The Framing of Policy Problems

1. The Framing of Policy Problems PA 306 Koliba

2. Problem Definition • Rationality project: “statement of a goal and the discrepancy between it and the status quo.” • Question of observation and arithmetic • But, we learned earlier in the discussion of goals that there are no fixed goals or positions, but rather competing conceptions of abstract goals.

3. In the Polis: • “Problem definition is never simply a matter of defining goals and measuring our distance from them. It is rather the strategic representation of situations. ” Stone p. 133 • Problems are portrayed by actors in a way that promotes their favored course of action, wins people to their side, and provides leverage over opponents.

4. So how are problems defined? • No scientific and objective ‘best approach’ for all problems • Actors tell stories • Using symbols and conventional literary devices • Using numbers to tell stories • Stories about causes of problems • Stories about interests: who is affected, and what they should do • We want to learn how to look at problems from multiple perspectives to achieve the best problem definition

5. SYMBOLS • “Symbols are collectively created. Any good symbolic device, one that works to capture the imagination, also shapes our perceptions and suspends skepticism, at least temporarily. Those effects are what make symbols political devices. They are a means of influence and control, even though it is often hard to tell with symbols exactly who is influencing whom.” Stone p.137

6. Symbolic representation construed as four aspects: • Narrative stories —provide explanation of how the world works • Synecdoches—figures of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole • Metaphors-- seeing the likeness between two things • Ambiguity—capacity to have multiple meanings Stone p.137-138

7. Variations of stories: Story of decline —things have gotten worse (Moral values; Loss of wetlands and sandbars in Louisiana; Health care system?) • Recitation of facts and figures to show how things have gotten worse. • E.g. War on poverty, selective use of facts and figures • “In the beginning, things were pretty good. But they got worse. In fact, right now, they are nearly intolerable. Something must be done.” Stone p.138

8. Stymied progress story • “In the beginning things were terrible. Then things got better, thanks to a certain someone. But now somebody or something is interfering with our hero, so things are going to get terrible again.”Stone pp.139, 143 • E.g. War on poverty: minimum wage peaked in 1972 • Also Told by groups resisting regulation…

9. Change-is-only-an-illusion story • “You always thought things were getting worse (or better). But you were wrong. Let me show you some evidence that things are in fact going in the opposite direction decline (or improvement) was an illusion.” Stone p. 142 • 1927 vs. 2005 in New Orleans • Crime

10. Story of helplessness and control • “The situation is bad. We have always believed that the situation was out of control, something we had to accept but could not influence. Now, however, let me show you that in fact we can control things…” Stone p. 143 • Natural disasters? • Terrorism? • Relates to liberty, controlling our own lives

11. Conspiracy • “Its plot moves us from the realm of fate to the realm of control, but it claims to show that all along control has been in the hands of a few who have used it to their benefit and concealed it from the rest of us.” Stone p.143 • E.g. cancer alley, corruption and pollution • The many need to rise up against the few

12. Blame-the-victim • “Locates control in the very people who suffer the problem.” Homelessness; poverty Stone p.144 • Common to all of these is the motivation to seize control

13. Synecdoche • Use of anecdotes—individual examples to illustrate a larger point. • “It is common in politics that one part of a problem particularly catches the popular imagination and confines the policy response to that part of the problem.” Stone p.146 • E.g. welfare queens • Compelling life stories: Rice, Thomas, Gonzalez

14. “As with other forms of symbolic representation, the synecodoche can suspend our critical thinking with its powerful poetry. The strategy of focusing on a part of the problem, particularly one that can be dramatized as a horror story, thus is likely to lead to skewed strategy. It is a good organizing tool, because it can make a problem concrete, allow people to identify with someone else, and mobilize anger. Also it reduces the scope of the problem, and thereby makes it more manageable. The extreme version of this strategy is reducing a large scale problem to a single instance.” Stone p.147-148

15. Metaphors • “On the surface, [metaphors] simply draw a comparison between one thing and another, but in a more subtle way they usually imply a whole narrative story and a prescription for action.” Stone p.148 • “Buried in every policy metaphor is an assumption that if a is like b, then the way to solve a is to do what you would do with b. Because policy metaphors imply prescription, they are a form of advocacy.” Stone p.149

