The Impacts of Civil Society on Policy
Analysis
By
Ozeh, Cornelius
Introduction:
Analysis of policy options is
imperative to making informed policy decisions. It involves relevant
stakeholders and actors which participate in the process of clarifying a messy
policy challenge, analyzing relevant information – including information on the
specific context of the problem, clarifying, playing out the implications of
and weighing options for action, making recommendations, and, in some cases,
developing a strategic plan for implementation. These stakeholders and actors
have their respective three-tiered belief systems: “deep core, policy core and
secondary aspects,” (Sabatier 1988). These three tiers of belief suggest
how the policy analysis actors and stakeholders impact on policy analysis itself,
so that “policy designs are interpreted as translations of (policy actors’)
beliefs (ibid.).”
The civil society as a towering actor
of policy analysis has great impacts on policy analysis. Its ubiquitous
presence in public policy analyses is unmistakable; and also a strong
justification to the magnitude of impacts it wields on policy analysis.
This paper discusses the impacts of the
civil society on policy analysis. It begins with the conceptual clarifications
of the concepts, Civil Society and Policy Analysis. This is aimed at
clearing the concepts of undue ambiguities in order to achieve greater
understanding of the paper. The main body contains the impacts of the civil
society on policy analysis; both the negative and positive forms of the impacts
were discussed. The conclusions presented the entire discussions in a brief
summary.
Civil Society
This is referred
to as the "third sector" of society, distinct from
government and business (www.civilsoc.org).
Civil society as a sector is distinct from government and business, and is
normally concerned with giving voice and promoting public participation (UNDP
2007). The Centre for Civil Society at London School of Economics
(http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/) adopted an initial working definition
which defines it as: “the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared
interests, purposes and values... Civil societies are often populated by organizations
such as registered charities, development non-governmental organizations,
community groups, women’s organizations, faith-based organizations,
professional associations, trades unions, self-help groups, social movements,
business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups”. Civil society can have
different levels of operation and influence, i.e. local, national, regional, or
international.
In terms of civil society
organizations, UNDP (2001) classifies them as: “non-state actors whose aims are
neither to generate profits nor to seek governing power. CSOs unite people to
advance shared goals and interests”.
Sometimes the term civil
society is used in the more general sense of "the elements such
as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic
society" (Collins English Dictionary). Alexis de Tocqueville, a
French thinker of the 18th century linked civil society to democracy. He noted
that "local associations of citizens" are important constituents of
the political system which limit the absolutist state (de Tocqueville, A. 1969). In the 1970s, the intellectuals and political
activists throughout Europe invoked the image of civil society to mobilize
citizens against repressive states and reclaim a sphere of privacy in social
life.
Cohen and Arato (1992) identified four
components of the civil society: (1) Plurality: families, informal groups, and
voluntary associations; (2) Publicity:
institutions of culture and communication; (3) Privacy: a domain of individual
self-development and moral choice; and (4) Legality: structures of general laws
and basic rights needed to demarcate plurality, privacy and publicity from the
state and economy.
Policy Analysis
Policy analysis draws on concepts from
a number of disciplines: economics, political science, sociology, public
administration and history, and emerged as a sub discipline in the late 1960s,
mainly in the United states. It is variously defined by different scholars,
comes in many guises, and offers a confusing heterogeneity of different
theories ranging from highly prescriptive to descriptive ( Heclo
1972). Most policy analysis
focuses on the policy process. Dror (1993), for example defines policy analysis
as "approaches, methods, methodologies and techniques for improving
discrete policy decisions."
Policy analysis is the evaluation of
“public policy options ... for choice by policy makers” (Paul and et al.
1989). It is the process through which one identifies and evaluates
"alternative policies or programmes that are intended to lessen or resolve
social, economic or physical problems" (Patton and Sawicki quoted in http://www.slideshare.net/nida19/public-policy-analysisdunn).
O'Connor, (2011) defined policy analysis and distinguished it from programme
evaluation saying that it is “the use of any evaluative research to improve or
legitimize the practical implications of a policy-oriented programme. Programme
evaluation is done when the policy is fixed or unchangeable. Policy analysis is
done when there's still a chance that the policy can be revised.”
The basic steps of policy analysis are
as follows: (a) Identification of policy objectives; (b) Selection of policy
instruments; (c) Design policy implementation; (d) Policy monitoring and
evaluation (Pica-Ciamarra 2009).
Impacts
An impact is considered as an effect, a
change, a result which can be attributed to some other action. Impact can be
demonstrated through measurement processes, reflection and analysis which
provide evidence of causal relationships. It can be intended or unintended,
occurring immediately, in the short or long term.
Positive Impacts of the Civil Society
on Policy Analysis
1. Enhancing
the Effects of Public Opinion
Civil society may attempt to influence
the official policy-makers via public opinion in the process of policy
analysis. Influential public opinions have determined policy choices over time.
Institutions in the civil society are important in enhancing the effect of
public opinion, since they can communicate more effectively with public
officials on policy decisions than individual citizens. Robert Putnam says that
associations in civil society provide forums where citizens get information and
engage in deliberation over public issues, making their representation more
reasoned and useful to government (Putnam 2000).
