Showing papers in "Policy Studies Journal in 1980"
761 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend the analysis of urban service delivery beyond equality of units of service input to measurement of the equity of both inputs and outputs (impact), and develop an original technique for measuring and indexing service equity.
Abstract: This article attempts to extend the analysis of urban service delivery beyond equality of units of service input to measurement of the equity of both inputs and outputs (impact). The author develops an original technique for measuring and indexing service equity. It is applied to police services in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The findings are generally consistent with other recent research around the nation in that only modest inequities in service inputs and outputs are found and little evidence of systematic discrimination toward the poor and racial minorities is found.
43 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework was developed and applied to assess the statutory structure of state wetlands regulations, derived from case study literature, but also incorporating broad generalizations, and eight specific variables were used to assess variation among 16 state regulations.
Abstract: A conceptual framework was developed and applied to assess the statutory structure of state wetlands regulations. The framework was derived from case study literature, but also incorporates broad generalizations. Eight specific variables were used to assess variation among 16 state regulations. Results demonstrate that this framework can be successfully applied to assess the comparative stringency of state regulations. (20 references, 6 tables)
38 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the fiscal, social, economic, economic and environmental characteristics of 228 cities and counties using cluster analysis, 210 communities were classified into eleven types of communities, and the empirical typings appear to support the proposition that communities control population growth to avoid adverse fiscal and environmental impacts and maintain the social and economic character of the community.
Abstract: This paper examines the fiscal, social, economic and environmental characteristics of 228 cities and counties. Using cluster analysis, 210 communities were classified into eleven types of communities. The empirical typings appear to support the proposition that communities control population growth to avoid adverse fiscal and environmental impacts and maintain the social and economic character of the community.
35 citations
TL;DR: Appropriate remedies, which may include improved communication, provision of training or resources, evidence of the effectiveness of the program, positive or negative incentives of various kinds, and appeals to authority, will depend upon the type of noncompliance encountered.
Abstract: Policies have impact only if they are successful in changing the behavior of target individuals. If one focuses upon the prescription imbedded in any policy, it is possible to gauge the success of implementation by assessing the degree of compliance with the prescription. The target individual may not comply, however, due to (1) lapses or ambiguities in communication; (2) insufficient resources; (3) an objection to the policy itself (i.e., its goals or its assumptions); (4) distaste for the action required; or (5) doubts about the authority upon which the policy is based, or that authority's agents. Appropriate remedies, which may include improved communication, provision of training or resources, evidence of the effectiveness of the program, positive or negative incentives of various kinds, and appeals to authority, will depend upon the type of noncompliance encountered.
34 citations
TL;DR: The authors traces the intellectual history of policy analysis from Merriam's concept of intelligent planning and Lasswell's vision of "policy sciences" to the present and concludes that policy analysis is unbreakable and that attempts to develop an interdisciplinary policy science premised on the supposed unifying force of a common methodological core have led to fragmentation, not theoretical integration.
Abstract: This essay on the intellectual history of policy analysis traces the field from Merriam's concept of “intelligent planning” and Lass-well's vision of “policy sciences” to the present. Lasswell's vision is seen as a relevant if unrealized one in general dimensions. It is argued that the tie of policy analysis to traditional issues in political science is unbreakable and, because of this, attempts to develop an interdisciplinary policy science premised on the supposed unifying force of a common methodological core have led to fragmentation, not theoretical integration. The emergence of the synoptic/empirico-rational tradition and anti-synoptic/neo-pluralist traditions in policy analysis in the 1950's and 1960's are discussed and strengths and weaknesses noted. Divisions over the question of values and normative theory are highlighted. A concluding section discusses alternative views on the proper scope of policy analysis as an emerging discipline, contrasting the “handmaiden” and “ivory tower” alternatives. A six-dimension outline of a map for policy analysis as a field is presented and the continued utility of Lasswellian concerns emphasized in contrast to the stalemated debate between synoptic and anti-synoptic viewpoints in American policy analysis.
32 citations
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18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, three cross-sectional data sets for the U.S. House of Representatives are analyzed for 1973 to 1978 and the conclusions are: (1) Political support for environmental legislation has remained stable and has not diminished in the face of economic problems and energy shortages.
