Free «Public Policy Analysis» Essay Sample

In the City of Tallahassee, several policy problems have recently caught attention of the mass media and policymakers. Some of them include rising crime rates, poverty, water shortage, substandard housing, unemployment, and poor health (Dobson, 2015). This paper seeks to formulate a public policy targeting the minimization of high crime rates with the help of the process model. It provides a discussion of the rationale for the policy, as well as describes the way in which the process model will assist policymakers in decision-making and implementation processes. Finally, it is necessary to evaluate the process model in line with general criteria.

Despite the existence of various issues in society, high crime rates have become the most significant policy problem according to the public opinion and mass media, which act as problem identification platforms in this case. The mass media is at the forefront of identifying the issue through reports and news on gun violence and public shootings. Consequently, this has shaped the public opinion on the rising degree of violent crime in the city. At the policy formulation phase, elected officials should participate in the development of proposals aimed to resolve policy problems (Ubokudom, 2012). In this case, city commissioners should acknowledge reducing high crime rates as an important step towards having a safer city taking into account the latest gun shootings in Tallahassee. As a result, city commissioners are to introduce several policy proposals targeting to resolve the high crime rate menace in the city. Some of the policy proposals suggest hiring additional police officers, fortifying city neighborhoods, participating in neighborhood watch, providing resources to the existing police force, and firing the city sheriff. However, working collaboratively with the public, city commissioners should vote for a policy proposal targeting to hire additional police officers and providing resources that improve law enforcement efforts. The City of Tallahassee can enact the policy with the objective of improving public safety. Further, city commissioners should establish the policy on the constitutional ground to improve public safety. As part of policy implementation, they organize relevant departments and agencies to facilitate the recruitment of additional police officers and provide supportive resources to the police department. The process also involves levying property taxes as agreed upon earlier to raise resources for implementing the policy (Dye, 2010). Finally, the oversight committee and mass media engage in reporting the outcomes of the policy, including evaluating the impact that crime prevention policies have on the target and nontarget groups.

The mass media and public opinion inform of the necessity of the policy on high crime rates following a series of gun violence and public shootings in the city. Therefore, the policy is accepted as a more urgent issue because of the deaths resulting from gun violence recently. Further, the public outcry can make the minimization of crime the main policy problem. The process model will assist policymakers in decision-making regarding the most pressing policy problem according to the public opinion, interest groups, and media coverage (Dye, 2010). Even though the latter acknowledge the existing policy issues, the elite and elected officials have ultimate power of deciding on the problems that they will address. The model will assist in the implementation process because of the broad participation of different stakeholders in its identification and agenda setting. The policymaking process takes opinions of various political actors and institutions into account. Consequently, policymakers end up selecting the most suitable policy proposal for implementation. Further, the process model focuses on the consequences of policy implementation with respect to available resources and possible sources of funding. It considers all relevant departments and agencies that facilitate the policy implementation stage.

The evaluation of the model is important to determine its relevance based on general criteria. According to Dye (2010), the the process model assists in ordering and simplifying reality, as well as understanding the real world. It presupposes that the mass media, interest groups and public opinion cement these realities. The process model identifies significant elements of the public policy but to a certain degree because, in some cases, the elite and elected officials choose what they consider worthy to be implemented. The process model is congruent with the occurrences of the real world because it considers empirical references at the problem identification phase (De, 2012). The process model also enables to achieve meaningful communication given that it has well-defined steps. It also directs analysis and research to find possible policy solutions and involves developing and analyzing proposals to determine the most suitable ones. The process model provides possible justifications of the public policy, including hypotheses the validity of which is testable alongside real-world data (Dye, 2010).

In conclusion, the process model can assist in the formulation of a public policy considered important in society. The policy in question relates to the minimization of high crime rates in the Tallahassee City. The process model entails the identification of policy problems, agenda setting, formulation of a public policy, its legitimization, implementation, as well as evaluation. The process model will assist policymakers in decision-making and implementation processes of the public policy. Further, it meets the general criteria for evaluating models, which implies that it is a helpful tool for resolving social and political issues.