that you may find difficult to access on your own.

Analysing the content of a policy

The challenge here is to look at the policy from the government’s point of view and to
unravel how the policy is meant to work. This will give you a sense of the assumptions and risks
that underpin a policy.

Which activities are driving the policies? It is essential to establish what actions a
government is planning to implement a particular policy. It is ultimately these actions that you
will monitor to gather evidence about the results of the policy. For example, if you have decided
to monitor government’s policy on street children, you may find activities being driven by
different government departments and agencies. In order to monitor the policy, you will need to
be aware of – and possibly choose between – the most critical.

Defining your monitoring objectives

It is not possible to monitor everything about a policy. You have to be selective. The
challenge is to identify which aspects or parts of a policy it would be most crucial to monitor.

Pinpointing the questions you want to ask

Good monitoring objectives derive from stating clearly what questions you will ask and answer
through your monitoring work:

 One way to springboard the process is simply to list all the questions you find worth
asking about a policy and then to select those that seem most urgent to address.
 It may also be useful to think of questions, in turn, about the efficiency and effectiveness
of a policy:
 Another option is to ask questions from different perspectives. For example, you could
ask questions to explore the gender dimensions of a policy or its environmental
implications.

Analyzing evidence on policy implementation through:

1. Interviews
2. Surveys

Using policy evidence to advocate for change

 43

The reason for monitoring policies is to advocate for positive changes based on the
evidence. The evidence gathered will provide someone his ample fuel for his advocacy work. It
should allow someone to draw conclusion about a government’s present course of action and
make suggestions about what needs to change.

Who should generate policy monitoring?

Like many aspects of policy monitoring, formulating recommendations can be done with
more or less participation. in most instances, it is useful to get different
Stakeholders involved. This will also help to understand the implications of the evidence from
more points of view.

Planning for advocacy

NGOs, interest groups, activist and even policy-makers advocate to call for the creation
of new policies or to reform existing ones, to make policy implementation more effective or to
see that policies are enforced as planned

Policy Reform

Once a government commits to action- and regardless of the urgency of the challenge-
there remains the detailed work of designing and securing approval of policy reform. While it
has become commonplace to publicly characterize all of our contemporary challenges as wick-
despite considerable variation in their character- the essence of the label is perhaps salient.
Addressing most of the complex and demanding challenges we have in mind requires non-
incremental reform as well as tapping into expertise and authorities across public service
institutions and often across level of government and the non-government sectors.

There has emerged considerable research- based writing on how policy reforms come to
be enacted by governments, particularly in fluid and often overly complex policy environments
(Christensen and Laegreid 2001; Kingdom 1984). There has been a focus on serendipity and
how ‘policy entrepreneurs’ position ideas and solutions to take advantage of ‘policy windows’
that might quickly open, allowing decisions to be taken, and then shut. For our purposes, the
key take away from this perspective concerns the fact that advisors to governments must be
ready with frames, evidence, and policy solutions; all of the players will have to work with what
they have; there will not be time to undertake meaningful policy research on short notice. This
perspective, however, understates the strategic and organisational capacity dimension of
developing policy designs and ensuring enactment inside and outside government.

An open question concerns the extent to which governments engaged in such

coordinating capabilities will also engage key stakeholders and rely on broader public
consultations. The answer depends heavily on the nature of the issue, time pressures, the
tactical posture of the government (does it seek to surprise?), the extent to which it has fleshed
out its policy design and has developed an overarching narrative to support its intervention, and
whether it is prepared to be flexible or negotiate. If governments have more time, or require the
support and buy-in of other governments and non-governmental actors in order to proceed,
external engagement on design issues becomes a relatively important feature of the process,
requiring additional leadership and administrative capabilities. It is not merely about rushing
policy into
Most of the above remarks point to considerations when designing any sort of significant
policy reform or comprehensive intervention. But a critical focus of this volume concerns the
 44

extent to which designers-ministers and public service executives alike- thoroughly anticipate
the political, policy and administrative challenges that await approved policies after enactment.
Much like planning for transitions in government, do policy designers think carefully about who
will take over once a policy has been formulated, approved and enacted? Have the ministers
thought through who will take on custodial responsibility for overseeing the political aspects of
implementation? How will take the strategy of implementation (roll-out, phasing, and stages)
affect the integrity and durability of the reforms? Do new administrative capabilities have to be
reconfigured? Are new leaders required in the Public Service to maintain momentum? Who will
exercise stewardship for the policy reforms?

