A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving

by Bardach, Eugene

• ISBN13: 9781889119298
• ISBN10: 1889119296
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	xiii
Policy Analysis: More Art than Science	xiv
The Eightfold Path	xiv
Iteration Is Continual	xiv
Some of the Guidelines Are Practical, but Most Are Conceptual	xv
The Concepts Come Embedded in Concrete Particulars	xv
Your Final Product	xv
The Spirit of the Eightfold Path	xvi
Part I. The Eightfold Path	1	(46)
Define the Problem	1	(6)
Think of Deficits and Excesses	2	(1)
The Definition Should Be Evaluative	2	(2)
Quantify If Possible	4	(1)
Conditions That Cause Problems Are Also Problems	4	(1)
Missing an Opportunity Is a Problem	5	(1)
Common Pitfalls in Problem Definition	5	(2)
Defining the solution into the ``problem''
Be skeptical about the causal claims implicit in diagnostic problem definitions
Iterate	7	(1)
Assemble Some Evidence	7	(5)
Think Before You Collect	9	(1)
The value of evidence
Self-control
Do a Literature Review	10	(1)
Survey ``Best Practice''	10	(1)
Use Analogies	11	(1)
Start Early	11	(1)
Touching Base, Gaining Credibility, Brokering Consensus	11	(1)
Freeing the Captive Mind	12	(1)
Construct the Alternatives	12	(7)
Start Comprehensive, End Up Focused	12	(2)
Model the System in Which the Problem is Located	14	(2)
Reduce and Simplify the List of Alternatives	16	(1)
Design Problems	17	(2)
A Linguistic Pitfall	19	(1)
Select the Criteria	19	(8)
Apply Evaluative Criteria to Judging Outcomes, Not Alternatives	19	(1)
Criteria Selection Builds on Problem Definitions---and Continues	20	(1)
Evaluative Criteria Commonly Used in Policy Analysis	20	(3)
Efficiency
Equality, equity, fairness, ``justice''
Freedom, community, and other ideas
Weighting Conflicting Evaluative Criteria	23	(1)
The political process takes care of it
The analyst imposes a solution
Practical Criteria	24	(2)
Legality
Political Acceptability
Robustness and improvability
Criteria in Optimization Models	26	(1)
Linear programming
Improving linguistic clarity
Project the Outcomes	27	(10)
Projection = Model + Evidence	28	(1)
Attach Magnitude Estimates	29	(1)
Break-Even Estimates	29	(3)
The Optimism Problem	32	(3)
Scenario writing
The other-guy's-shoes heuristic
Undesirable side effects
The ethical costs of optimism
The Outcomes Matrix	35	(1)
Linguistic Pitfalls	36	(1)
Confront the Trade-Offs	37	(3)
Commensurability	38	(1)
Break-even analysis revisited
Without Projecting Outcomes, There's Nothing to Trade Off	39	(1)
Simplify the Comparison Process	39	(1)
Decide!	40	(1)
The Twenty-Dollar-Bill Test	41	(1)
Tell Your Story	41	(6)
The New York Taxi Driver Test	41	(1)
You, Your Client, and Your Audiences	42	(1)
What Medium to Use?	42	(1)
Your Story Should Have a Logical Narrative Flow	43	(1)
Some Common Pitfalls	44	(1)
Following the Eightfold Path
Compulsive qualifying
Showing your work
Listing without explaining
Style
Report Format	45	(1)
Table format
References and sources
Memo Format	46	(1)
The Sound Bite and the Press Release	46	(1)
Part II. Gathering Data for Policy Research	47	(24)
In the Beginning	48	(2)
Locating Relevant Sources	50	(1)
Documents and People	50	(3)
People lead to people
People lead to documents
Documents lead to documents
Documents lead to people
Secondhand Information	53	(1)
Multiple Sources of Firsthand Information	54	(1)
The Search for Sources and the Search for Knowledge	55	(1)
Gaining Access and Engaging Assistance	55	(1)
Getting an Appointment	56	(2)
Cultivating Access	58	(1)
Exhausting Access	58	(2)
Acquiring and Using Leverage	59	(1)
Energy Plus Direction Equals Information	60	(3)
The Defensive Informant	63	(4)
Protecting Credibility	67	(1)
Policy Research Aims at Approximate Truths	67	(1)
The Risks of Premature Exposure	68	(3)
Strategic Dilemmas of Policy Research	69	(2)
Part III. ``Smart (Best) Practices'' Research: Understanding and Making Use of What Look like Good Ideas from Somewhere Else	71	(16)
Have Realistic Expectations	71	(1)
``Smart Practices''	72	(5)
Free Lunches	72	(4)
Breaking Loose from Conventions and Assumptions	76	(1)
Characterizing and Observing the ``Practice''	77	(10)
Characterizing the Elements of a Practice	77	(2)
Distinguish between elements that are ``essential'' and those that are ``supportive''
Distinguish between ``essential'' and ``optional'' elements
Distinguish between the functions each of the elements performs and the methods used to perform them
Allowing for Variation and Complexity	79	(2)
Characterization should be generic and flexible, not prescriptive and overly precise
Characterization of the essential elements of a practice is not necessarily simple; it could be complex
Specimens of a smart practice in the real world look rather different from one another and require careful interpretation
Generic Vulnerabilities	81	(1)
But Will It Work Here?	82	(2)
The Target Context
The Source Contexts
Back to the Eightfold Path	84	(3)
Appendix A. Things Governments Do	87	(10)
I. Taxes	87	(1)
A. What You Might Do	87	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	87	(1)
II. Regulation	88	(1)
A. What You Might Do	88	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	88	(1)
III. Subsidies and Grants	89	(1)
A. What You Might Do	89	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	89	(1)
Incentive effects
Wealth effects
Some design problems
IV. Provide a Service	90	(1)
A. What You Might Do	90	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	90	(1)
V. Agency Budgets	90	(1)
A. What You Might Do	90	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	91	(1)
VI. Information	91	(1)
A. What You Might Do	91	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	91	(1)
VII. Modify Structure of Private Rights	91	(1)
A. What You Might Modify or Create	91	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	92	(1)
VIII. Modify Framework of Economic Activity	92	(1)
A. What You Might Do	92	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	93	(1)
Supporting more government intervention
Supporting less government intervention
IX. Education and Consultation	93	(1)
A. What You Might Do	93	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	93	(1)
X. Financing and Contracting	94	(1)
A. What You Might Do	94	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	94	(1)
XI. Bureaucratic and Political Reforms	94	(3)
A. What You Might Do	94	(1)
B. Why You Might Do It	94	(3)
Appendix B. Semantic Tips: A Summary	97	(1)
Defining the Problem	97	(1)
Assembling the Evidence	98	(1)
Constructing the Alternatives	98	(1)
Selecting Criteria	99	(1)
Projecting Outcomes	100	(1)
Confronting Trade-offs	101	(1)
Doing Smart Practices Research	101