SOCIAL: APPROACHES TO POLICY INTERVENTION

 

In policy making, it is important to garner the attention of politicians.  Politicians are the channel by which policy are proposed to the government so that it can be implemented.  Some ways to get a hold of politicians include writing a letter, calling, emailing, meeting, rioting, voting etc.  These methods of communication allow for interest to be aggregated so that politicians can make policy in which the government enforces.  In policy theories of change exist to be able to identify which policy are appropriate for a specific method of action.  First is Punctuated Equilibrium Theory.  This theory says that changes in policy can occur like seismic evolutionary shifts when conditions are right.  The Coalition Theory on the other hand also originates from Political Science and it says that change occurs through coordinated activity between groups of people with the same values.  Like the former two, the Policy Window Theory is derived from Political Science.  This theory says that policy change occurs through a window of opportunity where advocates connect two or more of the components of the policy process.  For further clarification the policy process involves the policy cycle.  This cycle has several steps commencing with agenda setting to policy formation than implementation and evaluation.  The final step is policy maintenance/ succession/ termination where policy makers consistently analyze the efficacy of a specific policy implemented policy and its future viability.  The next theory of interest is Messaging and Frameworks or Prospect Theory.  It states that people willingness towards policy is dependent on how it is framed.  Next is Power Politics or Power Elites Theory.  This theory originates from Sociology.  Those in power are as according to this theory speculate that they are the decision makers.  Policy professionals must therefore get their attention inorder to push an appropriate policy.  Lastly, the Grassroots or Community Organizing Theory says that collective action is how policy is made.  Therefore, people in the community work for resolutions to certain problems and policy makers offer the expertise of analyzing, evaluating and organizing it for politicians who then propose to the government.