Finally, it must be noted that policy reforms- no matter how open the process-can
precede iteratively, in fits and starts, both internally and externally. Indeed, this dynamic will
likely stand as the most intriguing aspect to reflect on. The iterative process forms the constantly
changing context in which evidence, arguments, and narratives are tested, challenged, and
reformulated at the political and administrative levels. This often leads to new perspectives and
approaches, and sometimes a call by governments for new policy-advising capabilities.

Conflict Resolution

Demographic and social changes in the last few decades have had significant impact on
policy disputes. "Changing demographics, coupled with the awakening of new special interest
groups, have transformed the landscape of policy conflict from one in which relatively
homogeneous stakeholder groups operated in parochially defined issue arenas, to one which is
increasingly heterogeneous, encroaching upon sacred policy cows."

The civil rights movement and anti-poverty programs all drew members of low-power
cultural groups (women, racial, ethnic and sexual minorities) into the policy-making arena. By
participating in these social movements, members of low-power cultural groups developed skills
in policy development and implementation, in interest-based negotiation, and in coalition
building. They also gained increased representation in policy-making organizations. Another
limitation on low-power groups' effective participation was that alternative conflict resolution
systems were relatively undeveloped, and so not available. The availability of joint problem-
solving approaches and third-party neutrals could have improved many outcomes. Changes in
education policy, for example, came mainly as a result of desegregation lawsuits. "Because the
remedial orders were court-issued, they contained no consensual negotiating clauses that
anticipated difficulties in implementation and governance, which is where court orders frequently
broke down."

Warfield stresses inclusion at the level of implementation. "While it is agreed that those
vested with the authority to preserve the public trust cannot and should not redelegate this
authority to stakeholder groups, it will mean that the way those decisions necessary to execute
that policy are made will be more inclusive.

The Continuum of Community Relations model is helpful for understanding group roles
in policy conflicts. Cooperative relations are characterized by trade-offs in resources, agreed
upon processes, and mutual respect. Competitive relations over resource allocations and press
the bounds of existing process. Communities in a state of heightened tension engage in angry,
boisterous exchanges with each other and the media. When cooperative relations predominate,
public policy-making agencies use joint decision-making processes that are inclusive of
 45

stakeholders. When a relation between government and citizens is competitive or worse, policy-
making and implementing agencies show increasingly exclusive, executive decision-making.
Exclusive decision-making further serves to heighten community tensions, and stakeholder
demands for substantive and procedural changes. "In the competition through crisis stages of
the continuum, government's trustee role, or at least, the interpretation of that role by the
implementing agencies is seen as increasingly illegitimate. Correspondingly, stakeholder groups
demand increasingly intrusive levels of involvement in decision making." Stakeholder groups
may make both substantive demands for increased representation in policy-making or
implementing organizations, and procedural demands for changes in processes.

Typically, organizational cultures have decision-making styles that are directly opposed
to demands for openness and inclusiveness; "any organization has a closed universe of
problems, choices, and solutions that are continually matched (or mismatched) to make
decisions.

Warfield finds that "there is a positive correlation between the status of relationship
between public officials and stakeholder, degree of stakeholder inclusiveness in policy
formation, and negotiations posture."(p. 184) Cooperative relations correspond to inclusive
decision-making and to more effective, consensual negotiating styles. Worsening relations
correspond to more exclusive decision-making by officials, and to more positional, antagonistic
negotiating styles. Positional negotiating is generally less effective than consensual styles.
While lawsuits (a form of positional negotiation) have gained some degree of inclusion for low-
power groups, such court orders are frequently challenged and tend to be weak on
implementation and governance. External factors that can affect this basic correlation include
changes in political administration, the degree of stakeholder interest, and how resistant an
organization's culture is to change.

