The Policy Cycle
Postgraduate Training in Psychiatry
Geoff Smith
WA Centre for Mental Health Policy Research
Derivation
From policie [OF] ‘plan of action’ from politia [L] ‘civil
administration’ from Greek politeia, a derivative of polis ‘city’.
What is Policy?
The term is used in many different ways and can be hard to
pin down.
“ … a course or principle of action, adopted or proposed by
government, party, business or individual”
Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary
“… a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational
outcomes”.
What is Policy?
“… a mandatory statement of the principles guiding an
organisation’s operations and decision-making. It is
established by a resolution or other decision of the
governance body, or by a senior officer under delegated
authority of that body. They are binding statements that
apply across the organisation and support the organisation’s
course of action for the foreseeable future and should,
therefore, change relatively infrequently”.
What is Good Policy?
“… good policy is a tool which makes administration easier
and allows people to get on with an organisation’s core
business more efficiently and effectively”.
There are some central features common to all good policy:

It states matters of principle;

It is focussed on action, stating what is to be done and by
whom;

It is an authoritative statement, made by a person or body
with the power to do so.
Policy Vs Law
Policies differ from rules of law, which can compel or prohibit
behaviours. Policies merely guide actions towards those that
are most likely to achieve the desired outcomes.
Unintended Consequences
Policies frequently have side-effects or unintended
consequences, because the environment that policies seek to
influence or manipulate are typically complex adaptive
systems.
“Policy is the means by which the lives of individuals,
families and communities are shaped. It is the means by
which we reshape the character and future of the nation. It is
the purpose of political life, the only worthwhile measure of
political success …”
Maggie Thatcher
Sir Humphries' View
Stage 1: Say nothing is going to happen.
Stage 2: Say something may be going to happen, but we
should do nothing about it.
Stage 3: Say maybe we should do something about it, but
there is nothing that we can do.
Stage 4: Say maybe there was something we could have
done, but it is too late to do anything.
Policy Process
Key Considerations
Policy is the sum of a ‘process’ and a ‘product’. Although the
main focus is often on the product, the process is at least as
important.
It is important to know what you are trying to achieve.
Policies always incorporate value judgements, but they are
not always explicit.
Policy Cycle
Policy development is an ‘iterative process’ and there is no
standardised process for developing policy.
One school of thought has promoted the notion of policy
development being a cycle, moving though stages from
issues identification to evaluation.
The cycles vary from models with 4 to 8 stages.
Policy Cycle – An Australian Model
Policy Cycle – Central Elements
Issues
Identification
Evaluation
Analysis & Options
Development
Implementation
Consultation
‘Political’ Decision
Alternative Approach
Criticism that cyclical model is ‘ideal’ and that policy
development process is often opportunistic and not driven by
a process of rational choice and clearly defined goals.
Alternative Approach
Colebatch [2002] has agued that the context of the policy
process is more important than the notional stages in a cycle.
He proposes policy development contains ‘vertical’ and
‘horizontal’ dimensions:

Vertical = formal decision-making structure of government.

Horizontal = process of negotiation and bargaining between the
players in the process - each with their own interests that may not
coincide.
Policy development process becomes an iterative relationship
between these vertical and horizontal dimensions.
‘Four Pillars’ of Engagement
Ethics
Policy
Complexity of Evidence
Source:
Morton S, Nutley S: Evidence and Policy 2008
John Maynard Keynes
“There is nothing that a government hates more than to be
well-informed, for it makes the process of arriving at
decisions much more complicated and difficult.”
Evidence-Based Policy
Policy-making is a social process and evidence is socially
constructed.
“…. It also recognises that evidence alone is unlikely to be
the major determinant of policy outcomes and that the
creation and successful implementation of policy also
requires extensive engagement and evidence-based dialogue
with interested and affected parties.”
Frieberg A, Carson W.G 2010
Effective Social Policy
Knowledge requirements for effective social policy are much
broader than “what works”
o Know about problems: e.g. the nature, formation, natural history
and interrelations of social problems.
o Know why: explaining the relationship between values and
policy directions.
o Know how [to put into practice]: e.g. pragmatic knowledge about
program implementation.
o Know-who [to involve]: e.g. building alliances for action.
Source: Ekblom 2002, Davies Huw 2007
Davies’ Theorem
“Evidence-based policy is no substitute for
thinking-based policy”
Source: Davies, Philip 2007
Smith’s Theorem
“THINK SYSTEMS”