The Policy Cycle

Postgraduate Training in Psychiatry

Geoff Smith

WA Centre for Mental Health Policy Research

Derivation

From policie [OF] ‘plan of action’ from politia [L] ‘civil

administration’ from Greek politeia, a derivative of polis ‘city’.

What is Policy?

The term is used in many different ways and can be hard to

pin down.

“ … a course or principle of action, adopted or proposed by

government, party, business or individual”

Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary

“… a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational

outcomes”.

“… a mandatory statement of the principles guiding an

organisation’s operations and decision-making. It is

established by a resolution or other decision of the

governance body, or by a senior officer under delegated

authority of that body. They are binding statements that

apply across the organisation and support the organisation’s

course of action for the foreseeable future and should,

therefore, change relatively infrequently”.

What is Policy?

“… good policy is a tool which makes administration easier

and allows people to get on with an organisation’s core

business more efficiently and effectively”.

There are some central features common to all good policy:

It states matters of principle;

It is focussed on action, stating what is to be done and by

whom;

It is an authoritative statement, made by a person or body

with the power to do so.

What is Good Policy?

Policies differ from rules of law, which can compel or prohibit

behaviours. Policies merely guide actions towards those that

are most likely to achieve the desired outcomes.

Policy Vs Law

Policies frequently have side-effects or unintended

consequences, because the environment that policies seek to

influence or manipulate are typically complex adaptive

systems.

“Policy is the means by which the lives of individuals,

families and communities are shaped. It is the means by

which we reshape the character and future of the nation. It is

the purpose of political life, the only worthwhile measure of

political success …”

Maggie Thatcher

Unintended Consequences

Sir Humphries' View

Stage 1: Say nothing is going to happen.

Stage 2: Say something may be going to happen, but we

should do nothing about it.

Stage 3: Say maybe we should do something about it, but

there is nothing that we can do.

Stage 4: Say maybe there was something we could have

done, but it is too late to do anything.

Key Considerations

Policy is the sum of a ‘process’ and a ‘product’. Although the

main focus is often on the product, the process is at least as

important.

It is important to know what you are trying to achieve.

Policies always incorporate value judgements, but they are

not always explicit.

Policy Process

Policy development is an ‘iterative process’ and there is no

standardised process for developing policy.

One school of thought has promoted the notion of policy

development being a cycle, moving though stages from

issues identification to evaluation.

The cycles vary from models with 4 to 8 stages.

Policy Cycle

Policy Cycle – An Australian Model

Policy Cycle – Central Elements

Issues Identification

Analysis & Options Development

Consultation

‘Political’ Decision

Implementation

Evaluation

Criticism that cyclical model is ‘ideal’ and that policy

development process is often opportunistic and not driven by

a process of rational choice and clearly defined goals.

Alternative Approach

Colebatch [2002] has agued that the context of the policy

process is more important than the notional stages in a cycle.

He proposes policy development contains ‘vertical’ and

‘horizontal’ dimensions:

Vertical = formal decision-making structure of government.

Horizontal = process of negotiation and bargaining between the

players in the process - each with their own interests that may not

coincide.

Policy development process becomes an iterative relationship

between these vertical and horizontal dimensions.

Alternative Approach

‘Four Pillars’ of Engagement

Policy Ethics

Complexity of Evidence

Source: Morton S, Nutley S: Evidence and Policy 2008

John Maynard Keynes

“There is nothing that a government hates more than to be

well-informed, for it makes the process of arriving at

decisions much more complicated and difficult.”

Evidence-Based Policy

Policy-making is a social process and evidence is socially

constructed.

“…. It also recognises that evidence alone is unlikely to be

the major determinant of policy outcomes and that the

creation and successful implementation of policy also

requires extensive engagement and evidence-based dialogue

with interested and affected parties.”

Frieberg A, Carson W.G 2010

Effective Social Policy

Knowledge requirements for effective social policy are much

broader than “what works”

o Know about problems: e.g. the nature, formation, natural history

and interrelations of social problems.

o Know why: explaining the relationship between values and

policy directions.

o Know how [to put into practice]: e.g. pragmatic knowledge about

program implementation.

o Know-who [to involve]: e.g. building alliances for action.

Source: Ekblom 2002, Davies Huw 2007

Davies’ Theorem

“Evidence-based policy is no substitute for

thinking-based policy”

Source: Davies, Philip 2007

Smith’s Theorem

“THINK SYSTEMS”