Institute for Transport Studies FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT Planning for Transportation How do things get done? Prof. Greg Marsden Institute for Transport Studies g.r.marsden@its.leeds.ac.uk Aim and Argument Aims: Highlight the political dimension of the policy process Identify the reasons policies may change or stay the same Argument: While policy development may seem rational and objective-led, politics and decision-making are not Planning and transport decisions are influenced by numerous factors; ideas, events, political leadership, accumulation of knowledge 1
Structure Outline where politics sits in relation to policy development and planning Discuss the reasons policies may change or stay the same; highlighting in particular politics, policy, and problems streams Explain the importance of ideas for policy change, in particular how ideology and interpretation affect policy Will draw on case study examples throughout Systems and stages 2
Political agendas Agendas are important because they determine which objectives matter Something is on an agenda if it is given serious attention by politicians Politicians have bounded rationalities Politicians have short attention spans Politicians typically only deal with one issue at a time (and then cascade them down to others) Something is more likely to gain serious attention when politics, problems, and policy streams combine together. Implications of agenda change Issues can be superseded Some policies can be seen as contradictory or old fashioned Money follows agendas (existing funding can be stopped) Hard to plan for the long term Different people and organisations can become important Transport is an enabler different department agendas present opportunities and challenges e.g. planning, health, economy 3
How do agendas change? Politics Window of opportunity Policy Agenda change Problem Policy entrepreneurs invest their resources to push their pet projects Politics stream Electoral factors Partisan factors Pressure/interest group activities national mood common ways of thinking beyond the confines of a policy community Windows of opportunity? General election new party in power or new mandate New leadership High profile campaigning press attention 4
Policy stream Accumulation of knowledge by experts Incremental development generally Ideas may become faddish with no obvious advance in the science of knowledge Policies that get serious consideration often need to meet several criteria; technically feasibility, fit with the dominant values of society, political support, have budgetary workability Window of opportunity? Often not in this stream softening up process Policy approach (solution) likely to fit a problem or picked up by a political party Problem stream Respected indicators show a worsening problem, or a new problem Crisis natural disaster, run on the banks High profile event Paris climate change conference Window of opportunity? Arguably all of the above Key is that the problem is recognised as such Conditions only come to be defined as problems when we come to believe that we should do something about them (Kingdon 1995, 101) 5
By way of example: UK rail policy Ladbroke Grove (October 1999) 31 killed, over 220 injured Photo: BBC.co.uk Growing concerns Hatfield rail crash (October 2000) 4 killed, 80 injured Photo: David Sillitoe/Guardian 6
System-wide problems Potters Bar (May 2002) 7 killed, 76 injured Photo: telegraph.co.uk Political pressure to act 7
Paris climate change agreement PM Narenda Modi: Climate Justice demands that developing countries have enough room to grow Opportunity = change? In Malta Do you think its transport agenda is open to change given a renewed global interest in the issue of climate change? 8
Even if you want to act you do it through a network Networks of actors National Government Local Government Manufacturers Technology Providers Transport Operators Financers Users 9
The influence of ideas Policymaking happens under the condition of ambiguity multiple ways of thinking about the same problem or issue Facts do not just exist out there not objective entities in their own right, but analytical constructs acknowledged and interpreted through the lens of the policymaker (Dery 2000) Recognition of a problem is a political (subjective) matter The solution to the problem is also a subjective matter By subjective I mean open to contestation and determined by predominant framing of the political and policy actors involved Policy framing In order to make sense of the complexity they face, policy makers and politicians have a frame ; a way of selecting, organizing, interpreting, and making sense of reality to provide guideposts for knowing, analysing, persuading, and acting (Rein and Schön 1993) These frames are underpinned by; Beliefs, e.g. in a minimal state Values e.g. that people should be free to choose Theories e.g. trickle-down economics Interests e.g. related to power, resources So the framing will privilege some evidence over others, and some solutions over others (even if agreement on evidence) 10
As an example: High speed 2 New lines to connect the north 250 mph trains Increase speed and capacity Increase growth and structurally rebalance the economy Credibility of the project undermined 11
Common frame conflicts.. HS2 illustrates that policy decisions (and disagreements) often come down to different ideas (framings) of what the problem is, and in turn what the solution is Is it seen as a forwards step or a backwards one? Is it fair to take the land for the project and for who? Is damage to the environment and peoples home a price worth paying for growth? Is the project missing the point its not more roads we need, its more cycling infrastructure Is it the financing should the state borrow to provide the infrastructure; is the debt worth it? Conclusion Policymaking does not happen in a bubble, it operates in the context of changing political agendas and different points of view While the optimal may be objective and evidence-led policy, it is rarely (if ever) the case Political agendas set the priority for action, and agendas tend to change through windows of opportunity opened in political and/or problem streams Ideas and policy framings permeate through the whole process affect the notion of the problem and the solution Evidence/knowledge of issues is but one influence on action 12
Reading Cobbs, R. and Coughlin, J. (1998) Are Elderly Drivers a Road Hazrd? Problem Definition and Political Impact, Journal of Aging Studies, 12 (4), 411-427 Dodds, A. (2013) Comparative Public Policy, London: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 7 Ideas and Public Policy Dudley, G. and Richardson, J. (2000) Why Does Policy Change? Lessons from British Transport Policy: 1945-99. London: Routledge Hall, P. (1993) Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain, Comparative Politics, 25 (3), 275-96. Kingdon (1995) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies: Second Edition, London: Harper Collins (any edition fine to use) Rochefort, D. and Cobb, R. (1993) The Politics of Problem Definition: Shaping the Policy Agenda. Kansas: Kansas University Press This lecture draws heavily on notes from Dr Louise Reardon 13