Models of negotiation which focus on rational bargaining over positions and interests can
be misleading when applied to public policy conflicts. Low-power cultural groups approach
policy conflicts through their cultural-historical frames of reference. They may interpret policy
conflicts in terms of values and needs. "When conflict is perceived through the lens of cultural
values, responses tend to be nonrational. Individuals or groups are guided by affective histories
that largely determine reactions to conflict."

Warfield further notes, "For low-power cultural groups such as racial or ethnic minorities,
women, and persons of alternative sexual preference, the history of how others have dealt with
them and their group is as much a part of the context of a policy conflict that impacts their
personhood as are the conflict specific issues."(p. 187) Responses that are confined to the level
of interests may fail to address the low-power stakeholders' concerns, and so be rejected.

Third party neutrality is neither possible nor necessary in conflicts of this type. "In public
policy conflicts which have broad ramifications for social outcomes and disequilibrium of power,
pronouncements of neutrality would be suspect."(p. 189) the policy conflict intervenor is an
activist, an advocate for social change and improved relations. The intervenor's task in
prenegotiations is to act as interpreter between the positional or interest-based stance of policy
officials and the historical, justice-based approach of low-power group. The intervenor also
seeks to humanize both sides. One risk of this type of intervention is that the third party will be
seen as too biased toward social change and will be dismissed by policy officials. Another risk is
that the intervenor will slip into the role of negotiator, and lose needed credibility.
 46

SUMMARY

Policy monitoring is about gathering evidence on a policy while it is being implemented

and then using your findings to influence future courses of action. Policy monitoring can improve
policy information, collaboration among stakeholders, and the use of evaluation techniques to
provide feedback to reframe and revise policies.

Once a government commits to action- and regardless of the urgency of the challenge-
there remains the detailed work of designing and securing approval of policy reform

If governments have more time, or require the support and buy-in of other governments
and non-governmental actors in order to proceed, external engagement on design issues
becomes a relatively important feature of the process, requiring additional leadership and
administrative capabilities. It is not merely about rushing policy into law.

Policy reforms- no matter how open the process-can precede iteratively, in fits and
starts, both internally and externally. Indeed, this dynamic will likely stand as the most intriguing
aspect to reflect on. The iterative process forms the constantly changing context in which
evidence, arguments, and narratives are tested, challenged, and reformulated at the political
and administrative levels. This often leads to new perspectives and approaches, and sometimes
a call by governments for new policy-advising capabilities.

Demographic and social changes in the last few decades have had significant impact on
policy disputes. The civil rights movement and anti-poverty programs all drew members of low-
power cultural groups (women, racial, ethnic and sexual minorities) into the policy-making
arena.

While it is agreed that those vested with the authority to preserve the public trust cannot
and should not redelegate this authority to stakeholder groups, it will mean that the way those
decisions necessary to execute that policy are made will be more inclusive.

Typically, organizational cultures have decision-making styles that are directly opposed
to demands for openness and inclusiveness; "any organization has a closed universe of
problems, choices, and solutions that are continually matched (or mismatched) to make
decisions. Models of negotiation which focus on rational bargaining over positions and interests
can be misleading when applied to public policy conflicts.

The policy conflict intervenor is an activist, an advocate for social change and improved
relations. The intervenor's task in prenegotiations is to act as interpreter between the positional
or interest-based stance of policy officials and the historical, justice-based approach of low-
power group. The intervenor also seeks to humanize both sides. One risk of this type of
intervention is that the third party will be seen as too biased toward social change and will be
dismissed by policy officials. Another risk is that the intervenor will slip into the role of negotiator,
and lose needed credibility.

