A transaction-based approach to policy intervention

A transaction-based approach to policy intervention is presented. The approach overcomes a number of weaknesses in current approaches to policy intervention. The approach involves three main conceptual elements: transactions, transaction governance mechanisms, and governance principles. The transaction is taken to be the basic unit of analysis. Profiles of transactions vary along a number of transaction dimensions. Transaction governance mechanisms - such as, for example, government service, regulation, contracts, vouchers, markets, taxes, and self-service - are each suitable for governing transactions having particular profiles. A mechanism will fail when used to govern transactions not fitting the profile. Governance principles are criteria or expectations - for example, efficiency, justice and liberty - used to judge how well a mechanism fulfills or achieves important societal goals. Specific choices of governance mechanisms (from the set that are technically feasible) therefore should be made according to how well they satisfy these governance principles. Public high school education is used as an example to illustrate the approach. A number of conclusions are offered.This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Public Administration Portland, Oregon, April, 1988.     

Regulating the deregulated

He has presented papers on traffic safety worldwide, published numerous articles, authored several books, and edited several more. His current project is a book on truck drivers and road safety.     

THE DIMMING OF ILLUSIONS: CHANGING ATTITUDES OF LABOURERS TO DIRECT GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT ON NSW PUBLIC WORKS, 1899–1916*

Abstract: Direct employment on public works (or day labour) was a powerful symbol of the possibilities for reform within capitalism in the early years of this century. It promised not only more work at times of high unemployment, but better conditions of employment. Further, there was the possibility of labourers, through their unions, having much greater control of their working lives. The major political battles were over whether governments should use day labour or contract. But, for the labourers themselves, the question of the nature of the administration of day labour became an increasingly important one. A sympathetic administration, such as that under E.W. O'Sullivan, not only meant great practical benefits for labourers; it served also as an example of what was possible through developing an alternative model of dealing with capitalist crises. However, in the case where a Labor government was unwilling to challenge the weight of traditional bourgeois economic thinking, day labour lost any pretence of being either model employment or a symbol for the future. In 1910–16, when labourers already had raised expectations of what day labour promised, such administration meant a growing alienation of labourers and their unions from the Holman Government and from Labor's parliamentary road in general.     

The U.S. regulatory environment and international trade: Lessons from the electricity sector

Regulation has been frequently blamed for the decline of U.S. international competitiveness. This article examines the alleged link between regulation and trade within the context of electric utility policies implemented since 1970. Under an alternative electricity future in which the regulatory burden is reduced and regulatory inefficiencies are minimized, electricity prices are shown to fall by at least 30%. This reduction in the price of a key factor input is shown to lead to reductions in the prices of U.S. export- and import-competing goods and, ultimately, to a modest reduction in the U.S. trade deficit.     

POLICY AS A MOVING TARGET: A CALL FOR CONCEPTUAL REALISM

Since the early 1970s, policy scholars have paid great attention to issues of policy implementation, treating it as the "missing link" between policy formulation and results. Most often, policy problems have been seen as static phenomena that can be corrected by carefully specified programs. This paper, drawing upon examples from Swedish energy policy, argues that this is not the case, that political and social conditions are so prone to change that implementation must be a dynamic process if it is to be effective. This has distinct conceptual and practical implications for the study and design of policy implementation.     

Programme and performance budgeting in Malaysia

This paper reviews the evolution of programme and performance budgeting (PPB) in Malaysia from its beginning in 1969, through the in-depth implementation phase which began in 1972, to the present day. It outlines the system in the Ministry of Health, where PPB has been extensively developed and comments on the systems established in other in-depth ministries, in several of which little appears to have been achieved. In 1981 all other agencies were asked to adopt PPB in their budget submissions. Compliance has been superficial. The paper explores the constraints to the further development of PPB. These range from difficulties of securing appropriate staff, lack of top-level commitment and information problems, to the inherent difficulties of programming and performance measurement. In seeking to evaluate the success of PPB the paper adopts two approaches. The first, involving a small questionnaire survey amongst those involved in PPB, reveals rather guarded opinions concerning its usefulness and progress. The second, which explores the use made of PPB, reveals little use by legislators, budget officers or line managers, and no link between PPB and the planning process. However the audit department expresses considerable interest in relation to performance auditing. In summary the achievements of PPB have been modest.     

The influence of analysis on U.S. defense policys

Much of the policy literature holds that rigorous policy analysis as practiced in the defense policymaking community has a much greater influence than analysis performed in the nondefense or ‘domestic’ sectors. This argument is examined by, first, offering several examples of quantitatively driven decisions in the U.S. Department of Defense and, second, inquiring more precisely as to the nature of the actual decision variables. The conclusion is that the defense and domestic modes of policy analysis and decisionmaking are not as disparate as they are usually perceived. In practice, both camps share many of the same problems and could benefit from shared solutions. Paper prepared for delivery at the 1985 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, the New Orleans Hilton, August 29–September 1, 1985. Revised for the Seventh Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy and Management, Washington, D.C., October, 1985.