2. Impact
Through Provision of Advisory Services
Most civil society members and
associations have expertise in the subject-matter of their concern. They shape
the smaller questions into larger issues worthy of legislative consideration.
They may provide the policy-makers with technical data for and against a
specific issue, and information about the possible consequences of a policy
proposal. Legislators find the expertise and data provided by these
associations attractive because of their own limitations, as well as
disinclination to accept the executive's recommendations. The executive
personnel also look to these associations for information and opinions on
policy issues (Sapru n.d). In this regard, the civil society with the power of
information manipulates the policy choice out of the policy options in the
process of policy analysis.
3. Impact
Through Role in Policy Implementation
In terms of public policy, the civil
society has an important role in the dissemination of information and in the
interpretation and implementation of public policy. The government has to rely
on the groups and associations in the civil society for implementation of its
policies. Many government programmes would remain unimplemented without the
cooperation of vested interests. Such interests which can be found in the civil
society can take control in the formulation of a policy as a price of its
successful implementation. Protection of the human environment is an example in
this context. Hence, every policy programme has to be planned with the consent
of those groups who have to implement them.
Putnam argues that civil society
associations create social capital. This enables government to get cooperation
more easily, enhancing its effectiveness, and therefore its legitimacy (Putnam,
op. cit.). In Putnam's views, patterns of trust developed within associations
provide the basis for "generalized trust" throughout the society,
building a basis for civic engagement, public spiritedness, and effective
government. Hence, there is little that can be done unless there is cooperation
and contribution from the civil society. Representatives of associations in the
civil society may be invited either to sit on public Boards, councils or
committees on account of their expertise, qualifications and proficiencies. If
need be, the administration of public policy itself may actually be delegated
to them (Sapru, op. cit).
4. Impact
through Access to Policy Making Process
Since the government dominates the
legislative programme of legislature and usually secures the required
majorities in the passage of a bill, the powerful association of the civil
society can influence the required majorities in the passage of a Bill, the
powerful association of the civil society can influence the executive and its
department at the formulation stage before a Bill is drafted. The interest
organisations articulate the interests and demands of society, seek support for
these demands among other groups by advocacy and bargaining, and strive to
transform these demands into public policies. The sectional interest
organisations are more likely to be in a position to exert influence than the
promotional organisations, and can exert pressure minister and public
officials, before the government has decided to legislate. Similarly, a group
may petition a minister or appear before an enquiry committee or commission in
an attempt to involve the government in a policy action.
With access to information, civil
society fosters democracy by limiting the state, providing space for protest
groups, generating demands, monitoring excess, confronting power holders, and
sustaining a balance of power between State and society (White 1994).
5. Impact
through Monitoring Policies
The civil society strengthens
democratic institutions and attempt to ensure government accountability by
monitoring public policies (Putnam, op. cit.). Some well organized civil
society associations conduct research and activities in certain policy areas
and implementation of development programmes with a view to sharing their
results with the government and the public. These efforts in monitoring and
sharing of results contribute to an informed policy choice.
These impacts above by the civil
society are justifiable with the practical arguments below:
a. Civil
society is viewed as autonomous and independent from government and the state,
which creates the space for representing the interests and ideas of ordinary
people. This trait can promote a more participatory democratic process in
planning and policy decisions. Evidence shows that civil society helps to give
voice to excluded groups and foster grass-roots participation.
b. The
civil society can help to influence public decisions and guarantee that key
issues are not solely decided on by government and official institutions. Civil
society challenges are taken into account, either directly or through their
representative organizations.
c. Civil
society groups and actors can provide an effective watchdog role and have the
ability to pressure the government into action. This can be achieved through
active participation in monitoring and policy evaluation, as well as
involvement in other stages of the policy process.
d. Organized
civil society can go a long way in helping to hold governments accountable and
to promote transparency and responsiveness (UNDP 2007).
Negative Impacts of the Civil Society
on the Policy Analysis
Schmitter (1995) notes the following
negative impacts which run counter to the positive attributes of the civil
society:
·
It may build into the policy process a systematically biased distribution of
influence....
·
It tends to impose an elaborate and obscure process of compromise upon
political life, the outcome of which policies which no one wanted in the first
place and with which no one can subsequently identify....
·
Most dangerously, it may prove to be not one but several civil societies__all
occupying the same territory and polity, but organizing interests and passions
into communities that are ethically, linguistically and culturally distinct __
even exclusive.
Conclusions
From the foregoing, it is deducible
that the civil society in policy analysis can help to frame the research area
and the general approach to be followed, contributing to improving the quality
and legitimacy of the process. They can also feed civil society–generated
findings from regular and close contact with the poorest and most vulnerable
into the information gathering process and analysis. The civil society can
deepen debate on a particular policy reform. Involving citizens, interest
groups and a wide cross section of individuals; creating an open and
participatory process. They present non-governmental perspectives to complement
analytical and more technical inputs.
References
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