POLS 230 - Introduction to Policy Analysis

Discussion paper 2 – Friday 8/31

Laura Ruiz Oltra
What steps within the policy process does the general public hear about most
often? Why do you think that is? Why might it be a good idea for the public to know
about and pay attention to the other steps?

The process of policymaking could be splitted in 6 clear stages or steps: agenda setting,

policy formulation, policy legitimization, policy implementation, policy evaluation and

policy change. And there is a lot of actors involved in this process, but not all of them

have the same weighting in it. The government is obviously the most important one,

followed by the judicial system and informal policy actors lastly, such as interest groups,

other types of organizations and former individuals.

In fact, I say lastly because I think the general public is just involved in the 4th step, the

policy implementation, or maybe in the 1st one too, because of the formation of public

opinion; but that is such a little part in this huge game. Because the general public

definitely does not get involved in the poicies formulation, legitimization or

implementation, which are the bulk of the process. And I am not even sure that we have

that much influence in the agenda setting, as politians and the mass media have more

means and actually use them to set the agenda to their preferences, so that we remain

spellbound by what they want us to talk abouut that we forget about the rest of current

issues.

I think that this is because of the political culture we have. Post-materialism is a sociology

school of thought that holds that individual values have turned from materialist, physical,

and economic to new individual values of autonomy and self-expression; and it is

considered to be a useful tool for understanding modern culture.i The concept of

citizenship has definitely changed from the classical greek one: Athenians thought of
politics both as a responsibility and an honour, and their private lives were subject to their

political duties. On the contrary, modern-times citizens aim to dedícate as much time as

possible for ourselves and our private sphere, and for that purpose we elect and pay other

people to take care of the political issues.

Nevertheless, I think this is a drag in the system. I advocate another type of citizenship, a

more participatory role in the political decisions of the citizens. This can be more easily

seen in the US than in Spain, but in my opinion, it could be even better. Not everybody

will agree on this, but for me, more participation leads to a more real and better-quality

democracy, which would also lead to better results. In this case, the results would be the

ones of the implemented policies.

Why do I think so? Because I do not believe in politians truly aspiring to serve the people,

but I reckon they all eventually get trapped by power ambition and end up taking the

“available options” when making decisions, instead of aiming at the option that

maximizes profits.

So yes, in my opinion we citizens should play a more important role in thep olicymaking

process, from the very definition of the agenda to policy evaluation and change. How to

do that? Maybe the only means we’ve got for that are government encouragement for

people to participate and civil asssociations. As long as the US government is not bound

to interfere in its citizens social and private spheres, I would just encourage any posible

reader to go out into the street, concern about what our government is doing and also not

doing, ask yourself how can you help to change the things you consider to be unfair and

get down to that job, encouraging those around you to do so too.

As a brief conclusion, I would say that I consider that nobody does take issues around us

as seriously as they merit nowadays, not even me, and that it is very important for us and
for the sustanibility of the system, the planet and the global balance to become aware of

our responsibilities in this world. Participating in politics is not just about voting once

every 4 years; it is about supporting just causes, trying to better the environment that

surround us and bearing in mind that life is not only about us and our selfish interests, but

also about the people we share this Earth with. So for me, it is vital for us to try and sway

more the policymaking process.

i
Wikipedia contributors. (2018, July 14). Post-materialism. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 06:19, August 31, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Post-
materialism&oldid=850211573