Social Construction & Policy Design SLIDES

Policy design Social construction Policy feedback Target populations

Policy design The elements that constitute a public policy, such as the citizens and groups it pertains to, the activities required (or prohibited) by its rules and provisions, and the plan of action by which it is intended to realize its objectives

Ted Lowi

Types of public policy… Distributive Redistributive Regulatory

Policies distribute Benefits Burdens

Policies create politics “policy feedback” “feed-forward” effects

Social construction Shared understandings about the world that make up concepts, identities, norms, and stereotypes

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Social construction Shared understandings about the world that make up concepts, identities, norms, and stereotypes

Social construction

Social construction of target populations small business owners the unemployed LGBTQ community immigrants political officials “minority” populations

Social construction Benefits Burdens Policy design Policy feedback/ feed-forward effects

Positive Negative Less More ADVANTAGED CONTENDERS DEPENDENTS DEVIANTS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION POLITICAL POWER small business owners the unemployed political officials “minority” populations

Positive Negative Less More ADVANTAGED + benefits - burdens CONTENDERS + benefits + symbolic burdens DEPENDENTS DEVIANTS - benefits + burdens SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION POLITICAL POWER + symbolic benefits + burdens

How do different target groups’ social constructions help explain the benefits and burdens they receive through public policies? How does a group’s social construction change over time, and does this explain changes in the policies that pertain to it? How do the benefits and burdens established by policy designs reinforce and/or help change social constructions?