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

Policy monitoring refers to the process of detecting how the policy is doing. To monitor a
policy, some data about the policy must be obtained. A good implementation plan will suggest
some ways in which ongoing data about the policy can be generated in the regular course of
 47

policy maintenance, for examples, from records, documents, feedback from program clients,
diary entries of staff, ratings by peers, tests, and physical evidence.

Policy reforms intended to address significant challenges necessarily involve working

across the vertical boundaries of government and public service institutions. This requires
identifying the implicated departments and agencies, assigning lead responsibility of assembling
and coordinating the required technical and policy work, ensuring sufficient central oversight of
this work, and linking it to political decision-making repertoires. Policy task forces or
‘adhocracies’ might need to be established for this purpose, requiring skilled leadership that can
navigate the political, technical, policy, administrative, and external boundary-spanning aspects
of policy development, and assemble a high-performing team in support. .

The difference in culture between policy-making organizations and stakeholder groups

complicate policy conflicts. Awareness of this cultural element is necessary for a more adequate
understanding of policy conflict. Low-power cultural groups gained much more experience with
protesting than with negotiating. Groups lacked the resources, including time, to negotiate
durable, broad-based agreements. "Attempts at coalition building were fragile, and internal
group dissention often undercut negotiating leverage."

Public agencies must change their decision-making styles toward more consensual
forms. The goal is not just to produce more satisfying substantive agreements (policies), but
also to create more cooperative policy and implementation processes, which in turn will improve
community relations.

Similarly, models of mediation may be misapplied in the case of public policy conflicts.
Mediation typically assumes parties of roughly equal power involved in rational, interest-based
negotiations. In policy disputes interests may not be the main issues and the stakeholders are
often low-power groups. The first task for a third party intervenor is to facilitate trust building.
Trust building measures must allow low-party groups to take risks without losing face, and must
also acknowledge the group identity and ethos of the policy making or implementing
organization. Trust building is the first step in developing a joint vision of just relations between
the conflicting parties.

Communities challenge public processes and adopt positional, clamming stances.

Communities in conflict see public processes and the status quo as unfair. They may engage in
demonstrations or lawsuits. When community relations are in crisis, groups attack the status
quo, disrupt public order, and provoke incidents. They view public processes as illegitimate.
 48

POLICY CHOICES AND POLICY CHANGE

GLOBAL AGENDAS AND NATIONAL STYLES

An Insight Paper

04 October 2014
 49

INTRODUCTION

Policy-making is an extremely analytical and political process which involves a complex

set of forces. It begins with the ideas people or interest groups have about the actions they want
the government to take. On other words these are the demands or proposals made by interest
groups or by other actors upon the political system for action or inaction on some perceived
problems. Public policies are everywhere being conditioned by the external environment. It is
impossible to separate the external environmental factors as they invariably influence the
political processes and policy outcomes.

Governments worldwide recognize the innovation and information technology (IT) are
crucial to unlocking new opportunities, increasing competitiveness, and advancing national
priorities. IT has enormous potential to help government achieve their goals- from improving
education and healthcare to protecting citizen’s privacy and security; increasing energy
efficiency, and achieving environmental sustainability. In particular, online services and cloud
computing across a range of devices offer the promise of new jobs, business opportunities,
innovations for consumers and and small businesses, increased government efficiency and
greater inclusion.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to discuss a global dimension and policy analysis recognizing public
choices and policy change.

CONTENT

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to global events the and actions and
have come to depend heavily on the international community for financial and technical
assistance. Consequently, national policies are interlocked with global issues. “Because poor
countries generally have fragile politics and weak systems of accountability, with few
autonomous institutions and little power to offset that exercised by the central government,
external agencies are potentially key political players, capable of exerting considerable
influence. The boundaries of the political system are no longer impermeable to outside
pressures and influences. Public policy now takes place in a world system as well as in national
political systems. The international environment has an added role to play in influencing the
national policies. The mass media and international conferences ease the process of policy
diffusion. Harrop notes: “The international environment forms much of the context of national
policy-making. Policy-makers in each country share a policy context formed by the international
economic cycle of prosperity, recession, depression and recovery. International organizations
such as the EC also form an increasingly important part of the context of national policy-making.
The policy agenda is also becoming international.”

