The Art of Policymaking

Tools, Techniques and Processes in the Modern Executive Branch

George Shambaugh, Paul J. Weinstein

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781483385532
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Public Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The Art of Policymaking: Tools, Techniques and Processes in the Modern Executive Branch, Second Edition is a practical introduction to the specific tools, techniques, and processes used to create policy in the executive branch of the U.S. government. George E. Shambaugh, IV and Paul Weinstein, Jr. explain how government officials develop policy, manage the policymaking process, and communicate those policies to stakeholders and the public at large. The authors draw on both their academic and government experience to provide real-world advice on writing policy decision memos, preparing polling questions, and navigating the clearance process. An abundance of case studies show how actual policies are developed and how and why policies and processes differ across administrations. Finally, practice scenarios allow students to apply the tools and techniques they have learned by working through both domestic and foreign policy situations.

Chapter 1 Why the Policymaking Process Matters

Objective

During the first six months of the William J. Clinton administration in 1993, disorganization, disarray, confusion, and general chaos were the rules rather than the exceptions. For twelve years, Democrats had been absent from the halls of power in the executive branch. A young president and an even younger staff were unfamiliar with the decision procedures and systems within the Executive Office of the President. Faced with a large agenda that included an economic stimulus package, universal health care coverage, welfare reform, anti-crime legislation, and national service, the White House became bogged down and incapable of setting priorities and developing and implementing coherent policies. It took almost a year before the president’s staff became proficient in the tools and techniques of the decision-making systems within the administration.

George W. Bush entered office intending to focus on tax breaks and other domestic economic policy issues, but he was thrust into unknown territory when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The attacks drove domestic security and foreign policy to the top of the Bush administration’s policy agenda. They motivated major land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as an open-ended Global War on Terror. To manage these issues, President Bush had to bring together multiple stakeholders in the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the intelligence community who often disagreed about the best means for achieving his objectives. When conditions on the ground in Iraq deteriorated, the president and his senior advisors adapted the policymaking process to build support for a policy change—a “surge” of forces—that ran contrary to both congressional and public opinion.

President Barack Obama campaigned on an anti-war agenda, yet he soon faced foreign policy challenges in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Russia. In addition, while still promoting his signature health care reform, he had to set other economic priorities aside to manage the worst financial crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression. Like presidents before him, President Obama faced disagreement among his principals and stiff opposition from Congress to many of his policy initiatives. In some areas, like trade policy, President Obama used the policymaking process to build a consensus among competing stakeholders.¹ In others, policymaking was concentrated in the hands of a small number of so-called policy czars in the executive branch, some of whom were situated in the existing policy council structures while others were not. Although the administration continues to hold interagency policy meetings, this centralization and tendency to focus on policy crisis management rather than long-range policy planning has raised concerns from some stakeholders over whether these meetings provide useful conduits to the president’s inner circle.²

The experiences of the George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack H. Obama administrations suggest that presidents often face challenges and opportunities that they did not anticipate. To be successful, they must manage these situations and lead people effectively. Doing so requires them to master the art of policymaking. Our primary objective is to provide students and practitioners with an introduction to the tools and techniques used to make policy in the executive branch of the U.S. government. At a pragmatic level, a basic understanding of the tools of the policymaking trade—including how to write and when to use decision memoranda, how to place an issue on the legislative agenda, how to get policies through the legislative clearance and coordination processes, when and how to use polling during the policymaking process, and how to communicate and market policies—is necessary to function effectively within the executive branch. These tools, techniques, and processes are the primary means by which the policymaking process is initiated, ideas and concerns of policy stakeholders are expressed and debated, and policy options are presented, chosen, and implemented. In addition to enabling the president to acquire the inputs needed to make the best decisions possible, mastering these skills will help drive policies through the process and improve the chances that they will be implemented as desired in a timely manner.

Given time and experience, practitioners and students of policymaking who are offered an opportunity to work in the White House will become familiar with these tools and techniques. As the cases below demonstrate, Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush became more proficient users of the policymaking process over time. This book is intended to accelerate the learning of those who are entering the executive branch from other arenas as well as guide those who are interested in how to develop and implement policy in general.³ It is also intended to further the understanding of students and practitioners of policymaking regarding how stakeholders in the executive branch interact throughout the policymaking process and the impact that their behavior has on the policymaking process itself. Policymaking involves a wide range of actors in a variety of venues. These include Congress, think tanks, interest groups, and many others. We acknowledge that all of these actors and institutions matter, but we will focus on policymaking within the executive branch.

