Take Action
In this lesson, you learned how to analyze public policy effectively. As a citizen, it is important to be active in the creation and passing of policies in your local, state, and federal governments. Staying informed means monitoring the policy, analyzing the costs and benefits, and determining what changes need to be made if some are necessary. Active citizens reflect a working representative democracy and help promote the common good.
Public Policy Assessment
Now that you are familiar with monitoring and analyzing public policy, it’s your turn. You will write a public policy analysis about a national, state, or local issue that interests you. Remember, so far in this module you have learned how you, the citizen, can influence public policy. When completing your assessment, it should be coming from your perspective, not the legislators’. Be sure to focus on a policy that is part of current public discourse; if it already is in place, this means that policymakers are considering changes to the policy. To complete your work, download and use the Public PolicyTemplate.
Research a current national, state, or local public policy, either recently enacted or under consideration. This list provides examples of popular national, state, and local public policy topics that may help you narrow your search:
gun control
animal rights
government mandates
social media regulation
infrastructure
pollution
public safety (ex: curfews)
immigration
education (ex: school safety, state standards, testing)
Note: If you want to choose a different topic, please contact your instructor for approval.
Use the Policy Analysis Template to write a public policy analysis. Be sure to answer the following questions in your analysis:
What is the policy intended to do? (Explain the purpose of the current or proposed public policy.)
What are the policy’s direct and external costs and benefits for different groups of people? (Explain who benefits and who bears the costs of the current or proposed policy, and how. Include third-party costs and benefits.)
What is your recommendation regarding the current or proposed policy? (Identify whether you support the policy, support it with changes (be specific), or reject it.)
What are the reasons for and the evidence to support your recommendation? (Explain your reasoning with specific, verifiable facts and details.)
Include your sources of information in MLA Format.
The Resources section below will help you begin your work.
Resources
You may find this activity on how to Research helpful.
The following news and information websites may provide a good starting point for your research:
Online Sunshine—Florida legislative information
U.S. Newspaper Links—Florida
Public Agenda—analysis and data on many current issues
Environment Florida
U.S. Newspaper Links—search by city for local newspaper websites
USA.gov—directory of information on local, state, and federal government offices
Be sure to cite your sources in MLA Format. For additional citation help, visit KnightCite Citation Service.
Tips for Online Research
Sample public policy analysis (to model, not to use)
This sample analysis references a local ordinance from the 1950s. It is intended just to give you an idea of how to complete the assignment, not what topic to use. Remember, your public policy analysis should be written about a new public policy or one currently in debate.
Note: You cannot use this example for your assessment.
Public Policy Analysis Example
Your Name: Susan Enrico
Policy Analysis of Sec. 3.6 from the Code of the city of Miami Beach, Florida, 1950.
Cats that roam outdoors are often a nuisance to wildlife and the public, particularly those who keep chickens or other poultry. In 1950, the city code of Miami Beach required that cats who roamed outside must wear a bell. The code said, “No cat should be permitted to be outside of any residence or storeroom in the city unless such cat wear a bell, the sound of which may be heard at least fifty feet.” The code continues in the next section 3.7 to say that cats found outside of residences and storerooms not wearing a bell would be disposed. These sections were part of a larger general policy on animal control in the city, a policy geared toward maintaining the safety and health of its residents.
Wildlife enthusiasts and other members of the public support the code as a defense against the problems of feral or stray cats and their hunting and killing of small animals. They say the sound warns small animals to the cat’s presence. They say it is helpful to cat owners for locating a lost or hurt cat and establishes the cat as a beloved pet rather than a stray. Cat lovers rail against the code as a danger to the cat and an unproven safety measure for wildlife. Studies conflict as to the effectiveness of a bell in warning a bird or mouse in time to save its life. One study in the United Kingdom found that cats wearing bells killed 33 percent fewer small animals while another found no significant difference. The latter even suggested that bells might make cats even better hunters—increasing their stealth ability to avoid jingling the bell. Some cat owners want a cat around outside precisely to attack vermin that could damage their property. They also note that a bell or collar can become caught in a fence or other structure, trapping or injuring the cat.
The city code required cat owners to outfit their cats with a collar and bell. The bell had to be loud enough to be heard 50 feet away, so it could not be a gentle tinkling thing. This expense for the owner was not the only impact of the policy. Law enforcement would have had to respond to complaints about non-bell wearing cats. The cat would have to be captured and then destroyed at a cost to the city’s taxpayers for work hours, equipment for capture and holding, and then disposal. To have been worth these costs the outdoor cat population must have been significant and generating many complaints from citizens. At the time it is conceivable that many residents kept a small chicken coop to support their family’s nutritional needs, and a cat on the prowl taking an uninvited share of Sunday’s dinner would have been sufficient cause for complaint.
