Unit 3 Policy Typologies

Unit Three
Public Policy Typologies
1
Unit Learning Outcomes
Up on completion of this unit, we should be able to:
 Distinguish important public policy typologies; and
 Classify sectoral or state or national policies into
distributive, regulatory, redistributive, self-regulatory,
material or symbolic, etc.
2
3.1 THE CONTENT OF PUBLIC POLICY
• ISSUE – the concern of the government
• OBJECTIVE – aims or goals of the policy
• STRATGIES – how to achieve the goals of the policy
• PROGRAMMES – a particular activities that going to be

implemented
• FINANCE – cost incurred of achieving the objectives
Policy and Related Concepts.pptx

3.2 Levels of public policy
Policy levels indicates the layers at which policies are made and
implemented. It is usually a multitier in nature.
a)Extent of codifying and publicizing policies
Policy can be leveled on the basis of how the policies are written
down and codified .
Codification helps citizens understand what government expects
Listed from most to the least visible and tangible.

3.2 Levels of public policy Cont….
1. Constitutional policy–federal or state constitution.
Highly visible at the federal level; edited very few time.
2. Statutory policy –federal/state codes enacted by legislative

bodies
Highly visible through codification in statute law
3. Regulatory policy– moderately visible through federal

regulation.
Regulatory process is central to the implementation of broad

policies and generally include highly technical matters.
4. Formal record or standard operating procedures/manual
Low visibility because SOPs are often internally published and

are difficult for lay people and even experts to track and understand.
5. Patterned behavior by “street -level bureaucrats”
These policies are often part of a tacit knowledge.
Not formally codified.
Evidence of a ‘policy’ may be found in some agency records
Low visibility because these are behavioral changes with variations

among actors
b) Geographic levels
• Local/district policy,
• Sub-regional policy,
• Regional /provincial policy,
• National /Federal policy &
• International policy/global policy
Generally we call this classification as:

•Macro policy: at national/higher level of government/whole society
•Micro policy: at the organizational level, departmental level, at agency
Examples of Policy at Macro level
• EDUCATION POLICY – concern with education service and its

delivery
• HEALTH POLICY – concern with health and strategies to improve

health services.
• NEW ECONOMIC POLICY – concern with long term and short

term development plan and its implementation.
• NATIONAL BUDGET – concern with planning of national income

and expenditure.
3.3Types of Public Policy
 Policy typology is way of organizing broader range of public
policies into policy types to aid in understanding and analysis.
 Policies may be classified in many different ways.
 It can be categorized in the following major typologies:
 Substantive and procedural policies
 Distributive, re-distributive, regulatory and self regulatory
policies
 Material and symbolic policies
 Public goods policies and private goods policies
 Liberal and conservative policies
a) Substantive and Procedural policies
Substantive policies involve what government is going to do (e.g.
construction of roads, payment of welfare benefits, etc.).
Substantive policies directly distribute advantages and
disadvantages or benefits and costs to people.
 Procedural policies pertain to how something is going to be done;
who is going to do (e.g. which agencies are responsible for
enforcement of law enacted to ban or control illegal drug trafficking).

b) Distributive, Re-distributive, Regulatory and Self-regulatory
Policies
This typology differentiates policies on the basis of the nature of

their impact on society and the relationships among those
involved in policy formation.
 Distributive policies involve the distribution of services or benefits

to particular segment of people i.e. individuals, groups, corporations,
(e.g. bank loans) or distribution of benefits to vast number of
persons (e.g. tax concessions, free public school educations).
 Distributive policies also use public funds to assist particular
groups, communities and industries (e.g. flood control, ports
improvement, water supply, health, highways etc.)
Focuses on governmental concern for equal access to resources
for all.
Re-distributive policies involve shifting of allocation of existing
resources, wealth, income, property, rights, and powers among
broad classes of people (e.g. land reforms).
Re-distributive policies are difficult to secure as they involve
reallocation of money, rights, and power. Achieved through
taxation.
Involve “taking from the rich and giving to the poor”.
 Redistributive policies involve continuing government intervention
on behalf of the powerless to allow them to hold their own and to
assure balanced participation in government (e.g. progressive
taxation, Government subsidy programs).
NB: both distributive and redistributive policies enjoy strong clientele
support.
o Regulatory policies involve imposition of restrictions or
limitations on the behavior of individuals or groups.
o Reduce freedom to act of those who are regulated (e.g. business
regulatory policies related to pollution control or regulation of
transportation industries, speed limit, tobacco control policy, etc.).
Types of Public Policy…
o It relies on deterrents such as fines and imprisonment to enforce
compliance with prevailing standards of conduct.
o Limits behaviors and violating may result in punishment
oWatchdog function: it has low clientele-public support.

