Objectives and results

1. Objectives and results Thinking concepts #3

2. Which actions will bring about the best results? • Change does not just happen • If cellphone use in cars is banned, drinking and driving laws are changed, or insurance rates for young drivers are raised, there are reasons for these changes • Each case, individuals or groups had specific objectives in mind that they wanted to achieve • Changes in laws or policies are the results of their objectives

3. Objectives and results • Objectives and Results A political thinking concept that focuses on factors leading to events, policies, decisions, and/or plans of action and their intended and unintended consequences • Basically – tool for understanding reasons and results of actions and how government and citizens can best get things done

4. Civil action, policies, and laws are driven by existing conditions • How does understanding these conditions help to explain why certain objectives are set and why particular actions are taken?

5. Conditions to explain objectives/action Social, economic, and political conditions affect the well-being of citizens. What issues need to be addressed? Political objectives are created in response to changing conditions. How can we make things better? Action plans are designed to help achieve the desired objectives. How can we best get things done? Results are tracked and evaluated to understand the consequences. Did we meet our objectives?

6. The power of objectives and results • Cigarette smoking and the public health campaigns to prevent it are a good example of the link between conditions, objectives, actions, and results • Smoking continues to decline across Canada • Anti-smoking policies and programs are generally seen as a public policy success

7. Question • If smoking is so bad for people, why didn’t governments just pass laws that made it illegal to smoke? • Would this have been a faster and more effective way to meet their objectives?

8. Intended and unintended results • Even the best planned and thought-out actions can have unintended results • Actions can have a range of effects on various groups of people • Active citizenship and good governance mean tracking and measuring the actual consequence of our actions to understand who is being affected, how, and why.

9. Question • Bad planning, human error, poor execution, incorrect analysis, and unforeseen events are more likely to lead to unintended results. Has this been your experience?

10. Conditions • Buying cigarettes is legal in Canada for those over the age of 18 • Medical research has proven that smoking is addictive and leads to illness and death • An estimated 37 000 Canadians die every year from smoking-related diseases • Research shows that second-hand cigarette smoke harms non-smokers, including children • Treating patients who have smoking-related diseases costs the Canadian health care system over $4 billion a year • Traditionally, cigarette manufacturers advertise heavily to encourage people to smoke, especially young people.

11. Objectives • Ensure that Canadians are well-educated about the hazards and consequences of smoking • Reduce the number of Canadians who smoke and, therefore, the number of illnesses and deaths from smoking-related diseases • Reduce the number of young people who start smoking and become addicted • Minimize exposure of non-smokers to second-hand smoke • Restrict advertising by cigarette companies • Increase the amount of public funds available to help meet these objectives

12. Actions • Create public information campaigns educating Canadians about the harmful effects of smoking • Require cigarette packaging to include clear warnings about the dangers of smoking • Pass laws making smoking illegal in all public places • Fund programs to encourage and help people quit smoking • Restrict or eliminate the ability of cigarette companies to advertise their products, especially to young people • Increase the penalties for selling cigarettes to minors under the age of 18

13. Results • Intended • Wide public acceptance that smoking is harmful, addictive, and can cause disease and death • Decrease in the number and percentage of Canadians who smoke, across all age groups • Public exposure to second hand smoke dramatically reduced • Elimination of cigarette advertising in stores, in publications, and on TV and radio

14. Results continued • Unintended • Cigarette manufacturers develop new marketing strategies to promote their products • Cigarette manufacturers increase advertising in countries with fewer restrictions and regulations

15. Handout • Complete objectives and results skills handout • Complete questions 1-3 on page 11 (textbook)