Social Construction and Democracy Essay

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Constructionist Policy Design Approach

Policy design approach can be described as mechanisms or measures that are utilized to develop and implement policies in light of specific goals. These goals provide the specific issues that need to be addressed by the policy during implementation. According to Schneider & Ingram (1997), some of the most essential components of public policy include problem definition, goal articulation, probable benefits, target population, policy directives or rules, and tools to be utilized in implementing the policy directives. In most cases, policies are developed and established to help address some aspects of social behavior in order to enhance the quality of life and experiences of people. There are different policy design approaches that are utilized in the development and enactment of policies including the constructionist policy design approach. This approach suggests that policies are developed and implemented based on the social realities of citizens. This approach can be utilized in understanding why public policies usually fail to serve democracy, and comprehend social justice impacts of public policy.

Constructionist Policy Design Approach and Democracy

The constructionist policy design approach was developed by Schneider and Ingram (1997) to explore how social realities shape public policies. Schneider & Ingram (1997) argue that social construction is the various measures through which social realities of the world are influenced and developed. Consequently, policy scholars believe that public policy is targeted towards the beliefs, stereotypes, and images that shape people's identities and link them with others within a social group that is likely to benefit or obtain burdensome policy. Schneider & Ingram (1997) further contend that since social construction focuses on dealing with social realities, public policies are mainly geared towards addressing social problems and governance issues within the country. This essentially means that policy design in intrinsically intentional and normative since policies are developed and implemented to serve specific interests, values, and purposes. According to Burnier (1994), an individual's realities developed to become a specific social order because reality is viewed as a social construction.

One of the critical governance issues that need to be addressed through public policy is democracy, which is an important component in the establishment of political leadership. Throughout history, public policies have seemingly often failed to serve democracy as shown by the pervasive criticisms of public policies. The failure of public policies to serve democracy can be explained using different concepts such as Schneider and Ingram's constructionist policy design approach. While numerous policies have been adopted to help promote democracy, these policies have largely failed to serve democracy despite addressing some of the fundamental individual rights relating to political participation. In the United States, citizens have continued to express their dissatisfaction with the country's democracy though they have the right to vote, freedom of speech, and liberty to run for political office/positions.

Through the constructionist policy design approach, one of the reasons society produces public policies that usually fail to serve democracy is the failure to meet the expectations of the society. Social realities, which are the premise of social construction, shape people's expectations and interests. Public policies are established to help meet these interests and expectations in order to be considered effective. Public policies have failed to serve democracy because they are relatively incapable of meeting the needs, expectations or interests of the society. This is particularly true when the policies are considered from a governance perspective i.e. how public officials and institutions work towards meeting the interests and needs of people. In this regard, public officials and institutions do not implement policies in a manner that effectively address the interests and expectations of the people.

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For example, economic development and labor policies have failed to offer long-term economic wellbeing to citizens in a manner that meets their expectations. Actually, people are forced to struggle with increased income inequality because of relatively heavy taxation and regulatory policies (Schneider & Ingram, 1997). On the other hand, policies that are geared towards providing welfare have ended up generating economic dependency rather than ending poverty as they are intended. Due to this economic dependency, welfare receivers rely on initiatives/actions by public officials and institutions to survive, especially in light of tough economic times (Soss, 1999). While politicians deliver speeches on enhancing the plight and predicament of welfare recipients during legislative debates and electoral campaigns, welfare policies are enacted and implemented in a manner that does not end poverty.

The above examples demonstrate the discrepancy between the public policies and people's expectations. As long as these discrepancies continue to exist, public policies will continue falling short of serving democracy. While public policies are designed based on people's interests, the implementation is not carried out in a manner that addresses these interests and expectations. From a social construction perspective, public policies do not effectively tackle the devastating social realities of people, which implies that they significantly fail to serve democracy, which is based on the will of majority of the people.

The second explanation on why the society produces public policies that usually fail to serve democracy based on a social constructionist perspective is that policy designs seemingly discourage active citizenship (Schneider & Ingram, 1997). In most cases, policy development processes are led by public officials and legislators who engage in huge debates regarding policy directives and intentions. During this process, the policy development measures are not necessarily driven by people interests, but are largely influenced by the wishes and desires of policymakers and legislators. While policymakers and legislators are mandated with the task of developing policies that enhance the lives of the citizens, they may fail to engage active citizen participation in the policymaking process. Schneider & Ingram (1997) state that some societal contexts encourage the use of policy designs that promote antidemocratic tendencies, which are in turn harmful to democracy. The choice of such policy designs is influenced by the fact that policy designs are usually by-products of a vibrant historical process that incorporates social constructions of target populations, institutions, and power relationships. This implies that policymakers and legislators utilize their own social constructions of knowledge, institutions, target populations and power relationships. The dependence on social construction of these factors may not necessarily reflect the current interests and expectations of people, which in turn makes the society to produce public policies that serve democracy. Therefore, the flawed public policies with regards to serving democracy can be attributed to the degenerative pattern of policy making processes and deceptive social constructions of people's interests and expectations.

Social Justice Impacts of Public Policy on Marginalized/Excluded Groups

Soss (2005) contends that citizenship needs to be expanded to incorporate enabling and deserving social construction, which will provide the premise through which public policies are developed and implemented in a manner that enhances the wellbeing of marginalized or excluded groups. One of the mostly affected marginalized or excluded groups in public policy development is welfare recipients who have an unprecedented material stake in governmental actions (Soss, 1999). Public policies have considerable impacts on marginalized or excluded groups based on the policy designs….....

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