Identifying problems
- Democratic societies rely more on subjective processes to identify problems
- Authoritarian societies use more objectivity
- Subjective process place a great deal of reliance on how those affected by an event interpret their needs
– We do this through elections, other
representative processes
Getting Problems to Government
- Early stage -Perception of the problem
- Those affected decide “enough is enough”
- Perception is important because it sets up conditions for defining the problem
- Perception refers to the event:
- Definition refers to the problem
Getting Problems to Government
- Aggregation / organization
- – People affected decide to get together
- Interest groups vary
- Degree of cohesion
- Formalized values
- Expectations of permanence
- Resources of the group
- Leadership
- Belief in democratic values
Getting Problems to Government
Conditions for getting problems to govt:
• Getting policy actors to know about issue
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- Campaign trail
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- Journalist writes series of articles
- –
- Think Tank issues a report
- –
- Constituent complains to Congressperson
- –
- Bureaucrat encounters unexpected problem
Getting Problems to Government
- Organization of groups
- Extent – How many members in the groups affected? What is their commitment?
- Structure – What is the relationships between members and leaders? Hierarchical? Democratic?
- Leadership – How are leaders selected? How much authority do they have? How aggressive are they?
Getting Problems to Government
- Representation
- Means of access to government for people with problems
- Some have more access than others
- Empathy – Does the representative really understand the problems as defined by those experiencing them?
- Technical knowledge – if problem relies on technical knowledge, is it available?
Getting Problems to Government
- The events themselves
- Scope – how many people are affected?
- Perception – who perceives what? How many people perceive consequences?
- Definition
– are the perceived consequences defined as a problem? If so, by whom?
Are different problems defined by different people?
Getting Problems to Government
- Access
- Representation – are those affected by consequences represented by thos in policy making positions?
- Empathy – are they likely to empathize?
- Support – can support be marshalled by those affected?