Difficult Policy Problems Research Articles

Strategic Adaptive Governance and Climate Change: Policymaking during Extreme Political Upheaval

Adaptive governance seeks to address complicated and difficult policy problems. Due to the extreme political upheaval wrought by the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal climate change programs, many state and local governments are considering new policy approaches. Yet by ignoring crucial aspects of politics and intergovernmental relations, the adaptive governance literature provides little guidance for such substantial issues. This paper introduces the concept of strategic adaptive governance, a framework for permitting policymakers to achieve the highest rate of compliance possible under existing conditions and constraints involving state and local policy, despite political upheaval. The strategic adaptive governance model embraces politics, accounts for the role of central authorities, and emphasizes the motivations, resources, and interdependencies of affected parties. We apply the model in an analysis of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), examining the extent to which it aligns with strategic adaptive governance, and evaluating the potential for the state to utilize the model. We find that AB 32 aligns moderately with strategic adaptive governance, and discuss how the model could help protect and enhance policy gains. More broadly, strategic adaptive governance provides a generic and universal framework for policymakers interested in tactical formulation of any regulatory policy.

Public policy processes and the environment: implications for a sustainable future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the roots of environment policy through a review and application of policy literature, portraying a disjointed process worried with procedure over substance and too often removed from the reality of environment degradation and attainment of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper involves literature review and application of policy literature to sustainability. Findings – Government is responsible for protecting the environment in the face of rapid industrial growth, but ineffectiveness in and misunderstanding of the policy process, confounded by a multitude of actors and interests, and, often inadequate resourcing, threaten the possibility of sustainability. Research limitations/implications – Policy literature is voluminous. This paper seeks to apply public policy literature to the concept of sustainability, but a comprehensive review of all literature would be beyond the scope of a journal article. Practical implications – There is a separation between academic approaches to public policy and complex policy processes in practice. More nuanced sophisticated understanding of the policy process in the literature may allow for greater application to difficult policy problems like sustainability. Social implications – Sustainability is critical and should be promoted by public policy; however, interactions within the policy process are difficult and textbook approaches to defining or delineating processes are insufficient to encourage greater understanding of sustainability and how it may actually be achieved through public policy. Originality/value – Application of policy literature to sustainability in this manner is fairly unique in the literature.

On Truly Privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Why It's Important, and How to Do It

The special status, large sizes, and recent rapid growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have created and/or contributed to a set of difficult policy problems that include: misguided and excessive subsidization of housing in the U.S.; the safety and soundness of the two companies; systemic risk; residential mortgage terms and structure; and the inherent efficiencies of the two companies. The two companies are embedded in a much larger web of policies that broadly and inefficiently encourage housing construction and consumption. The true privatization of the two companies is the best solution to the problems that specifically involve them and would constitute a good start toward correcting the excesses of American housing policy. This true privatization can be accomplished in a relatively clean and straightforward fashion.

‘Plausible uncertainty’: The negotiated indeterminacy of pandemic influenza in the UK

Policymakers in the UK (and worldwide) are preparing for what is said to be an inevitable and imminent influenza pandemic. However, aside from its inevitability, there is a considerable amount of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. Public health policy is flexible and ad hoc, and this, the public is told, is a direct result of the natural unpredictability of the influenza virus, This article argues that we should not uncritically accept policymakers’ assertion that the uncertainty surrounding pandemic influenza public health is simply a result of this natural unpredictability. Uncertainty in public health policy must be understood in terms of its socio-political, as well as its scientific, context. Uncertainty is seen to occupy two separate but related levels: basic scientific uncertainty and public health policy uncertainty. This study shows how the former, which to an extent is real uncertainty, is translated into the latter which is (re)constructed and politicised as ‘plausible uncertainty’. The actors are seen to displace accountability onto the influenza virus through a naturalistic account of uncertainty which fails to include a public discussion of those socio-political factors, such as funding and licensing, which also help to shape both scientific research and policy formulation, and which subsequently have an impact on how well prepared we are for coping with a pandemic. The danger, it is suggested, is that the existence of a ‘culture of precaution’ too easily allows for a naturalistic account of uncertainty to be seen as a justifiable solution to a difficult policy problem, in instances where the full social and political context of the issue may not have been openly discussed.

Science Policy in the United States: A Commentary on the State of the Art

public policy, but the system now operating in the United States is in a state of dangerous disrepair. The danger takes two forms. First, we are missing critical benefits in health, education, economic productivity, national security, and many other areas that more effective management of science could deliver. Second, we risk being overtaken by dangers that could have been avoided or for which we could have been much better prepared, given stronger support for analysis. There is a lot of blame to go around for the current state of affairs. Both Congress and the administration have acted in ways that have weakened traditional sources of science and engineering advice. And, with few exceptions, the university community has not provided strong support for programs in science and engineering policy. If nothing else, such programs are essential to produce people able to connect technical expertise with the tangled and difficult policy problems that face real decisionmakers.