As multinational corporations and international organizations come to exercise a great

degree of influence, so the capacity of national policy-makers to frame their own agendas is
reduced. National issues such as social welfare, environment, drugs, and trade are items on the
national policy agenda which have become global issues. This has been accompanied by
increasing transnational cooperation. National policy agenda in a developing country like India is
now exposed to developed countries. With globalization there is a greater scope of interaction
between a nation state and other countries. A nation state has now come to exercise less
control on policy agenda than it was in the second half of the twentieth century. From the
national perspective this means that the policy agenda maybe global but the policy-making and
 50

Implementation remains national. Thus there is a new kind of inter-play between transnational
companies and the national and world economies. Global politics has an added role to play in
the determination of national policies, especially of developing nations. Global issues interact
with national issues, which in turn interact with the local level. Globalisation posits that these
layers are becoming ever more interactive and permeable and that a new policy is emerging.

Public choice is best defines as the application of the rational choice model to non-
market decision making. In a more general sense, it has meant the application of economics to
political science. It also involves the application of catallactics, or the science of exchanges.

One key conclusion of public choice is that changing the identities of the people who
hold public office will not produce major changes in policy outcomes. Electing better people will
not, by itself, lead to much better environment. Adopting the assumption that all individuals, be
they voters, politicians and bureaucrats, are motivated more by self interest than by public
interest evokes a Madisonian perspective on the problem of democratic governance.

It has been recognized at least since the time of the Marquis de Condorcet (1785) that
voting among three or more candidates or alternatives may fail to select the majority’s most
preferred outcome or may be prone to vote “cycles” producing no clear winner. Indeed, Kenneth
Arrow’s “impossibility theorem” shows that there is no mechanism for making collective choices,
other than dictatorship, that translates the preferences of diverse individuals into a well-behaved
social utility function. Nor has any electoral rule been found whose results cannot be
manipulated either by individuals voting insincerely—that is, casting their ballots strategically for
less-preferred candidates or issues in order to block even worse outcomes—or by an agenda
setter who controls the order in which votes are taken.

Six theories about How Policy Change Happens:

1. Large Leap Theory – Like seismic shifts, significant changes in policies occur when the
right contextual conditions are in place (e.g., the battery of new policies and regulations
to reduce the practice of drinking and driving that emerged when pressure for action by
police services, politicians and the courts).
2. Coalition Theory – Policy change happens through the coordinated activity among a
range of individuals with the same core policy brief (e.g. When a coalition of agencies
encouraging a city to adopt an urban food policy).
3. Policy Windows – Policy changes occur when advocates are able to effectively define a
problem, possible solutions, and/or shape or take advantage of the contextual factors
that encourage “action” on the problem (e.g. the recent “window” to regulate gun
ownership in the United States that emerged after the horrible incidents of gun violence).
4. Messaging & Frameworks – Policies change when advocates frame or present issues
and policy options in a way that reflects the worldview and preferences of decision-
makers (e.g. encouraging a Provincial Government concerned about a tight labour
market to support the policies that strengthen early learning and care programs as way
to encourage more parents to participate in the workforce).
5. Power Politics (Power Elites Theory) – Policy changes are more apt to occur when
advocates develop relationships and work with those in positions of power and influence
(e.g. working with oil and gas companies to develop policies that balance resource
development and environmental sustainability).
6. Grassroots (Community Organizing Theory) – Policy change happens when those
people directly affected by an issue work together to address that issue, including
pressuring decision-makers to change specific policies (e.g. residents of an inner-city
 51

neighborhood organizing to pressure a municipality to change a policy that encourages

suburban traffic to move quickly (and dangerously) through their streets).

