Assignment Task:
Taxes, retirement, and financial policies are some of the most controversial areas of policy development. There are a variety of opinions, data sources, and expert reports out there on each of these areas. Therefore, along with all proposed policy, it is important that we can evaluate each policy. In this week's lesson, we discussed the three primary and five ancillary evaluative criteria that Kraft considers essential in analyzing policies. Let's put this information into practice.
Take a look at some articles or resources on these policies. Please go to the APUS Library Guide for Public Administration and Security Management:
Choose an article or resource that discusses a tax, financial or retirement policy and let the class know why you chose this particular article and accomplish the following:
For your forum post:
(1) Summarize the key points made within the article.
(2) Now, select at least three evaluative criteria from this week's lesson to analyze the points made in the article. For example, did the author address the equity of the policy and if so, what did they say? If they didn't address it, what do you think the author would have said about the missing evaluative criteria?
(3) Analyze the policy alternatives for your selected policy topic/article.
Note: almost everything can be indirectly related to taxes, retirement or finances. I don't want to see things that are impacted by or things that impact fiscal, tax, or retirement policies (almost everything in life is or does), but policy that is created as financial, tax, or retirement policy.
Stay on the topic of the discussion. This week, that is analysis of policy using the criteria we studied.
Criteria we studied:
Evaluative Criteria for Public Policy
Following problem identification and clarification, development of goals in order to explain what the policy alternative(s) exist will be accomplished. It is usually broad with a long-term solution or set of solutions. They must be specific and measurable. Think SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based)
Specific criteria used to compare how well various alternatives meet goals are as follows: PRIMARY (3)
Effectiveness - measures how well a policy achieves its goal;
Efficiency - measures the cost of a policy in relation to its expected benefits; and
Fairness- measures the level of fairness in the distribution of costs and benefits-that is, who pays the costs and who reaps the benefits.
In addition to the criteria identified above, five additional criteria generally be employed in the evaluation process are: ANCILLARY (5)
Ethics - measures how consistent the policy is with cultural norms;
Political feasibility- measures the level of acceptance of a proposed policy by elected officials;
Social acceptability - measures the level of public acceptance and support of a proposed policy;
Administrative feasibility- measures the ability to implement a proposed policy;
Technical feasibility- measures the availability and reliability of the technology needed to implement a proposed policy.
Maintainability- measures how long the policy can be continued without additional funding sources.