Social multi-criteria evaluation: Methodological foundations and operational consequences

In order to address contemporary issues economics and decision sciences need to expand their empirical relevance by introducing more and more realistic (thus more complex) assumptions in their models. One of the most interesting research directions in the field of public economics is the attempt to introduce political constraints, interest groups and collusion effects explicitly (J.J. Laffont, Incentives and Political Economy, 2000). The main argument developed here is the proposal of the concept of social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) as a possible useful framework for the application of social choice to the difficult policy problems of our millennium, where, as stated by Funtowicz and Ravetz, “ facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent”. This paper starts from the following main questions: 1. Why “social” multi-criteria evaluation? 2. How should such an approach be developed? The foundations of SMCE are set up by referring to concepts from complex system theory and philosophy, such as reflexive complexity, post-normal science and incommensurability. To give some operational guidelines on the application of SMCE basic questions to be answered are 1. How is it possible to deal with technical incommensurability? 2. How can we deal with the issue of social incommensurability? To answer these questions, using theoretical considerations and lessons learned from real-world case studies, is the main objective of the present article.

Policy Implications of Risk Perception Research: A Case of the Emperor's New Clothes?

Objections to research on risk perception have been put forward. It has been argued that the phenomenon of risk perception has few or no implications for policy problems, and hence that applied research should turn to other topics. Although some research on risk perception has indeed been less than informative, this is not true, however, of all of such work. And the phenomenon of risk perception is implicated in some very important and difficult current policy problems, such as the siting of unwanted facilities and the allocation of resources for life-saving purposes. Progress in risk perception research is briefly reviewed, and reasons for the critical comments in some quarters are discussed, among these reasons being illusions of extensive funding (social science research gets a very small share of the funds allocated to technology, the natural sciences and medicine) and unrealistic expectations about the ability of social scientists to solve specific and very difficult policy problems.

A Web of Interests: Stalemate on the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel

The United States has adopted a policy of geological disposal to resolve the problem of permanent disposition of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel (SNF), but has been unable to implement this policy. This study draws upon literature on policymaking and interest group representation to examine that inability. It develops and explores a conceptualization of policy stalemate to analyze the case.The study finds that the United States has arrived at a stalemate over SNF disposal policy in part because of its pluralist system of interest group representation, and in part because of the nature of the problem. The case demonstrates how, in a pluralist system, the interaction of interests over a complex and difficult policy problem can result in stalemate. Few of the involved interest groups have sufficient incentives to either implement current SNF disposal policy or to revisit the policy. Barring significant change in the nature of the problem, the balance of interests, or other factors in the policy environment, the stalemate will continue.The central question of this symposium is how institutionalized systems of interest group representation manage competing demands for environmental protection with demands for energy. In the case of SNF disposal, the United States in effect is managing these competing demands by not addressing them. SNF disposal policy does not appear to pose directly the expected tradeoff between demands for environmental protection and accessible energy, as the conflict tends to be defined primarily in environmental terms. However, the trade‐off is implicit; failure to resolve the problem will eventually impact continued access to nuclear energy.

Limits of Knowledge and the Limited Importance of Trust

Perceived risk and related attitudes have been implicated as major factors in many of the difficult policy problems that face modern society (nuclear power, genetically modified food, etc). Experts often argue that no or very small risks are involved; people are still worried. Why? The standard answer is lack of trust. Data on trust and risk perception, however, point to only a weak relationship between the two (r approximately 0.3). It is suggested here that the reason for the surprisingly minor importance of trust is that people believe that there are clear limits to how much science and experts know. Results are presented from studies of risk perception of the public, experts, and politicians. Politicians and members of the public believe that there are many unknown effects of technology and such beliefs were strongly related to their perceived risk. Experts on nuclear waste, on the other hand, seemed to believe that little is unknown in their field of expertise. Regression analyses of risk perception showed the unknown-effects factor to be a more important explanatory factor than trust for the public and politicians.

EDITORIAL

Macroeconomics is at a crossroads. The call of real science is drawing it forward to a degree that is without precedent in the history of the field. But the field's origins are related to the exceptional policy relevance of macroeconomics, and the field continues to be pressed for answers to difficult policy problems that sometimes are beyond the current capabilities of the field. Continuing tensions exist between policy demands and the constraints of systematic, rigorous scientific development. A commonly mentioned example is the increasing size of structural macroeconometric models. While highly regarded in many governments, those massive models are greeted with skepticism by the best economics journals.

