Policy Maker ver. 2.3

PolicyMaker should be used by anyone who wishes to influence public or private policy decisions that involve multiple groups with diverging interests. Potential users include:

· government policymakers with substantial control and resources and who wish to improve the political feasibility of a proposed policy,

· non-governmental organizations that have limited influence and resources and seek to promote a specific policy on the official agenda,
· government officials who seek to increase the loyalty of groups to a proposed policy,
· groups with little formal power who wish to increase their voice in the policymaking process,
· technical analysts who wish that their reports could have more impact on policymakers,
· individuals within an organization who seek more influence over restructuring efforts,

· private organizations that seek to manage public issues and multiple organizations in a public or private arena, and
· groups or individuals such as academic researchers, independent policy analysts, and journalists who study and report on political issues and events.

PolicyMaker could be used by both the supporters and the opponents of a single policy, and they should arrive at different strategies. You can also use PolicyMaker from the perspective of the other side, to gain insight into their likely strategies and actions.

Because of the diverging potential users and the sensitive data contained in an analysis, all documents and computer files related to a PolicyMaker analysis should be treated with caution and discretion. A PolicyMaker report designed to assist a specific organization may not be appropriate for public dissemination. Indeed, in some cases, public distribution could have embarrassing and counterproductive consequences.
PolicyMaker guides you through five steps of applied political analysis for generating practical strategies on managing the politics of policymaking. These five steps correspond to the five main buttons on the Step-by-Step screen. You can follow these steps in a linear fashion (from one to five), or start with later steps and jump around. However, some steps (such as Impacts) require that a previous step be completed (such as Strategies) before you can carry out the analysis. The program advises you of these sequential requirements, as needed.

Step One–Policy

You first define the desired policy, including major goals and mechanisms, with an indicator to measure progress towards achieving each goal and an assessment of whether each goal is on the agenda. Policymakers sometimes do not clearly define the content of their policy, or provide a mechanism and indicator for each policy goal. This step asks you to specify the policy's content, with as much accuracy as possible.

Step Two–Players

Next, you identify the major players involved in the policy, including each player's position and power. PolicyMaker allows you to assess position and power through your own judgment or through questionnaires. These basic political data can then be displayed in a Position Map and a Feasibility Graph (based on an algorithm that calculates a feasibility index of supporters, non-mobilized players, and opponents). You then assess the policy's consequences for major players and identifies the main interests of each player. You also evaluate the linkages among major players (in the Network Table and the Coalition Map).

Step Three–Opportunities & Obstacles

In this step, you identify opportunities and obstacles to change, including transitions underway in the organization responsible for implementing the policy, in the general organizational environment, and in the broader political environment.

Step Four–Strategies

In the fourth step, PolicyMaker provides an expert system and previously entered data to help you design strategies to improve the policy's feasibility and evaluate the probabilities of success. Strategies are then combined into packages of strategies for action. You can modify the strategies suggested by PolicyMaker, to create a customized set of strategic actions for your personal use, based on your experience of what works best.

Step Five–Impacts

Finally, you assess each strategy's likely impacts on the power and position of major players. PolicyMaker uses this information to calculate the aggregate impacts of a strategy package, and to display a comparison of current and future feasibility. This feature allows you to visualize alternative future scenarios. Once a strategy package is selected, the program can be used to monitor the implementation of strategies and compare observed and expected impacts.


http://rapidshare.de/files/27807172/policy_maker.rar