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Agenda Setting, and Scope and

Pace of Policy Change


(the problem, the solution and the political
climate)

Kingdon's Schema
John W. Kingdon: Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies
How is it that some policy problems are chosen and not
others?
When and how does an idea's time come?
Difference between American polity and indian polity
A policy problem is chosen for policy making when
a problem is recognized
a solution is available
the political climate makes time ripe for change, and the
constraints do not prohibit action

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Window of opportunity

POLITICS

PROBLEMS

Window of
Opportunity

Agenda
Setting

SOLUTIONS

Window of Opportunity
Window of opportunity is open for a brief time when the
circumstances are ripe for the policy decision
Ability to assess situational context
Making the circumstances more favourable

Window of Opportunity: Three Streams


Problem stream
Solution stream
Political stream

Classification of Problems
Anticipated and unanticipated problems
Visibility: Crises and normal problems
Crisis high visibility
Governments survival/reputation depends on how well it
manages the crisis
Holding a top position is like living in a pressure cooker
Crisis derails the well-conceived policy agenda
Max Weber: Occasionalist Leader
Expected crises/ unexpected crises

Hardy Perennial Problems


Economic reforms
Poverty alleviation
Naxalite problem
Insurgency in the North East/ Kashmir

Change of Govt. and Policymaking


The incoming government does not have a blank slate to write;
there is a previous scribbling which cannot be erased. The past is
not past; previous actions leave consequences that take a long
time to be rectified.
Crises and the legacy of pressing problems crowd the
incoming government's and divert time, resources and attention
and do not allow it to fulfil its election manifesto

Bicycle Theory
Bicycle Theory Jagdish Bhagwati and Fred Bergsten
International trade relations
Steady movement/ stumbling blocks
Movement is slow, arduous and strategically incremental
Leap forward opportunities

The Solution Stream


Utterly unanticipated problems
Anticipated problems a notion of solution present
Policy package problem + solution
Policymaking is a packaging of (combination and
recombination) of pre-existing elements.
Bringing new ideas to the policy community
Peer scrutiny of novel ideas
Novel ideas take some time in gaining acceptability
New ideas radical departure
Paradigm shift (licence raj market-friendly economic policies)

The Political Stream


Comprises:
Public Mood
Election Results
The Relationship between major political parties
in Parliament and outside
Changes in the government
UPA Freedom of Information Act 2003 to Right
to Information Act 2005 (NAC - Jean Dreze and
Aruna Roy)

Crisis as Opportunity
The unthinkable becomes inevitable
Crisis political weather changes dramatically
Usual politics gets suspended; interest group activity goes into
hibernation; expectation for leadership and resolution of the crisis
Crisis governments reputation at stake
The creation of a perception of a crisis can sometimes be
useful to force changes in policies.
Crisis is over usual politics is back
Prudence demands that safeguards are built into policies so
that it is difficult to reverse them once the crisis is perceived to be
past.

Crisis as Condition
Crisis Problem Solution
Crisis unresolved Condition

Crisis and Paradigm Shift


Macroeconomic crisis of 1991 Economic liberalisation
Food Crisis 1965 67 Green Revolution

Ideas, Paradigm and Paradigm Shift


Ideas govern the world
Keynes:
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both
when they are right and when they are wrong, are more
powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world
is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe
themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual
influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct
economist.

Ideas, Paradigm and Paradigm Shift


Thomas S. Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolution
Paradigm shift and scientific revolutions
Objectivity, scientific research and the reigning paradigm
Accumulation of anomalies and scientific revolution
Newtonian physics and Einsteinian physics
A policy paradigm prescribes the normative framework within
which policies are developed.
A paradigm is the hegemony of ideas
The capitalist state is able to maintain its dominance not only
because of its coercive power but also because of the hegemony
of its ideas.

Paradigm Shift
Old Paradigm (Conventional Wisdom)
Old Paradigm (Anomalies; doubts)
Transition
New Paradigm (The old challenges the new)
Softening/ Breaking barriers
New Paradigm (wins over the Old)
New becomes old

Paradigm Shift and Economic Policy


With a paradigm shift normative framework changes
It necessitates mutation of the existing policies
Unitil 1980s State-centric paradigm
Keynsian economics result of the the II World War; the great
depression
Belief in the benevolence of the State and its ability to rationally
order economy and society.
Government was micromanaging the economy
The Fall of the Soviet Union
Displacement of State-centric paradigm by the market-friendly
neo-liberal economic paradigm.

Paradigm Shift and Resistance


All new ideas go through a phase of resistance
Swadeshi Movement in India
FDI in retail
China market socialism
Policy change is a slow and incremental process
Schopenhauer: three stages in the acceptance of new ideas:
Stage of ridicule
Stage of opposition
Considered as self-evident

Other obligations
Treaty obligations
Conformity to financial markets, and multilateral and regional
financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, ADS etc.