SUMMARY

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to global events and the actions and
have come to depend heavily on the international community for financial and technical
assistance. The international environment forms much of the context of national policy-making.
Policy-makers in each country share a policy context formed by the international economic cycle
of prosperity, recession, depression and recovery. International organizations such as the EC
also form an increasingly important part of the context of national policy-making. The policy
agenda is also becoming international. Global politics has an added role to play in the
determination of national policies, especially of developing nations. Global issues interact with
national issues, which in turn interact with the local level. Globalisation posits that these layers
are becoming ever more interactive and permeable and that a new policy is emerging.

One key conclusion of public choice is that changing the identities of the people who
hold public office will not produce major changes in policy outcomes. Electing better people will
not, by itself, lead to much better environment. Adopting the assumption that all individuals, be
they voters, politicians and bureaucrats, are motivated more by self interest than by public
interest evokes a Madisonian perspective on the problem of democratic governance.

There are six theories about policy change:

1. Large Leaps – Punctuated Equilibrium Theory
2. Coalition – Theory or advocacy Coalition Framework
3. Policy Windows – Agenda Setting
4. Messaging and Frameworks Theory
5. Power Politics – Power Elites Theory
6. Grassroots – Community Organizing Theory

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

Policymaking is an extremely analytical and practical process which begins with the
ideas, people or interest groups have about the actions they want the government to take.
Public policies are everywhere being conditioned by the external environment.

The impact of global events on national policy agenda is largely felt in developing
countries. Problems arise in a context in which economic and social conditions play a major
role in shaping opinions and political strategies.

Governments are prone to withdraw from intergovernmental cooperation and

supranational policymaking rather than more positively into closer collaboration. The global
socio-economic framework interacts with the political processes and policies pursued by
government of nation states.

Public choice is the study of political decision-making which attempts to understand how
public policies come to be adopted using economic models of the input of policies of individuals.
It tends to use rational choice models to do so which is largely distinguishes it from mainstream
and classical political economy. Public choice applies the theories and methods of economics to
 52

the analysis of political behavior, an area that was once the exclusive province of political
scientist and sociologist.

Public choice provides a vital insight into why politicians and bureaucrats behave the
way they do, why governments look like they do and why we are governed in the way that we
are. We should never expect perfect, ideal or even just generally good policy to be
implemented by any government of any political stripe. For example, politicians and bureaucrats
are just as self-interested as any other person. Politicians want to be re-elected. Public
servants don’t want to see their department’s funding cut. Government employees are sensitive
to the demands of their clients or customers than any employee of a private business.

Policy change can look like lots of different things. Creating and advocating for policy
change isn’t always about collecting signatures on a petition about a law, or calling your
legislators, although those are great ways to exercise your democratic rights too.

Policies affect people, how we behave, our safety, our health, or satisfaction with our
community. Changing policies we don’t agree with, or supporting policies we do agree with is
how we change our world. Sometimes it can be hard to see how boring rules really affect our
daily lives, but understanding how they relate to us, and helping others understand that impact
is the key to make a difference. Being involved with policies means we are helping to shape
what expectations we, our peers, our community and our world live with.

Currently, two broad traditions in political economy provide alternative ways of

understanding choices about policy and the factors that influence the adoption, implementation,
and consolidation of policy reform initiatives.
 53

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency

Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines
To the Congress of the Philippines