Yet cat owners had sufficient cause to be concerned about the law too. The stakes were higher for them—not in the cost of the collar and bell but in the consequences. Those who felt the code endangered their beloved pet would have been forced to keep their cats indoors, accept the risk of the bell, or accept the risk of breaking the law. Supporters may have noted the benefits of marking the cat as owned. As a concentration of loose cats in a city can cause sanitation problems, it would make sense that officials would want to remove stray or feral cats. A cat with a bell would not only be less of a threat to wildlife and less likely to increase sanitation issues, but also be easily identifiable as not a target for removal.
While animal control policy still exists today in Miami Beach, the particular sections on cats and bells does not. In 1950 this may have been the policy most acceptable to the city’s residents. Yet given that cat owners worried for their pets’ health and neighbors feared for their own, the best policy is one that treats cats the same as dogs. Cats, like dogs and other pets, should be under the owner’s control at all times. This includes outside. If a cat is to be outside, the owner should have control of its movements through fencing, leashing, or other means acceptable to the owner. This would protect the interests of both parties and the public at large. Cat owners could confine the animal to their property, allowing the cat to hunt within its confines to satisfy its instinct and the owner’s wish for pest control. In choosing to obtain a pet, the owner is responsible for the financial costs of that choice. The poultry, pets, or plants of neighbors would not be affected, unless by those who violate the law in which case, as before, law enforcement would step in. Requiring a bell is simply not proven to eradicate the problems associated with cats that roam freely in a city. It is a potentially costly and possibly wasteful policy. In addition, the policy is fair in the treatment of pets overall. The policy should have been repealed and replaced with language that places cats and dogs in the same category of “pets” in the city’s animal control policy.
Works Cited
“Cats and collars.” FAB Information Sheet. Feline Advisory Bureau (UK), 2009, Web.
http://www.fabcats.org/owners/safety/collars/info.html
Hartwell, S.L. “Domestic Cats – Wildlife Enemy Number One or Convenient Scapegoats?” Messy-Beast.com Cat Resource Archive, 2004, Web.
http://www.messybeast.com/cat-wildlife.htm
“Section 3.6 Cats to wear bells.” Code of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, 1950. University of Florida Digital Collections, 2011, Web.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00053718/00001/182j
Assessment
Complete the related section in the Civic Participation Note Guide.
Review the Rubric before you begin the activity.
Submit your work to the 03.05 Public Policy assessment.
Rubric
(100 points possible)
Excellent
Good
Needs Improvement
Poor
Content
40–35 points
The work contains all of the required elements:
explanation of a current or proposed public policy
direct costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
external (third-party) costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
recommendation
reasons for and evidence to support the recommendation
MLA citations for sources
34–29 points
The work contains most of the required elements:
explanation of a current or proposed public policy
direct costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
external (third-party) costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
recommendation
reasons for and evidence to support the recommendation
MLA citations for sources
28–20 points
The work contains some of the required elements:
explanation of a current or proposed public policy
direct costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
external (third-party) costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
recommendation
reasons for and evidence to support the recommendation
MLA citations for sources
19–0 points
The work contains few of the required elements:
explanation of a current or proposed public policy
direct costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
external (third-party) costs and benefits of the policy for different groups of people
recommendation
reasons for and evidence to support the recommendation
MLA citations for sources
Quality
40–35 points
The work contains completely accurate and thoughtful monitoring and analysis of the current or proposed public policy. The recommendation is completely justified.
34–29 points
The work contains mostly accurate and thoughtful monitoring and analysis of the current or proposed public policy. The recommendation is mostly justified.
28–20 points
The work contains somewhat accurate and thoughtful monitoring and analysis of the current or proposed public policy. The recommendation is somewhat justified.
19–0 points
The work contains inadequately accurate and thoughtful monitoring and analysis of the current or proposed public policy. The recommendation is inadequately justified.
Presentation skills
20–17 points
The work is well organized and easy to read, and comprehend. It has few spelling or grammar errors.
16–13 points
The work is somewhat organized and easy to read, and comprehend. It has few spelling or grammar errors.
12–10 points
The work is sometimes organized and easy to read, and comprehend. It has some spelling or grammar errors.
9–0 points
The work lacks organization and ease of reading, and comprehension. It has many spelling or grammar errors.