16. Common metaphors • Social institutions as living organisms.Stone p.149 • Natural laws • Social Darwinism • Futility thesis—futile for people to pursue solutions. Stone p. 149-150 • Law of unintended consequences—helping those in need actually leads to more dependence.—Charles Murray. Stone p.150 • Works well with synecdoche

17. Machines and mechanical devises Balance—checks and balances “Cogs” Stone p.150-151 • Wedges and inclines • “Foot in the door” • domino theory • “Slippery slope” (Stone p.152)

18. Escalations Ladders Stone p.152 • Containers Leaks Power vacuum Mopping up

19. Disease “Imply a story of decline.” Stone p.153 Poverty as pathology Stone p.153 Health Forests Initiative • War Invasion Battle Epic competition Stone p.154

20. Normative leaps • Does the description of a problem imply a solution, and do we make the normative leap? • E.g. Natural capital investing in natural capital

21. Key questions pertaining to metaphors: • “What is the underlying narrative? • Does it make sense? • Does the metaphor seem to obviate the need for evidence, or does it bias the kind of information opponents might bring to bear on a conflict?” Stone p.156

22. Ambiguity • What is religious freedom? Equal opportunity? • “Ambiguity enables the transformation of individual intentions and actions into collective results and purposes. Without it, cooperation and compromise would be far more difficult, if not impossible.” Stone p.157

23. “Ambiguity enables leaders to carve out a sphere of maneuvering hidden from public view, where they can take decisive action on a problem. Legislators can satisfy demands to ‘do something’ about a problem by passing a vague statute with ambiguous meaning, then letting administrative agencies hash out the more conflictual details behind the scenes.” Stone p.159 • Did the mayor of Houston order an evacuation or not?

24. Ambiguity allows policy makers to placate both sides in a conflict by ‘giving the rhetoric to one side and the decision to the other.’… leaders can perform the magic of making two different decisions at once.” Stone p.159 • Healthy forests and clear skies initiatives • facilitates negotiation and compromise because it allows opponents to claim victory from a single resolution.” Stone p.159

25. NUMBERS • Counting is used to tell stories • Bush and Brown’s use of numbers

26. How do we count? How do we define? • “Unemployed”… • “Homeless”… • “At-Risk”… • “Handicapped”… • “Black”… • “Poor”… • The “middle class”…

27. Every number is a political claim about ‘where to draw the line.’ Stone p. 167 • Are we counting the right thing? • Inclusion and exclusion • “Numbers are the opposite of symbols—they are not ambiguous.” Stone p.165 • But what do they mean? Interpretation is more important than the numbers themselves. • Numbers act like metaphors. Stone p.165

28. “Like metaphors, numbers make normative leaps. Measures imply a need for action, because we do not measure things except when we want to change them or change our behavior in response to them.” Stone p.167

29. Relationship Between Numbers and Stories • “Numbers never stand by themselves in policy debates, they are clothed in words and symbols and carried in narrative stories…” Stone p.185

30. Why Counting is Political • Includes decisions about inclusion and exclusion • Implies norms about how much is too much, too little or just right • Allow for ambiguity • Tells stories • Create illusion of control, boil complex issues down to numbers.

31. Creates a community • Therefore essential instrument in political mobilization • Offers conflict resolution through arithmetic • e.g. Roe vs. Wade • Help bolster authority of those who count

32. Numerical strategies • Reactivity– people react to being measured • Is reward or punishment based on count? • Counting makes us notice things • Can stimulate demand for change • What we count is critical. Measurers have power • How many casualties in the Iraq war? • Setting boundaries—how much does a warplane cost? • Alliances between measured and measurers • Numbers don’t speak for themselves

33. CAUSES • “We often think we have defined a problem when we have described its causes” • “In the polis, causal stories are strategically crafted with symbols and numbers and then asserted by political actors who try to make their versions the basis of policy choices. Causal stories are essential political instruments for shaping alliances and for settling the distribution of benefits and costs.” Stone p.189

34. The relationship between: Actions & Consequences • Actions: • Unguided • Purposeful • Consequences: • Intended • Unintended

35. Consequences Intended Unintended Actions MECHANICAL CAUSE: We did our best with the levies, but failed anyway ACCIDENTAL CAUSE: Hurricanes happen Unguided INTENTIONAL CAUSE: Poor people poor by choice; People build homes in floodplains because they know government will pay for them; Money not allocated to protect poor people because politicians know they have no power. INADVERTENT CAUSE: People were not aware of flooding problems, corporations thought no one would be harmed by draining wetlands, etc. Guided

36. Much of politics is trying to change people’s perception of causality. • Weakest positions are mechanical cause and inadvertent cause. Strongest are intentional and accidental.

