How Governmental Policy is Made

1 1 No. 34 November 2005 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER What is Policy ?..1 Where Policy is Expressed ..1 Ideas Result in The Coin of Influence ..2 Sources of Ideas ..2 An Idea is only the First Effective Lobbying ..6 How Governmental Policy is made This BRIEF explores how the ideas for Governmental Policy emerge and what it takes to get them adopted. Content is based primarily on Michigan, which has a full-time legislature. While concepts are relevant to other states and the national level, details may differ.

2 What Is Policy ? Policy is defined in the Merriam-Webster OnlineDictionary as ..a definite course or method ofaction selected from among to guideand determine present and future decisions. Policycan also be defined as making decisions that reflectvalues and allocating resources based on those , Policy represents a particular political, ethical,or programmatic viewpoint. Governmental policyreflects theoretical or experiential assumptions aboutwhat is required to resolve a particular issue Policy IS EXPRESSEDAt the federal and state levels, Governmental Policy isreflected in multiple venues: The federal and state constitutions set the generalframework, as interpreted in specific instancesthrough court decisions.

3 The chief executive s agenda is presented throughspeeches, press releases, State of the State andbudget messages to the legislature, executiveorders, and instructions to department heads. Legislative Policy is expressed in speeches and pressreleases by the leadership and formulated inpolicy and appropriation is not generally recognized that budgets, expressedin appropriation acts and taxes, are criticalstatements of social Policy . Budgets distributeresources and determine what government can andcannot do. Taxes may favor property versus income,businesses versus consumers, or production versusconsumption.

4 They may or may not provide stableresources for Governmental can also be found in the determinations anddecisions of state department heads and middlemanagement. Their decisions or actions determinehow legislative Policy and broad governmentalmandates are actually translated into services. Policyis reflected in strategic plans and Policy is translated and carried out through rules andregulations, manuals, requests for proposals,contractual agreements, enforcement actions, and the local level, county commissioners andtownship supervisors, school boards andsuperintendents, and local Governmental agenciesmake Policy within the confines of state law andother state formulations.

5 Chief executives of citiesand city councils operate according to state law andcity charters. The directors of local governmentalagencies operate within a state and there is a Policy hierarchy ranging from thebroad statement of mission or purpose in theconstitution, or here is what we propose to do asexpressed in law, down to the more explicit here iswhat that means when we carry it out as defined indepartmental RESULT IN POLICYTHE COIN OF INFLUENCEE lected officials are influenced by four things thatget them elected or re-elected.

6 Votes Money Ideas that lead to actions that lead to goodresults for constituents and good publicity1 Information and feedback from theirconstituentsAppointed officials and middle managers are alsoinfluenced by ideas. However, if their ideas createpolitical problems for elected officials, they are OF IDEAST here are multiple sources for the ideas that lead topolicy, including suggestions and proposals made , Personal Experiences, and HighVisibility Issues are Prime Sources forPolicy ChangeCataclysmic events can have an immediate impact onpublic and the Columbine massacre substantiallyimpacted decisions and actions at the federal, state andlocal Tanks and BureaucratsChild Care Expulsion Prevention ProjectsJane Knitzer.

7 From the Columbia University Center forChildren in Poverty, gave a presentation about youngchildren who were being expelled from child care andthe need for mental health services. As a result of thispresentation, the prevention director decided to usesmall prevention grants to enable five community mentalhealth agencies to survey the situation in their communityand to develop ways to utilize existing resources toprovide services. Subsequently, the director of mentalhealth services for children and families convinced middlemanagement staff in the state social services agency toassign federal child care and development funds tounderwrite services in the five projects and to expandservices to other locations.

8 A document was developedto establish parameters for these reports of more localized situations can stories about foster children in Michiganresulted in the appointment of the BinsfeldCommission, which generated laws requiring changes intimelines and services for children in foster experiences generate momentum for changesin legislator s personal experience is a significant triggerfor Policy development. Federal legislation resulted fromthe Kennedy family s experience with a sibling who haddevelopmental who have lost children have become effectivelobbyists.

9 For example, Mothers Against DrunkDriving (MADD) has been a potent force for enactingdrinking and driving laws. More recently, in Michigan,Jasmine s Law (requiring measures for traffic safetyaround schools) was enacted in response to a parent slobbying after the loss of a of special needs children seek services. Forexample, IDEA, the federal act providing funds forspecial education services to at-risk children withdisabilities, was initiated and has been sustained by thelobbying efforts of who are impacted by specific situations in law seekto change them.

10 For example, non-custodial fathers wanta law requiring visitation, bypassing determinations byjudges, and grandparents denied access to grandchildren3 Social, Economic, and Technological ChangesTrigger a Search for SolutionsInitially, social trends and possible solutions toperceived problems are identified by think tanks,federally funded resource centers, universityresearchers, Governmental agencies, orknowledgeable individuals. As a second step,foundation and Governmental grant funding forresearch and service development influences policyby underwriting cutting-edge research and pilotdemonstrations.