Provisionally approved Fall 2002June 24, 2002
INFLUENCING POLICY-MAKING
Level III
RATIONALE: Major public policies are most often the cumulative product
of the decisions and actions of a variety of government and non-government
decision-makers. On state, national, and international levels, an increasing
number of these decisions and actions take place outside of the formal governmental
processes and pose new challenges for those seeking to influence policies.
In the course of employment in public and community service or in the private
sector, or in personal affiliation with advocacy or community organizations,
one often finds it necessary or desirable to try to change some of these policies,
or to maintain them in the face of the attempt by others to change them.
Strategies to maintain policies, or to change them, must be based on an understanding
of the complex inter-relationships of decision-making bodies, the role of
each in the development and implementation of policy issues, the means by
which different stakeholders influence (or have the power to influence) this
process, and why some stakeholders have greater influence than others with
these decision-makers. Beyond that, they must also be based on an understanding
of the underlying assumptions implicit in various strategies, and the ramifications
of pursuing different alternatives.
This competency builds on the learning demonstrated in the Participation in Government competency. It asks the student (a) to focus on a different, and more complex, level of issues that cut across a number of governmental decision-making bodies at municipal, state, and federal levels; (b) to examine the interrelationships of those bodies and the more complex network of stakeholders and strategies involved; (c) to analyze whose interests are served by this network of decision-makers; and (d) to develop a strategy to maintain or change a public policy or to critique such a strategy developed by others.
This competency lends itself to pairing with an action competency in which students work with a community group to develop and implement such a policy strategy.
COMPETENCY: Can identify strategies for changing or preventing the change
of a major public policy; can compare and evaluate those strategies based
on different theories or models of change; and can propose a specific implementation
plan for some portion of that strategy, including a plan for evaluating its
effectiveness.
CRITERIA:
1. Identify and describe an issue of public interest that is currently the subject of ongoing or proposed policy development or debate.
2. Identify and describe the government agencies and non-government organizations that have contributed to the development of the policy in its current form and how they did so.
3. Identify the key groups that are impacted by the policy and describe the interests of each in the policy, including how the present policy works to adversely affect or to benefit the group, and describe the activities and involvement of with respect to the policy.
4. Selecting one of the key groups identified in Criterion 2, identify and describe at least two potential strategies or models for change that would achieve or preserve a more desirable policy for that group.
5. Select the strategy that you think would be most effective and explain why. Working from this strategy, develop a step-by-step implementation plan for some significant piece of that strategy and propose a process for evaluating its effectiveness.
6. Describe how you will disseminate information about the policy and your strategy to change or maintain it.
PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio
criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by
this competency. Papers written for this competency may be considered for
submission to the Writing Portfolio.
STANDARDS:
Some significant portion of the information used to demonstrate this competency must be obtained by means of computer research. All sources must be adequately identified and evaluated.
1. For Criterion 1, the policy issue selected for discussion must be one which (a) has been (or is likely to be) an ongoing issue rather than an isolated or one-time decision; (b) is of widespread societal concern with divergent interests; and (c) impacts some significant identifiable segment of society. You must describe the current status of the policy.
2. For Criterion 2, your description should identify a number of government agencies and non-government organizations in a variety of branches and levels of government and sectors of society.
3. For Criterion 3, “key groups” are any significant portion of the population that has a significant interest in maintaining or changing the policy. All of the key groups should be identified, whether or not they are formal organizations. In your description, identify your sources of information about each key group and how you accessed the source. Your description should be based on both internal and external sources. Internal sources (those from within the interest group) should be both official (published by the group itself) and unofficial. External sources are those that are not under the direct control of the group and may take a view different from that of the internal sources.
4. For each of the strategies in Criterion 4, your description should include its underlying assumptions (explicit and implicit), how those assumptions constrain the results that might be achieved, and the advantages/disadvantages to the selected group of using the model.
5. In developing your overall strategy (Criterion 5), you should consider all of the relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies and other stakeholders identified in previous criteria. In developing your step-by-step proposal, you should select a more limited portion of the strategy and describe how it is connected to and advances the larger strategy. Your evaluation proposal should consider the following:
a. how the plan makes use of the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of the key group
b. how the plan uses or compensates for any disparities in power
c. the plan’s prospect for success as compared with alternative proposals
d. a timeline for the evaluation.
Your implementation plan may be submitted to address Criterion 1c of the Level III Communications Portfolio competency.
6. For Criterion 6, you may focus on one or more of the following: mainstream media; alternative media; community or professional networks; conferences, training sessions, or other events. In your description you should identify your audience(s) and the role that the dissemination activities will play in your strategy.
EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:
1. Prior Learning: A student previously worked on a lobbying effort to modify current legislation that makes it difficult for recipients of TAFDC to attend college and complete a bachelors degree. She presents evidence of her role in and knowledge of that effort; evaluates the lobbying proposal and its implementation for a faculty evaluator; and submits a paper describing a broader strategy for changing this policy.
2. Independent Learning: A student becomes involved with a coalition of advocacy groups seeking to expand government assistance to prevent homelessness. He participates in the development of a strategy to meet this goal. As part of these activities, the student produces a number of papers analyzing and critiquing the coalition’s strategy. He compiles these papers and submits them to an evaluator.
3. Course: A student takes a course that addresses the Criteria and Standards of the competency.
4. Field Project: A student participates in a collaborative project that is analyzing US public policy decisions as they impact the rights of workers in Eastern Europe. In solidarity with labor organizers and other worker and human rights advocates in Eastern Europe and the United States, she helps develop a strategy to change the policies of the United States Agency for International Development that adversely affect workers’ rights.