Assignment: Policy Analysis
Objective: To demonstrate beginning competence in social welfare policy analysis.
Do you see a policy consistently causing difficulty for your clients and their families? Is a policy oppressive to a specific population or community? Analyzing such a policy will give you a framework from which to develop a relevant advocacy campaign to educate, empower, and initiate change.
In this first of two assignments, you will select a currently enacted state or national social welfare policy and write a critical analysis of the policy utilizing the Blau and Abramovitz (2014) policy analysis framework and Gabel (2014) rights-based approach to social policy analysis. Your analysis should include the five key forces identified in the text as shaping social welfare policy: history, economy, politics, ideology, and social movements, as well as human right principles: participation, accountability, nondiscrimination, and equality. The conclusion will summarize strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and offer possible recommendations for policy modification or support for a new bill to fill gaps. (4-5 double-spaced pages in APA style)
The Policy Analysis paper should address the following:
• Identification of social issue/problem and social welfare policy (1 page)
o Identify and briefly describe a social issue/problem and a state or national social welfare policy designed to address it. Briefly define the policy.
o Identify rights violated or compromised by the social issue, using:
- International human rights laws and treaties
- National/state constitutions, laws, and regulations
o Contextualization of social issue/problem and policy
- Identify the stakeholders, rights-holders, and duty-bearers and their roles.
- Who benefits from the policy as it exists? Who loses?
• Analysis of key forces shaping the policy (using Blau & Abramovitz, 2014) (1-2 pages)
o History -
- What is the history of the social problem in the state or US? When and why did it come into the public's spotlight? Were there any initiatives/policies/programs or parts of such in the past that tried to address this issue? Any key state/US advocates who pushed this issue into the limelight?
o Economics -
- Is this social problem linked with an economic benefit to the oppressors? What is the economic consequence if this social problem is left unaddressed? What financial impact does the policy and its initiatives/programs have on stakeholders/organizations/community? Does this policy create economic security/stability? How?
o Politics -
- How did government and politicians become involved in the issue? Is this a bipartisan concern and sponsoring of the bill? Talk to democrat/republican thoughts on the issue.
o Ideology -
- What ideology pushed this social problem to the forefront and why? Main ideologies include radical, conservative (economic or social), feminist, and/or liberal.
o Social movements -
- What social movements (however small) helped to create an environment conducive to caring about the problem and actually creating policy on it? It does not need to be a social movement specific to the social problem ~ think to which social movements came before which set the stage.
• Analysis of human rights principles addressed (or not) by the social welfare policy (using Gabel, 2014).(1 page)
o Participation
o Accountability
o Nondiscrimination and Equality
• Conclusion and Recommendations: (1 page)
o Provide a brief review of identified key strengths and weaknesses of the policy from governmental sources, political institutes, advocacy groups, and/or the peer-reviewed literature.
o Summarize what you see as potential short-term impacts on the policy and the social problem given the current US administration.
o Develop and discuss two recommendations based on your research to resolve the social problem that will further the realization of the human rights principles. Include ideas for policy improvement, new policy creation, support for a current bill in the State Legislature or US Congress designed to strengthen the policy or fill a gap; opposition for a current bill in the State Legislature or US Congress designed to further weaken the policy, etc.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.