Answer To: Deadline: November 1, 2021 Public Policy Perspectives Policy Analysis paper (4,000 words) – Harvard...
Insha answered on Oct 30 2021
PUBLIC POLICY PERSPECTIVES
POLICY ANALYSIS PAPER: PUNCTUATED – EQUILIBRIUM THEORY
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Outline of Punctuated – Equilibrium Theory 3
In Science 3
In Public Policy 4
Rationale and Research 4
Contrast between Biology and Public Policy 5
Characteristics of the Framework 5
Key Contributions 6
Outline of Policy Issues 7
Critical Analysis 8
Insights 8
Assumptions 9
Decision-Making 9
Identifying Relationships between Groups or Institutions 10
Government Spending 10
Budgeting 11
Identifying Consequences or Limitations 12
Recommendations 13
Conclusion 13
References 15
Introduction
The goal of this study is to apply Punctuated – equilibrium theory in public policy making and changing, focusing government spending and budgeting. The key to creating effective theoretical analysis is to dive into the assumptions and consequences of a policy challenge. Using these theories of the policy process will give insight into the reason for having this policy and the reason that this policies fail, to improve grasp of policymaking. Initially, this paper will highlight the framework and rationale for choosing it. Additionally it will be discussed about the policy characteristics and issues. Most importantly, this paper will analyse the issue using the framework. Lastly, it will be conclude with the recommendation based on research and analysis.
Outline of Punctuated – Equilibrium Theory
Political processes are typically characterised by stability and incrementalism, but they occasionally create large-scale deviations from the past, according to punctuated-equilibrium theory. Most policy domains are characterised by stasis rather than catastrophe, yet crises occasionally arise. The late Stephen Jay Gould was obsessed with punctuated equilibrium from the time it was invented. Punctuated Equilibrium is a theory about how the evolutionary process works, based on patterns of first appearances and histories of species in the fossil record. The theory of punctuated equilibrium was developed by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge (1986) in 1971. They postulated that evolution is not a slow transformation, but a process of rapid morphological change over millions of years.
Punctuated equilibrium, also known as stasis patterns and episodic turnover, are significant generalisations about the fossil record that have been expressed in a variety of ways in the paleontological vocabulary. When evolution is quick and geological time is long, Darwinian gradualism predicts a trend of rapid evolution leading to stasis. Punctuated Equilibrium is a new book by American palaeontologist Richard Dawkins, who claims that studying better portions of the stratigraphic record will reveal more about species beginnings (Ahad, 2017). Hence, the Framework is valid for various issues.
In Science
In isolated populations, some authors claimed that fast biological evolution occurs through mutation, recombination and natural selection. Palaeontologists Gould and Eldredge (1986) claimed that biological evolution was not necessarily "slow and steady" or progressive, in line with Mayr's hypothesis. Gould and Eldredge (1986) proposed punctuated equilibrium as a different pace of biological evolution. They challenged the idea of evolution as a smooth process, instead advocating for "evolutionary pluralism," in which gradualism and punctuated equilibrium coexist. They admitted that proponents of phyletic palaeobiology had prevailed for a long time, reflecting Darwin's original idea of evolution. After much debate and scientific scrutiny, they changed their minds and advocated for a different strategy (Ahad, 2017).
In Public Policy
Punctuated-equilibrium theory attempts to explain a simple statement of fact: Political processes are usually characterised by stability and incrementalism, but large-scale deviations from the past do occur sometimes. Most policy domains are characterised by stasis rather than catastrophe, yet crises occasionally arise (Beyer, Breunig and Radojevic, 2017). Authors examine the fundamentals of punctuated equilibrium in this research, as well as recent empirical investigations from the United States and internationally and theoretical advancements.
The interplay of complex political institutions and behavioural decision-making provides the clearest explanation for both marginal and large-scale policy changes. A combination that results in punctuated equilibrium or patterns of stability and mobilisation. Punctuated equilibrium theory simply extends current agenda-setting theories to deal with both policy stagnation and policy punctuations, as agenda-setting theory has always relied on such a decision-making base (Matzke, 2020).
Rationale and Research
Political scientists Beyer, Breunig and Radojevic (2017) argued that the degree of change in public policy is typically sluggish and incremental. However, they claimed that, on rare occasions, public policy change might occur "sharply," "explosively," and in a "short period" as a result of an external shock (such as a trigger event), followed by a new pattern of slow and incremental policy change. The three main reasons for choosing this framework are as follows:
i. In 2009, Baumgartner et al. (2009) proposed that "disruptive dynamics" could provide positive feedback in punctuated equilibrium. Interactions between political parties, interest groups and politicians are examples of these processes. Because of the constant battle between opposing parties, policies are either in equilibrium or periodically out of equilibrium owing to policy punctuation.
ii. A punctuated policy reform or even a political revolution might occur when a system is in severe instability (Baumgartner et al. 2009). The modern punctuated equilibrium theory of public policy assumes that policy change is analysed in terms of equilibrium, homeostasis, or disequilibrium, authors further added. Only an external shock that causes a "tipping point" can result in a dramatic shift in policy. To explain and forecast policy change and behaviour, the theory blends classical structural functionalism with social constructionist theory.
iii. In punctuated equilibrium theory, social constructionist media analysis has concentrated on a specific aspect of the policy process, such as favourable or negative coverage of committee hearings or rephrasing of a policy problem. According to Matzke (2020), all news outlets got scores to the left of the typical member of Congress, with the exception of Fox News' Special Report and the Washington Times'. PBS News Hour, CNN News night, ABC's Good Morning America and USA Today's print outlets were the most centrist media outlets. Government acts or inactions in the executive branch, judicial rulings and legislation are all examples of public policy outputs. In a 2006 report, it was mentioned that the attempts to punctuate U.S. corporate average fuel economy requirements hit a political snag from 1981 to 2005 (Koski and Workman, 2018). According to a study by Koski and Workman (2018), there were no changes in environmentalist policy on wood harvesting, old growth forest protection, or ecosystem preservation from 1976 to 2005.
Contrast between Biology and Public Policy
Punctuated equilibrium as utilised in public policy differs from punctuated equilibrium as employed in evolutionary biology today. Borrowing from evolutionary biology's punctuated equilibrium hypothesis is a bad comparison. Public policy punctuated equilibrium is also at odds with recent study findings in U.S. state tobacco policy, U.S. Northwest forestry policy and U.S. car efficiency policy, all of which indicated that despite concerted efforts to change public policy, punctuation of equilibrium did not occur (Park and Sapotichne, 2020). Furthermore, despite attempts to discover punctuations, these current study findings utilising final policy outputs rather than defining the supposed tone of the policy process found none.
Characteristics of the Framework
In their landmark work "Agendas and Instability in American Politics," created PET (Baumgartner et al. 2009). They claimed that policies are generally stable over time, but that this stability can be disrupted by fast and significant policy change. They called these phenomena "punctuated equilibrium" after a concept from evolutionary biology (Park and Sapotichne, 2020).
Policymakers (like humans in general) are assumed to have limited (cognitive and temporal) resources, according to the PET. As a result, attention is limited and how it is allocated is critical when it comes to policy change. Because "change begets change," if a disruption within the political system results in positive feedback mechanisms, a policy change is predicted (Baumgartner et al. 2009).
PET was initially developed as a method for analysing the dynamics of policy processes, with the primary goal of better understanding policy stability and change. Later, particularly in their book "The Politics of Attention”, authors further added, Baumgartner, Jones and Mortensen (2018) expanded on these results to form the "universal punctuation thesis." PET has been chastised for emphasising federalist frameworks while ignoring the importance of political parties.
PET has been...