28 July 2014
 54

SONA SALIENT POINTS

 President started to deliver his 5th SONA at 4:03 pm

 Recalls the past when the Philippines was still considered as the sick man of Asia
 Tackles the disbursement acceleration program
 Cites use of DAP funds to help TESDA Scholars
 Talks about the expanded Conditional Cash Transfer CCT Program also known as 4PS
 Government improved the country’s economy, managed well its debt
 Cites the country’s investment grade status (achievement of investor grade rating from
credit rating agencies in 2013)
 Mentions the International Civil Aviation Organization’s lifting of significant aviation
safety concerns for the country
 We will show the world that the Philippines is open for business
 Budget for infrastructure projects have been doubled without raising taxes
 P28 B savings of the DPWH
 Opportunities for corruption in the DPWH have been cut
 2184 km of national roads were completed
 7 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects worth P62.6 B were approved, awarded
 TPLEX Expressway to reach Rosario La Union Soon
 Various infra projects enumerated including the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike to
help reduce flooding, ease traffic
 Mentions the Zamboanga siege P3.5 B allotted for infra projects, housing in Zamboanga
 Mentions rehabilitation efforts in earthquake hit Bohol Typhoon Yolanda affected
provinces
 Thanks the international community for Yolanda aid
 221, 897 jobs created for the making of equipment, tools for livelihood of Yolanda
survivors.
 Discussed the purchase of aircrafts, helicopters, assault rifles and radar system under
the AFP modernization program
 Mentions the achievement of the 1:1 police to pistol ratio
 Cites the PNP “Oplan Lambat” and “Oplan Katok” in fighting crimes, say perpetrators
behind high profile killings have been arrested
 Police operations led to improved internal security situation
 Says reforms at the BOC are underway, custom collection increased due to reforms,
BOC reset
 Cites the signing of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro pushes for passage
of the Bangsamoro Basic Law before year- end
 Delays in building of new power plants need to be addressed, government looking for
solutions to looming power shortage
 Says government will import more rice to bring down prices in the domestic market
 Distribution of modern farming equipment has started
 Proposes for the passage of a supplemental budget for 2014
 Aquino hits the administrators critics, saying that the loudest ones don’t want reforms
 Says his critics are against the Filipino people
 Basis for choosing countries next leader in 2016. Sino ang walang dudang
magpapatuloy sa transpormasyong ating isinasakatuparan
 Aquino: The Filipino is worth living for the Filipino is definitely worth fighting for
 55

LEARNING AND INSIGHTS

The 5th PNOY SONA is very informative and filled with the Presidents achievement and
accomplishments but the question is: are they being felt by the ordinary people? The Filipino
people are besieged by worries about rising prices and scarcity of fuel and goods such as garlic,
rice and lack of electricity SONA left out important issues such as job generating, peace process
and foreign policy especially now that the country was in the middle of territorial conflict with
China. The Anti- Dynasty Bill and the Freedom Information Bill had been ignored in the SONA.

The SONA seemed sincere but the President wasn’t able to give a clear view of what his
administration aimed to achieve. Before his term ends the infrastructure projects he kept on
saying on his 5th SONA were the ones he mentioned in his previous SONAs.

Another thing is the President could have avoided completely his attacks against his critics
and instead should have focused on more important issues. The SONA should have been more
unifying to think that there are two years left in his term.

Unfortunately, he did not delve deeper into the controversial DAP that many of the citizens
and critiques have been waiting for the DAP merely received a notable mention with of course,
slight defence.

All of the funds according to the President went to the places they are supposed to go.
There are new fighter jets, helicopters and a landing ship. There are also new weaponry and
arsenal for soldiers and police officers alike, respondent and relief workers were quick during
disaster situations. The education has been widespread all over the country that our natives are
sent to school.

The administration deserves a lot of credit for what it has done for the country. It is now an
investment rate, the economy is flourishing and there are no bloody conflicts or horrendous
plans kidnapping.

For road development and improvements, housing, schools and other infrastructures are
underway.

Despite the improvements, there are matters deep in the system greatly affecting the
country that have been left unmentioned and the Filipino people are expecting him to discuss
more about what is happening now,- impeachment complaints because of DAP, territorial
disputes pork barrel scam, energy problem and more. There are many comparisons between
his administration and the old, and most of all there is lot of spite expressed from his attackers
the people appreciate the positivity and improvement but sheer avoidance of more pressing
matters is not a development in any form.
 56

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 58

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