Abstract: Three cross-sectional data sets for the U.S. House of Representatives are analyzed for 1973 to 1978. The conclusions are: (1) Political support for environmental legislation has remained stable and has not diminished in the face of economic problems and energy shortages. (2) The East is the region most supportive of environmental issues while the South is by far the least supportive. (3) Clear partisan differences exist with the Democrats consistently more pro-environmental than Republicans. (4) The most important factor associated with environmental support is ideology. Although interrelated with party, it is more salient than either party or constituency factors. (5) Support for pro-environmental voting is strongest in urban and suburban constituencies and weakest in rural and mixed districts.
TL;DR: In this article, tax minimization and quality of services are the chief motives for rate and location controls, followed by "environmental protection", often meaning view protection or preventing traffic increases.
Abstract: Local growth controls are categorized as controlling class composition, growth location, or growth rate. Literature concerning the motives for adopting these types of growth controls is examined. Four case studies are presented, two involving growth rate controls and two concerned with growth phasing (locational) controls. Our findings agree with earlier ones that tax minimization and quality of services are the chief motives for rate and location controls, followed by “environmental protection,” often meaning view protection or preventing traffic increases. Agricultural protection was a major factor in two of the cases. We found no desires for economic exclusion or property value enhancement in the adoption of the controls. Questions remain, however, concerning the exclusionary effect of perpetuating rate controls.
TL;DR: The authors synthesize and extend recent developments in the logic of argumentation and symbolic logic to create a methodology for treating complex arguments, including open-ended policy arguments, to deal with the incompleteness of most policy arguments.
Abstract: Numerous authors have attested to the incompleteness of most policy arguments. Until now, however, the machinery has not been available for dealing with complex and open-ended policy arguments. This paper synthesizes and extends recent developments in the logic of argumentation and symbolic logic to create a methodology for treating complex arguments.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that fragmented and decentralized policy making structures can generate major Policy innovation as well as can centralized structures, and that the fragmented committee structure of Congress is shown to facilitate innovation in the example of federal water pollution control legislation.
Abstract: This article argues that fragmented and decentralized policy making structures can generate major Policy innovation as well as can centralized structures. The fragmented committee structure of Congress is shown to facilitate innovation in the example of federal water pollution control legislation. Thorough consideration of four dimensions of costs and benefits strengthens the case for disjointed Innovation since it “promotes entrepreneurship, encourages competition, minimizes the costs of change, and promotes legitimacy….”
TL;DR: The authors argued that environmental policy may be particularly suited as a vehicle for the articulation of post-material values in advanced industrial societies, and that recognition of this is likely to prove enormously helpful in future comparative and cross-national research into the origins of environmentalism and the causes of environmental policy change.
Abstract: This paper advances the proposition that environmental policy may be particularly suited as a vehicle for the articulation of post-material values in advanced industrial societies, and that recognition of this is likely to prove enormously helpful in future comparative and cross-national research into the origins of environmentalism and the causes of environmental policy change. The paper notes the salient characteristics of postmaterialism and the overlap of these with the leading indicators of environmentalism. Possible structural causes for this overlap are noted and opposed to the prevailing socialization explanation for the adoption of postmaterial and environmental values. To help understand the impact of environmentalism on policy an idealized development of the movement is sketched. This leads to the description of a set of general factors likely to be related to the way environmentalism finds political expression in various countries. In the final section, the focus is on what we might want to know about the policy process in order to be able to gauge environmentalist influence on policy outputs.
TL;DR: The authors argue that policy evaluation requires a critically reflective "practical discourse" open not only to experts or policy analysts but to the public at large, and that such discourse is a valuable remedy against the technical-instrumental bent of applied science.
Abstract: In the confines of the study of politics, public policy analysis involves a shift from pure to applied research, a shift which intensifies the problem of the fact-value split inherited from positivist behavioralism. While early public policy literature concentrated on empirical policy-making processes bypassing moral criteria, some recent writings have elaborated on policymaking and policy evaluation as a type of normative inquiry; significant steps in this direction have been undertaken by Duncan MacRae and especially by Jurgen Habermas in the context of “critical theory.” According to Habermas, policy evaluation requires a critically reflective “practical discourse” open not only to experts or policy analysts but to the public at large. The paper argues that such discourse is a valuable remedy against the technical-instrumental bent of applied science, but that recovery of a fully non-instrumental “practical” judgement presupposes an evaluation not only of concrete policies but of the status of “policy” itself.