Public Policy and Paradigms


The world of policy paradigm is multipolar
Three paradigms affecting policy paradigm
1. Neo-liberal economic policy paradigm
2. The Human Rights Paradigm
3. Good Governance Paradigm

The Human Rights Paradigm


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948
II World War; the Holocaust; rights of each individual
Human Rights have become the language of every
conceivable discourse
Human rights and the sovereignty of the State
Approximately 52 universal instruments of HR and india is
party to 24 of these
Legally binding covenants and morally binding declarations

Some significant declarations and covenants


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR)

Human Rights
The negative rights to restrain the state from arbitrary and
uncivilized treatment of its citizens
Affirmative social and political rights (freedom and dignity have
no meaning if an individual life does not offer it)
Collective rights/ individual rights

Human Rights Paradigm


HR paradigm has promoted three revolutions:
1. Advocacy
2. Enforcement
3. Juridical revolutions

Human Rights Paradigm


HR paradigm enforced by:
1. The power of ideas
2. Treaty Obligations
3. Conformity to global civic and societal practices

Human Rights and Limitations


HR can not be fully implemented: scarcity of resources
Greater evil and lesser evil (victims of terror and state coercion)
Language of rights and justice tend to overshadow all other points
of view (hinders consensus and compromise)
Few organizations advocating human rights actually defend
particularist causes and are not necessarily more represntative or
more accountable than elected governments.
Cynical use of human rights in international relations may be seen
as imperialism in a new garb
Human rights have become an overarching paradigm colonizing
all other disciplines and considerations (HR offer normative
framework)

The Good Governance Paradigm


Essential elements of governance:
The relative role between the state, markets and society
State: Competence and motivation of the state and its
functionaries (ministers and top level civil servants policy
makers, middle level civil servants implementers and
managers, street-level functionaries deliverers of programmes
and services)
Good Governance improving governance to promote public
good

Motivation and Agency


Human motivation and the competence of the agency
Julian Le Grand Professor of Social Policy at London School
of Economics Motivation, Agency and Public Policy of Knights
and Knaves, Pawns and Queens, 2003
State functionaries Knights or Knaves (Motivations)
Agency Pawns or Queens
Knights public-spirited and altruistic
Knaves motivated by self interest
Queens all powerful
Pawns subservient

State-Centric Paradigm of Governance


The State Knights (public-spirited and altruistic)
Citizens are Pawns
The competence and benevolence of State is beyond doubt
The State has a direct role and control in/on everything and is
expected to create a welfare society
Focus is on resource mobilization and utilization; no need of
monitoring outcomes and establishing accountability

New Public Management Paradigm


1990 - Fiscal crisis; disenchantment with the bureaucracy and
delivery of public services, the rise of public choice theory
Questioning of the State's motivations
Curtailing of powers of the Agency
Citizens shedding the garb of a pawn and assuming power
Julien Government functionaries Knaves
Citizens Queens
The State should limit itself to the core indispensable activities
and outsource others to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations
Monitoring and accountability through performance indicators

World Development Report, 1991


Put simply, governments need to do less in those areas
where markets work, and can be made to work reasonably
well. In many countries, it would help to privatise many of the
state-owned enterprises. Governments need to let domestic
and international competitions flourish. At the same time,
governments need to do more in those areas where markets
alone cannot be relied upon. (Education, health, nutrition,
family planning, poverty alleviation; building social, physical,
administrative and legal infrastructure of better quality;
providing stable macroeconomic foundation...

Good Governance Paradigm


Government, market and society
Decision making as a partnership between the govt. and
the society
Key principles of good governance:
Stakeholders' participation, rule of law, transparency;
answerability/accountability (responsibility and
responsiveness, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness
and efficiency etc.
Participation of the Industry/Business Enterprises/ CII/
FICCI/ CEOs Forum and NAC in policy making

NAC
Chairperson, National Advisory Council
Smt. Sonia Gandhi
Members, National Advisory Council
Ms. Anu Aga - Chairperson Thermax (Energy and Environment
Management)
Dr. Narendra Jadhav - Educationist/Economist
Dr. Mihir Shah - Samaj Pragati Sahyog (NGO)
Shri Naresh C. Saxena - Policy planner
Prof. Pramod Tandon - Educationist
Dr. A. K. Shiva Kumar - Development Economist and advisor to
UNICEF, India
Shri Deep Joshi - Founder of PRADAN
Ms. Farah Naqvi - Writer and activist
Ms. Mirai Chatterjee - Director of Social Security at SEWA
Shri Ashis Mondal - Director ASA (Action for Social
Advancement)
Prof. Virginius Xaxa - Deputy Director, TISS Guwahati

Stakeholders
Three bases for classification
Location: Internal and External
Impact: Primary and Secondary
Orientation: Proponents and Opponents
Passive and Dormant Stakeholders
Stakeholders and the Civil Society
Who can represent the Civil Society???

Policy Entrepreneurship
Policy entrepreneurs push their ideas when the opportune
moment arrives
Competencies for policy entrepreneurship:
Innovative approach characterisation of policy problem
Innovative approach resolution of the policy problem
Ability to translation that approach into a coherent policy
proposal
A sense of timing assessment of situational context
Good negotiating skills

Policy Entrepreneurship
In India policy entrepreneurs are by and large civil servants
(bureaucrats) and ministers
Anthony Downs
Inside Bureaucracy: RAND Corporation 1964
Five types of bureaucratic leadership:
1. Conservers babus
2. Climbers Power thirsty
3. Zealots promoters of ideas without a concern for the
organization
4. Advocates promoters of ideas for the organizations
5. Statesmen promotion of the public interest

Thank You

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