Introduction to Western Methods of Policy Analysis

1. Introduction to Western Methods of Policy Analysis Diné Policy Institute

2. What is Policy? • “advice that relates to public decisions..” which are also “informed by social values.” (Weimer and Vining, p.23) • “Policy Analysis is client-oriented advice relevant to public decisions and informed by social values.” (Ibid. p.24) • “Policy analysis goes beyond personal decision making.” (Bardach, Intro) • Policy analysis is a social and political activity. (Bardach, Intro)

3. What is Policy? • “Policy” we need to understand what sorts of truth might be spoken, in what languages, and to what ends. (Bobrow, p.4) • The policy field includes work that seeks only to understand and explain the process of public policy making “knowledge of,” in Lasswell’s terms. (Bobrow, p.4) • The process of public policymaking includes the manner of which problems get conceptualized and brought to government for solution. (Sabatier, p.3) • Policy analysts are often required to give advice to policymakers in incredibly short periods of time. (Patton, p.2)

4. What is Policy? • Policy making can be considered to be a set of processes, including at least (Kingdon, p. 2-3) • The setting of the agenda • The specification of alternatives from which a choice is to be made. • and authoritative choice among those specified alternatives, as in a legislative vote or a presidential decision, and • The implementation of the decision.

5. What is Policy? • Policy is an agreed upon course of action, be it from a legal, political, educational, economic authority, or an agreed upon course of action of the basic unit of society – the family. • Policy can involve economics, statistics, ethics, sociology, psychology, health, politics, education, environment, and so forth.

6. Defining Policy Analysis • “Public Policy analysis can be defined as determining which of various alternative public or governmental policies will most achieve a given set of goals in light of the relations between the policies and the goals.” ( Nagel p. 71)

7. Elements of Policy Analysis: • Goals, including normative constraints and relative weights for the goals. • Policies, programs, projects, decisions, options, means, or other alternatives that are available for achieving the goals. • Relations between the policies and the goals, including relations that are established by intuition, authority, statistics, observation, deduction, guesses, or by other means. • Drawing a tentative conclusion as to which policy or combination of policies is best to adopt in light of the goals, policies, and relations. • Determining what it would take to bring a second place or other alternative up to first.

8. Methods of Policy Analysis: • How to draw a conclusion as to which policy to adopt from information on goals, policies, and relations. • How to establish the relations between policies and goals. • How to determine what policies are available for adoption and what goals are appropriate to consider.

9. Commonly used Non-Navajo method

10. Values implicit in the model: World View VALUES Methods of Policy Analysis

11. Worldview • “set of implicit and explicit assumptions about the origin of the universe and the nature and purpose of human life.” (Chapra, 1992) • “Values are beliefs that ‘something good and desirable.’ Values define what is important and consequently what is worth striving for.” (Ibrahim) • Norms are “what is acceptable and appropriate behavior in particular circumstances.” (Ibrahim)

12. Western Worldview • Western worldview is NOT monolithic, however, many if the values have been influenced by the Judeo-Christian tradition. • West represent a continuum of values

13. Western values… Certain fundamental beliefs can be noted: • Democracy • Liberalism • Individualism • Materialism • Secularism • Consumerism

14. Values implicit in the model: Judeo- Christian Kant Individualism Cost-benefit analysis

15. Problems • With the emergence of pluralism, it is difficult to define the problem, because there is no ultimate “good or bad.” • In addition, with the values listed it is assumed that most things can be monetized (have a dollar value placed on it.)

16. Example

17. Navajo Nation approach Reactive-Crisis Model • We rely on what the Navajo Nation gives us to make a decision.” • “We do not look at the long term impact…if it looks good we do it.” • “There is no analysis of the issue.” • “Issue is made by the people, without any real information about the impact of the issue at hand.” • “Our policies consist of the Five Management system.” • “Chapters have no policy plans, they react to crisis, nobody wants to CHANGE.” • “ No one wants to come together and brainstorm issues.”

18. Current Policy-Making Practice at the Chapter Level (on the Navajo Nation) If no, may go back to planning meeting

19. Values implicit in the model: Western/ BIA/ Navajo Individualism Cost-benefit analysis

20. Problems • Navajo Nation reacts to problems using a non-Navajo approach, but without any real analysis.