Addressing the human dimensions of wolf reintroduction: An example using estimates of livestock depredation and costs of compensation

Abstract Efforts to reintroduce the wolf to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem were stalled again in 1991 when Congress rejected the recommendations of the Wolf Management Committee (WMC). I suggest that wolf reintroduction is a difficult policy problem, in part, because the human dimensions of the problem are difficult to assess and manage. Estimates of livestock depredation used by the WMC are analyzed to illustrate how they can be interpreted as incorrect and antagonistic by some stakeholders. Alternative estimates of livestock depredation and costs of compensation are presented. It is argued that what is important about such estimates is the process by which they are developed. Federal agencies working toward wolf recovery need to recognize that wolf reintroduction is a “stalking horse”; for the larger issue of land use change in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Therefore, wolf reintroduction needs to be treated as a major policy conflict. A state‐of‐the‐art environmental impact statement is now unde...

Considerations of Social Science in a Reconsideration of Parham v. J.R. and the Commitment of Children to Public Mental Institutions

Commitment of children to public mental institutions is a particularly difficult policy problem. In Parham v. J.R., the U.S. Supreme Court used behavioral science studies in an unsophisticated and noncomprehensive manner for support of specific value positions. Available behavioral science: (1) belies the proposition that mental illness symptomatology begets stigma; (2) reflects poor professional performance by attorneys, rather than hearing disutility; (3) indicates more functional competence in children than the law presumes; and (4) supports legal procedure as therapeutic and facilitative to decision making and distributive justice, rather than obfuscative. Children facing admission to an unaccredited mental facility should receive notice, effective counsel, and a preadmission hearing before a judge or jury.

Arms and the African: Military Influences on Africa's International Relations

non, trying desperately to extract publicly embarassing short-run concessions from Soviet officials who bitterly defended their national pride. To protect that pride, the Soviets took draconian steps to reduce domestic consumption and used the U.S. delay to buy all available stocks from U.S. competitors. As hard currency cash buyers offering good prices, the Soviets were everyone else's priority customer. By the time the U.S. was ready to sell, the Soviets needed far less from the U.S. market. Few concessions, other than the LTA itself, were achieved. So much for leverage in a complicated world. The episode, the final stage in a process that began with the U.S. soybean embargo in 1973, demonstrated to a surprised world that the U.S. was not a reliable agricultural supplier. It would hold its customers hostage to their food needs. The main long-term consequence was to encourage major buyers to diversify their sources of supply, creating opportunities for new exporters to challenge U.S. domination of world grain trading even as American farmers expanded their production to serve what they saw as a captive American market. The U.S. had a few years of euphoria, but the end of the U.S. grain export boom was actually foretold the day it began. The Soviets are now the principal buyers in a grain buyers' market, courted as princes by competing western exporters. They are said to be very business-like buyers. The LTAs were in fact excellent solutions to a difficult policy problem. But, as this book shows, the weaknesses of the crisis management process itself, its very narrowness and intensity and presumption that all things are controllable, can often create more difficult problems than it solves.

Benzene, Leukemia, and the Supreme Court

*rca s~ HE potential risks to public health and safety posed by e toxic substances such as benzene constitute a particularly T t m 2 difficult policy problem today. Scientists using newly developed analytical and measurement techniques have P discovered apparently widespread environmental polluk t ( Q, tion and human contamination by minute quantities of hazardous chemicals. What these findings mean in terms of public health policy, however, is controversial, and there are many obstacles to developing sound regulations:

Systems Aspects of Health Planning

The Conference, Systems Aspects of Health Planning, which this book describes, touched upon many important themes of IIASA: how interdisciplinary systems science should best be organized and directed; how analytic experts and real world practitioners should combine efforts to address most effectively the difficult policy problems of current relevance; and how leading representatives of many nations--in socialist and non-socialist lands--might learn from the experiences of one another. The book may be valuable for a number of possible reader purposes. On the most evident level, it presents in its papers a series of good examples of what systems analysis is and how it should be applied within the context of health system planning. The student of comparative health systems will find the book rewarding for its description of alternative systems and the rationale which underline them. These descriptions are invaluable as candid statements--and critical self-analysis--by the very people who make the systems work. The English language literature has been regrettably deficient in descriptions of health systems in the Eastern countries written from the viewpoint of their managers. On still another plane, the book may be read with attention upon the dialogue that followed paper presentations. Here especially can be seen frank discussions of the issues with highest importance to the analysis of health systems in the mid-1970s.