Our book is heavily informed by the insights and experiences of policymakers in the George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack H. Obama administrations. Like them, new presidents will enter office with specific policy goals and the ambition to reshape the policy process in particular ways.⁴ While presidential management styles differ and the organizational structure of policymaking evolves over time, there has been a high degree of consistency in the tools, techniques, and processes of policymaking in the modern executive branch.⁵ Especially when considering the past four administrations, the similarities in tools, techniques, and processes of policymaking far outweigh the differences. Thus, lessons learned from the last four administrations can help current and future policymakers make and implement the best possible policy decisions.

The book is divided into three parts: In Part I, we identify key players in the executive branch and the roles they perform in the policymaking process. In Part II, we introduce the tools that enable policymakers to communicate with one another. In Part III, we analyze a series of case studies based on real-world situations to demonstrate how the tools are used and how the individuals interact throughout the policymaking process.

Over the years, control over policy development has become increasingly centered in the White House and the policy councils. Consequently, we begin Part I by introducing three White House policy councils—Domestic Policy, National Economic, and National Security (which includes the now-defunct Homeland Security Council)—and describing their chief leadership and management responsibilities.

Chapter 3 focuses on the White House staff. This chapter describes the roles of the various offices in the White House and what their relationships are to one another. It also explains the flow and control of information within the White House. Chapter 4 focuses on the roles and responsibilities of agencies in the policymaking process. It discusses the role of agencies and the White House in the implementation of policy decisions via drafting regulations, filling in the details on legislation submitted by the president to Congress, carrying out presidential decisions presented in executive orders, and other means. Chapter 5 discusses the role of the policy management models utilized by the policy councils and cabinet agencies and their importance in the policymaking process.

Part II introduces the fundamental tools needed to create policy. Chapter 6 presents the decision memorandum. This chapter describes how to write decision and other types of memoranda for senior government officials using the formats developed by the Office of the White House Staff Secretary.

Chapter 7 discusses the importance of the budget and the State of the Union address as policymaking and implementation tools. Because both are annual processes, they provide a regular mechanism for policymakers to launch new or change existing policies. Chapter 8 discusses the array of authorizing and implementation tools available to policymakers. Policy tools can be broken down into carrots (incentives), sticks (disincentives), and sermons (bully pulpit). Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses. In addition, policy authorization tools—how policies become legally authorized—are a key but often neglected part of the policymaking process.

Chapter 9 discusses the relevance of statements of administration policy (SAPs), legislative referral memoranda (LRMs), and other policymaking facilitators. It explains how administration policy is cleared through the executive branch and the role of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in circulating proposals to be adopted as “administration policy.” OMB is where the day-to-day activities of the entire government can be routinely monitored and rendered reasonably accountable. In addition, OMB has the power to clear legislation and major regulations, as well as issue administration positions on various policy matters.

Chapter 10 analyzes polling. Good polling data help policymakers refine, test, and market their policy ideas. Inaccurate or incomplete polling data can doom a good proposal. The chapter describes the role pollsters play in the policymaking process and presents a set of polling do’s and don’ts.

Chapter 11 analyzes the art of communicating and marketing policy. In this chapter, we analyze the role of the press and communications office in the policymaking process. We also discuss how to draft press statements, question and answer sheets (Q&As), and “backgrounders” the press office can use to sell a policy agenda to the general public.

Part III examines case studies in three issue areas based on real-world situations. Each case is a step-by-step analysis of an actual executive branch decision as seen through the eyes of a practitioner involved in the policymaking process. The case studies demonstrate how to apply the models, tools, and techniques and how the models that were presented in Part I are used in the policymaking process. The cases include the following:

• A pressing social policy issue: welfare reform during the Clinton administration (Chapter 12);
• Important economic issues across administrations: the development of President Clinton’s economic plan in 1993 (Chapter 13) and the Simpson-Bowles Commission and the fiscal cliff in 2010–2012 (Chapter 14);
• Vital national security crises across administrations: the transition from Desert Shield to Desert Storm in Iraq under the George H. W. Bush administration in 1991 (Chapter 15) and the decision during the George W. Bush administration in 2006 to es...