Examples: (1) ministry of Transport ( 2) The quality and standard
control authority of Ethiopia (3) Ministry of Health
 Self-regulatory policies are usually sought and supported by the

regulated group as a means of protecting or promoting the interests
of its members (e.g. licensing legislations, health and medical
regulations; agricultural policies influenced by farmers). 14
c) Material and Symbolic policies
 This classification depends on types of benefits the policies allocate.
Material policy provides tangible resources/benefits or substantive

power to their beneficiaries (e.g. Public Housing policies, Income
Support Payments to Farmers, Minimum Wages Act, social security
policies, etc.).
Symbolic policies have little material impact on people. They

appeal to the cherished values of the people such as peace,
patriotism, social justice (e.g. Flag, Endangered Species Act, etc.).
d) Policies Involving Collective Goods or Private Goods
Collective goods (indivisible) are provided to one and all persons

equally and similarly (e.g. national defense, public safety, traffic
control, mosquito abatement, clean air etc).
-Various social goods provided by government have some

characteristics of private goods. Charges are sometimes but not
always levied on individual users (examples, garbage collection,
postal service, medical care, museums, and national parks).
Private goods (divisible) may be broken into units and charged on

an individual user or beneficiary basis.
e) Liberal and Conservative policies
Liberals Conservatives
(1) To bring social change and Such changes should occur slowly
greater equality and naturally
(2) Public policies to correct Existing social order satisfactory

social injustices /shortcomings
(3) Economic regulatory Opposed economic regulations

programs
(4) Supported welfare programs Opposed welfare programs
Policies may also be categorized on the basis of:
Issues (like: economic, health, rural, urban, social, land, forest,

environment, women, children, youth, elderly, labor, welfare, civil
rights, foreign affairs, etc.)
Institution (like: legislative policies, judicial policies,

organizational, departmental policies,)
Time period (like: transitional, short-range, medium-range, long-

range)
18
Policies can also be:
Constituent/Security Policy- serve nation as a whole by protecting

national security and by meeting operating needs of governmental
agents. Examples: defense policy, fiscal policy, foreign policy
Patronage (promotional policy)- include those government

actions that provide incentives for individuals or corporations to act
in a certain way by providing reward or positive motivation.
motivates people to act by using “carrot” as opposed to policies

that threaten punishment for non-compliance (e.g. tax holidays, tax-
free import, lease-free land, subsidies for agricultural inputs etc.)
End of the Chapter
Thank you!!
20

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Unit Three

Public Policy Typologies

Up on completion of this unit, we should be able to:

 Distinguish important public policy typologies; and

 Classify sectoral or state or national policies into

distributive, regulatory, redistributive, self-regulatory,

material or symbolic, etc.

• ISSUE – the concern of the government

• OBJECTIVE – aims or goals of the policy

• STRATGIES – how to achieve the goals of the policy

• PROGRAMMES – a particular activities that going to be

• FINANCE – cost incurred of achieving the objectives

Policy and Related Concepts.pptx

a)Extent of codifying and publicizing policies

Codification helps citizens understand what government expects

Listed from most to the least visible and tangible.

1. Constitutional policy–federal or state constitution.

Highly visible at the federal level; edited very few time.

2. Statutory policy –federal/state codes enacted by legislative

Highly visible through codification in statute law

3. Regulatory policy– moderately visible through federal

Regulatory process is central to the implementation of broad

4. Formal record or standard operating procedures/manual

Low visibility because SOPs are often internally published and

5. Patterned behavior by “street -level bureaucrats”

These policies are often part of a tacit knowledge.

Not formally codified.

Evidence of a ‘policy’ may be found in some agency records

Low visibility because these are behavioral changes with variations

Generally we call this classification as:

• EDUCATION POLICY – concern with education service and its

• HEALTH POLICY – concern with health and strategies to improve

• NEW ECONOMIC POLICY – concern with long term and short

• NATIONAL BUDGET – concern with planning of national income

Substantive policies involve what government is going to do (e.g.

construction of roads, payment of welfare benefits, etc.).

Substantive policies directly distribute advantages and

disadvantages or benefits and costs to people.

 Procedural policies pertain to how something is going to be done;

who is going to do (e.g. which agencies are responsible for

enforcement of law enacted to ban or control illegal drug trafficking).

This typology differentiates policies on the basis of the nature of

 Distributive policies involve the distribution of services or benefits

oWatchdog function: it has low clientele-public support.

 Self-regulatory policies are usually sought and supported by the

 This classification depends on types of benefits the policies allocate.

Material policy provides tangible resources/benefits or substantive

Symbolic policies have little material impact on people. They

Collective goods (indivisible) are provided to one and all persons

-Various social goods provided by government have some

Private goods (divisible) may be broken into units and charged on

(2) Public policies to correct Existing social order satisfactory

(3) Economic regulatory Opposed economic regulations

Issues (like: economic, health, rural, urban, social, land, forest,

Institution (like: legislative policies, judicial policies,

Time period (like: transitional, short-range, medium-range, long-

Constituent/Security Policy- serve nation as a whole by protecting

Patronage (promotional policy)- include those government

motivates people to act by using “carrot” as opposed to policies