37. Complex Causality • Complex systems • Institutional complexity • Historical complexity • Not popular in politics, as there is not one thing to target. • Can be used to avoid blame.

38. Hence one of the biggest tensions between social science and real-world politics: social scientists tend to see complex causes of social problems, while in politics, people search for immediate and simple causes.” Stone p.197

39. Causal Strategies • Show problems is act of nature • Show something formerly interpreted as accidental is actually result of human action • Show that effects of an action were secretly intended • Show that low probability was accepted as calculated risk • Show that causes are complex and large scale change is needed.

40. What leads to acceptance of causality? • Being accepted by public is one test of success. • Ultimate success is acceptance by policy makers • Visibility, access to media, proponents in prominent positions • Capture or responds to national mood • Entails no need to shake established order • Court of law and science • How much does this hold true?

41. Using causes in the Polis • Challenge or protect existing social order • Assign responsibility • Legitimize and empower certain actors as ‘fixers’ of the problem • No bid contracts in Iraq • Create new alliances • among victims • “Causal theories serve as devices for building alliances between groups who have problems and groups who have solutions.” Stone p.208 • “Shifting the location of responsibility on a causal chain can restructure alliances.” Stone p.208 • Look at issues such as gun control, drunk driving, global warming, etc.

42. What caused Katrina? • Wrath of God? • Global warming? • Normal oscillation? • Building a city below waterline? • Not allowing the river to flood and replenish sediments? • Loss of wetlands due to industry (oil?) • Toxic waste emissions in New Orleans? • Bush administration turning down requests for money to rebuild levees? • Lack of response by Bush administration? • Lack of preparation by local government? • Inequality that did not allow poor to evacuate, and that forced them to live in most dangerous areas?

43. INTERESTS • Who a problem affects may be more important than who causes it • “The quintessential political points of view define problems not by their causes, but by their effects. Who is affected? In what way? Do they know it?” Stone p.210

44. “Interests, in the language of politics, are the active side of effects, the result of people experiencing or imagining effects and attempting to influence them. • Effects do not become important in politics until they are translated into demands. Thus, one of the central questions in political analysis of public policy is how, when, and why effects are converted to political interests.” Stone p.210

45. Issues with Interests • Difference between real interests and political demands • People can be mistaken about their interests • People do not always translate interests into demands. • False consciousness and lack of consciousness

46. Concepts of Interest (p. 216) • Objective and subjective interests • Group interests—negative vs. positive

47. Paradox of Representation • “Representation is the process by which interests are defined and activated in politics. Political organizations, electoral candidates, officials, and representatives seek to describe an issue… in ways that make it appear advantageous or disadvantageous to different sets of people. Individuals and groups, in turn, decide which organization or candidates to support depending on a dual quality: representatives give expression to an interest by portraying an issue, showing how it affects people and persuading them that the portrait is accurate; and representatives speak for people in the sense of standing for them and articulating their wishes in policy debates. P. 215 Stone

48. The paradox is that what representatives say when they speak for their constituents is not the constituents’ own words (figuratively speaking), but words the representatives composed and used to persuade their constituents in the first place.” Stone p.215

49. Mobilization • “the process by which effects and experiences are converted in to organized efforts to bring about change” • What leads to mobilization? • What deters it? • Free riding? • Influence vs. self interest • Laws of passion vs. laws of matter • Social capital • Gains vs. losses • How we tell the story

50. “Participation in collective efforts tends to follow the laws of passion rather than the laws of matter… Collective action is more like a sports competition than a bargaining unit.” Stone p.219 • Social capital —stockpiles of collective norms, trust and social networks that help develop bonds and bridges. Stone p.220