The policy-making process 587participation from key interest groups and government actors, an issue can reach
the agenda. Once the issue is on the active agenda, alternatives are proposed and
debated and the final version of the policy is formulated in Congress (if it is a bill) or the
executive branch (if it is an administrative action). Enactment involves a roll call vote in
the House and the Senate and then a signature by the president, a regulatory decision or
administrative action by the bureaucracy, or unilateral action by the president (such as
an executive order or agreement).
Many factors determine whether or not the finalized policy is implemented
successfully. First, the problem the policy is designed to fix has to be solvable. Second,
the policy must be clear and consistent in its objectives. It wouldn’t make sense for
Congress to pass a law telling the Department of Health and Human Services to “make
sure everyone has health care,” because such a law would not indicate how this should
be done. Third, the policy must be funded adequately and administered by competent
bureaucrats who have the required expertise. Finally, external support from the
public and relevant interest groups may be critical to the policy’s success. For example,
AARP’s support is critical for the success of any social policy that affects older people.
Its support helped pass the Prescription Drug Benefit that was added to Medicare in
2003 and comprehensive health care reform in 2010.^32
Implementation of a policy is an ongoing process. To ensure that the desires of
Congress and the president are being followed, policy evaluation is a critical stage of the
policy-making process. (See Chapter 13 for a discussion of attempts by Congress and the
president to control the bureaucracy.) Evaluation has become more visible since passage
of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. Under the law, agencies are
required to publish strategic plans and performance measures. Though these efforts
sound impressive, it is incredibly difficult to assess whether a government program
is achieving its aims. The law also improved policy implementation by focusing on
performance. A review of the effort to “reinvent government” on its 25th anniversary
noted improvements in the areas of procurement, acquisition of IT systems, and
category management, which involves leveraging government’s buying power to
get discounts for large volumes. The Trump administration has been enthusiastic
in applying and expanding these market-oriented practices through the Office of
American Innovation (with leadership from Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner).^33
Political scientist James Q. Wilson explains the difference between measuring
success in the private and public sectors—specifically, he compares McDonald’s
with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).^34 It is relatively easy to know whether
McDonald’s is doing a good job: simply look at the profits being generated and compare
them with those of the previous period. If profits are going up at a reasonable pace, the
burger flippers and fry cooks are doing their jobs. The DMV’s performance is much
more difficult to assess because there is no simple measure, such as profit, to look at.
Maybe you could review the number of people served per hour or the average length
of time people have to wait to get their driver’s license. But that would ignore many
other considerations, such as how well the DMV serves disadvantaged populations or
people for whom English is a second language. We wouldn’t expect a DMV office where
50 percent of its applicants don’t speak English to be as efficient as one at which all
applicants speak English.
Evaluating a public agency such as the State Department is even more difficult. How
do we know if diplomacy is being conducted in a manner consistent with congressional
and presidential preferences? Would success be defined as staying out of war?
Increasing economic activity or cultural exchanges between countries? Strengthening
democratic institutions in emerging democracies? Getting cooperation in the war on
terrorism? Measuring the achievement of objectives like these is very difficult even if
those goals can be clearly defined.Full_17_APT_64431_ch16_572-613.indd 587 16/11/18 11:28 AM