The Policy Cycle

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the use of the policy cycle model in policy-making and examines its structure. The paper offers an analysis of how effectively the policy cycle approach explains the policy-making process. The paper then shows how the policy cycle model does not entirely achieve its stated aims and objectives.

From the Paper:

"One of the main functions of the policy cycle is to assist public servants to develop public policy and guide it through government (Bridgman & Davis 2003, p. 102). Models such as the policy cycle approach generally serve a heuristic purpose, and are not intended to be an accurate account of how policy-making occurs (Fenna 1998, p. 62). Rather, as Colebatch (2002, p. 49) explains, policy cycle models are normative, and merely describe an ideological view of how public policy-making should occur. The policy cycle aims to assist policy-making by encouraging applied problem-solving and logic in the policy-making process (Howlett & Ramesh 2003, p. 13). With a model in place to guide public servants through this process, it is hoped that the task of policy-making is made more accessible and understandable."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Birkland, TA 2001, An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories, Concepts, and Models of Public Policy Making, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk: New York.
• Bridgman, P & Davis, G 2003, 'What Use is a Policy Cycle? Plenty, if the Aim is Clear', Australian Journal of Public Administration, 62, no. 3, pp. 98-102.
• Bridgman, P & Davis, G 2004, The Australian Policy Handbook, 3rd ed., Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest: NSW
• Colebatch, HK 2002, Policy, 2nd ed., Open University Press, Buckingham: United Kingdom.
• Everett, S 2003, 'The Policy Cycle: Democratic Process or Rational Paradigm Revisited', Australian Journal of Public Administration, 62, no. 2, pp. 65-70.

More papers on The Policy Cycle:

• Essay # 137765 : "Policy Formulation"
• Analytical Essay # 130308 : "Politics and Economic Policy"
• Essay # 50396 : "Past and Present Economic Policy"

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