The Policy “Garbage Can”

Group 6Cindy Benitez

Alejandra GuillenTiffanie MorganCasey Nicholson

Lillian ToTina Yang

Outline

Definition Cohen, March, & Olsen Kingdon

Problems Definition Indicators Problem Process

Solutions Process Stages

Participants Criticisms & Comparisons Cases / Movie Clip

What is the Policy “Garbage Can”?

According to Cohen, March, & Olsen* Attempt to describe

decision making in organizations

Unreliable & ambiguous process for selecting courses of action

Choice opportunity into which various problems & solutions are dumped by participants

According to Kingdon 3 major process

streams Problem recognition Formation & refining

of policy proposals Politics

Solutions developed whether or not they respond to a problem

Streams couple at critical junctures, which produces the greatest agenda change

* Gortner, Mahler, & Nicholson. Organization Theory. 1987.

Problems

DefinitionProblems vs. Conditions

When do conditions become problems?

ValuesShould the government take action?

ComparisonAre we equal in comparison to other nations?

CategoriesAre people’s perception of a problem affected by the category it is placed in?

Problems, cont.

Indicators Monitoring Systematic: Rates & Costs Studies Events, Crises, & Symbols Fluctuation

The Process? Recognition of the Problem Interpret the indicators and establish the magnitude

of the problem Presenting the problem in the most effective

manner.

Solutions: The Policy Process

Policy Communities Fragmentation Consequences

Policy fragmentation Close knit community = common

outlooks, orientations, & ways of thinking Instability

Solutions, cont.

“The Soup” Incentives

Promotion of personal interests Promote values or affect shape of public policy Policy groupies

Origins, Mutations, & Recombination Softening up

Introducing a bill Bureaucratic channels Floating trial balloons

Solutions, cont.

Criteria For Survival Technical Feasibility

Eliminate inconsistencies “actually”

Value Acceptability Liberal-conservative dimensions Concepts of equity & efficiency

Future Constraints Budget constraint Public acquiescence

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

AGENDA BUILDING

POLICY FORMULATION

BUDGETING

IMPLEMENTATION

EVALUATION

POLICY ADOPTION

Participants

Government Executive Legislative Judicial

Policy Communities Media

Criticisms

Has not been studied as much as the other models

Its implications on policy still not known

No known limits of organized anarchy

Comparisons

Garbage Can Model Rational Model Incremental Model

Garbage Can Model

The search of alternatives allows for more creativity and a larger set of alternatives

Analysis not different from the decision making process

Final choice made varies

Rational Model

Search assumed to be part of the task of policy making

Examines alternatives and identifies the most cost efficient one

Choose the program that is most efficient

Incremental Model

Search process is limited, unsystematic, and controlled too much by outside players

Alternative examined by the way it distributes benefits

Select the policy that supports a group of participants

Medicare

Case Study

Problems

Poverty among elderly Equity issue:

75% of citizens <65 had HI <50% of 65+ had HI

Health costs continued to rise

Political Solutions

President Kennedy, interest groups, Congressmen had proposals for health care.

Issue was on the agenda. Had substantial econ. growth after

1964 tax cut, thus new expenditure was much easier.

Political Stream

Public Mood: positive, agreed with Medicare Election results

AMA lost many of its supporters in 1964 election Congress: heavy Democrat majority in 1964

election President Johnson

Extremely popular: elected by over 60% Persuasive leader, formerly majority leader of Senate.

Choice Opportunities

The separate parts came together: “a problem is recognized, a solution is

available, the political climate makes the time right for change, and the constraints do not prohibit action” (Kingdon, p.88)

and Medicare, a large new program, was enacted in 1964

Civil Rights Act

Case Study

Problems

A struggle for equality in America. Eliminating discrimination and segregation

practiced by the government—in voting and public education.

Discrimination in public and private life—transportation, parks, stores, restaurants, business, employment and housing.

Policy Solutions

14th Amendment passed by Congress after the Civil War and ratified in 1868 declares:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States,…,are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;…nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Interpreted as “separate but equal doctrine”

Policy Solutions, cont.

Civil Rights Act of 1875—later declared unconstitutional in 1883

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Brown vs. Topeka, 1954 Landmark case Busing and Racial Balancing in Schools

Policy Solutions, cont.

1957 President Eisenhower sent in military forces to stop segregation at Little Rock’s Central High School

1962 President JFK sent in federal troops to enforce desegregation at the University of Mississippi

1964- Civil Rights Act—Congress entered the civil rights field in support of court efforts to achieve desegregation

Important Civil Rights Documents

Emancipation Proclamation 14th Amendment Brown vs. Topeka Civil Rights Act of 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1968

Political Players

Supreme Court President Eisenhower Federal Troops Martin Luther King Jr. President Kennedy Congress

Movie Clip