TL;DR: The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) assigns the Environmental Protection Agency responsibility for protecting the public from hazards created by industrial wastes as discussed by the authors, however, the regulations, however, are likely to hike costs of legal disposal by increasing the demand for disposal sites, while at the same time reducing the supply.
Abstract: The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) assigns the Environmental Protection Agency responsibility for protecting the public from hazards created by industrial wastes. The Agency has understandably used its mandate to construct cradle to grave regulation of waste substances that pose health hazards. The regulations, however, are likely to hike costs of legal disposal by increasing the demand for disposal sites, while at the same time reducing the supply. The higher cost of disposal may give an advantage to larger, existing firms, may deter entry of new firms to both waste generating and disposal industries, and promote illicit disposal. RCRA therefore may have the paradoxical result of increasing public exposure to hazardous wastes.
TL;DR: In this paper, the contribution of elasticity of tax revenues to the growth of expenditures in the 50 American states since 1960, based on elasticity measures for state revenue sources compiled by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, an index of state tax structural change, and controls for federal aid to states, population increase, and per capita growth in real income.
Abstract: Recent analyses and theories of public choice suggest faster public sector expansion in states with highly elastic revenue structures. This paper estimates the contribution of elasticity of tax revenues to the growth of expenditures in the 50 American states since 1960, based on elasticity measures for state revenue sources compiled by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, an index of state tax structural change, and controls for federal aid to states, population increase, and per capita growth in real income.
Results for 1960-1970 show a small positive relationship between revenue elasticity and expenditure growth, but this becomes weak and negative for 1970-1976. Spending has increased most in states with the least elastic revenue sources; these states have made considerable changes in tax laws, while states with elastic revenue sources have been more likely to cut taxes than to increase spending. Federal aid, rather than tax elasticity, is the best predictor of state expenditure growth, while legislative changes in tax structure have enabled states to keep pace with rising demand for revenue due to growth in population and real income.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose to augment and improve environmental policy, beyond the bounding approach, are to inquire into uncertainties and side-effects, choose complex ecologies over simple ones, and sample for uncertain risks by probability assessments.
Abstract: The interaction among myriad species and chemicals in the food chain often yields potential outcomes which are difficult to foresee. In policy terms, these interactions comprise an information load beyond human cognition, resulting in unexpected side effects. The clearest examples are seen in the invasions of species and epidemics, air pollution, toxic substances, and endangered species. The policy process attempts to deal with the information problem by using (1) an incremental approach, (2) a bounding approach, or (3) an uncertainty approach. Unfortunately, the bounding approach excludes all data on interactions outside the apparent cause/effect hypothesis. Possible approaches to augment and improve environmental policy, beyond the bounding approach, are to inquire into uncertainties and side-effects, choose complex ecologies over simple ones, and sample for uncertain risks by probability assessments.
TL;DR: This article examined the relationship between urban riots and increases in state welfare spending in the 1960s and found little evidence of a direct relationship between rioting and welfare spending increases from own funds.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between urban riots and increases in state welfare spending in the 1960s. It finds little evidence of a direct relationship between rioting and state welfare spending increases from own funds; but it does provide evidence that state welfare spending increases from federal funds were related to the level of urban rioting. Possible explanations for this pattern of findings are discussed and directions for further research are suggested.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest a communicative ethics illuminating the practical choices that planning analysts routinely confront: to spread or withhold information, to raise or lower expectations, to encourage and inform citizen action and project review or to discourage them.
Abstract: Analysts do more than work to solve problems or process information; they organize others' attention to possibilities of action and thus shape expectations, working relationships, participation, political support and opposition, hopefulness and resignation. This analysis suggests a communicative ethics illuminating the practical choices that planning analysts routinely confront: to spread or withhold information, to raise or lower expectations, to encourage and inform citizen action and project review or to discourage them.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe how differences in local polities affects policy implementation and policy impact, and the tentative conclusion is that maintaining local autonomy and achieving national goals are far from mutually compatible.
Abstract: In the 1970's, the federal government has made greater use of block grants to encourage subnational units to pursue national goals. Using two jurisdictions—St. Louis City and St. Louis County—and two block grant programs—Community Development and Comprehensive Employment and Training—as case studies, this essay describes how differences in local polities affects policy implementation and policy impact. The tentative conclusion is that maintaining local autonomy and achieving national goals are far from mutually compatible.