57114 Policy, Advocacy and Social Change

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Social Inquiry
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

This subject is designed for advanced-level studies for students interested in the processes of politics and change. It focuses on the ways in which interventions can influence change in both policy and practice in governments and other institutions. It explores political processes both formal and informal, with an emphasis on the latter, in which policy decisions are made and implemented.

The interactions of all 'stakeholders', politicians, parties, lobbyists, community advocates and public servants are examined in the context of political theories on ideologies and power. This subject is designed to emphasise political theories and analysis of power and change as well as the status of current policies within those contexts. Students are expected to draw on current writings in the media and analysis of current issues and to use some classic readings.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:

Develop analytical skills for exploring both policy and political problems and the development of solutions.
Analyse the operations of power in and out of formal institutions and the ways in which political process might be influenced and changed by the influence and actions of stakeholders, community organisations and political activism.
Develop skills in both critiquing and proposing policies. They will be able to offer explanations of broad policy directions and dominant paradigms, and develop proposals for particular policy changes, within an advocacy or activist framework.
Develop useable proposals for policy development and/or change which recognise current practical and political constraints.
Demonstrate basic advocacy and activist skills including competence in planning strategies for policy lobbying in the context of the stakeholders/players and potential barriers.
Understand the broader theoretical debates on questions of power, ideologies, the role of the state and civil society and other factors which influence the capacity to make or change policies.

These will be demonstrated by capacities to design a submission for policy change with strategies for advocating the issues and ability to use theoretical perspectives to analyse the underpinnings of the institutions and beliefs that underpin such decisions.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject gives students the opportunity to cover current Australian political issues in the context of possibilities of making changes. It has a particular appeal to those students currently in or intending to work with government, community groups or other politically related areas.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject will be made up of a weekly hour lecture and two hour tutorial. The tutorial will involve a variety of learning activities such as tutorial discussion on the nature of the policy process and exercises directed to develop students' skills and knowledge to implement and change policy and strategies of social action. In addition, and sometimes instead, post graduate students will meet with the lecturer, individually or as a group, to explore issues in greater depth. This will be arranged during class time.

The rest of the course is similar to that offered to undergraduates so consult their course outline until you come to the assignments where there are some changes in the first two that reflect the higher level of demands on your skills and thinking processes.

Content

This subject shares the undergraduate coursework which is designed to give students practical experience in the processes of proposing and achieving policy change, the structures of governance, the positions of stakeholders and the roles of advocates inside and outside formal structures. It focuses on uses of communication strategies and possible sources of information to be used in putting up a case for change. Students explore the processes of policy making through looking at both theoretical underpinnings and the practices of making changes: the role of politicians, parties, community, and the processes of lobbying as well as negotiation between power groups and intervention from the less powerful. It involves understanding the main and competing political ideologies and their proponents.

Developing advocacy strategies for change will assist students in understanding the broad policy directions and dominant paradigms and how to argue against these on behalf of groups not well served by them. This is an advanced-level subject, which requires a melding of theory and practice. Students read widely on current political issues and are expected to become problem solvers, to look for ways of changing policy and the roles of interest groups.

The subject examines the major changes, which have occurred over the last two decades in the role of the public sector, the market and community, as well as in the nuts and bolts of policy making from the point of view of liberal, conservative, social-democratic and radical approaches. The shifts in the concept of the role of government and the transformation of civil society have had major effects on policy frameworks and social movement and activists' practice.

In the practical component of this subject, students are expected to develop skills in critical analysis of public and social policies within and outside the current parameters of debate. This exercise should include analysing the current policy processes, identifying formal and informal key players, definition of power relations between them and the various documents and data needed to make a case for political and social change.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Tutorial presentations

Objectives	a, c
Value	20%
Due	Be prepared to offer this in class but not in the first three weeks.
Task	Pick a political party and then a portfolio area that interests you. What are the basic principles espoused by that party overall? Do they offer a distinctive set of political viewpoints? Are their policies in the area you selected consistent with their overall views? How if yes or if not how do they differ?
Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to: Find and analyse party policy documents and then summarise and present their main points briefly but appropriately Engage with the class as a collective learning process. Students will prepare a short presentation for the class and hand in an extended and updated version of this, a week after the presentation, taking class and tutor comments into account.

Assessment item 2: Essay

Objectives	a, b, c
Value	30%
Due	Week 7
Word limit	Maximum 3,000 words
Task	Pick one of the following topics (or put up an accepted alternative, i.e. clear it with me) Is Democracy more than just rule by the majority? Do political parties treat voters like customers and sell them the Party brand? Looking at analysis of the last election, how do you think the main parties (Coalition and Labor) saw their role in their campaigns? Discuss in terms of the basic political theories that underpin debates on types of democratic processes. Fukuyama declared 'the end of History' in the eighties. What did he mean and what have the last two decades shown about his view and the changes in policy environments since then. Would you describe the current Federal government as neo-conservative, neo-liberal or a mix of both and other views? How do these different frameworks affect particular portfolios? Discuss in terms of at least two policy areas.
Assessment criteria	3,000 words and wide reading and references are required which should include both theoretical readings and appropriate other documents.

Assessment item 3: Policy and advocacy strategy plus class presentation

Objectives	a, b, c, d
Value	Policy proposal and class presentation - 40%; Advocacy plan - 10% (please note these two parts need to be clearly identified as separate in the submitted material)
Due	Two weeks after class presentation.
Task	To develop a submission for policy change and an advocacy plan on how you would suggest the proposal be promoted so it is more likely to be accepted. Students will select an area of policy they would like to see changed and develop the policy proposal and plan advocacy strategies for the individuals or groups who are interested in promoting the policy change. Students will need to choose their topic early in the course and clear their chosen topic with Eva Cox in person or by email before they start . This ensures that the topic is reasonable and capable of being done, as some are too big or too hard to follow up.
Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to develop and apply skills of policy research, policy writing and putting a coherent, well argued case. The basis for good policy is selecting the necessary material effectively from the volume available so relevance and presentation will count. You also need to demonstrate capacity to strategise, think through advocacy and social action, and to explain the political significance of such a submission. The project should include the current policy of government, opposition policies and identification of the differences, if any, in ideological bases. Who are the stakeholders and what views do they hold? You will have to defend your claims for resources and therefore will have to do research to justify your claims. The objective is to develop and demonstrate your understanding of policy processes, and some competence in finding out information, sorting out the necessary arguments and recognising the limits of your audience, i.e. show an understanding of how to argue a case briefly and cogently. This means you must show common sense - not numerical accuracy, and some reality testing. This outline is based on actual sheets used in Cabinets at federal and state level. I have added some extra categories but the principles are the same.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Indicative references

TEXTS AND REFERENCES

I have listed some useful ones but there are a lot of new materials emerging in this area all the time. You are expected to read widely and develop judgement on the value of what is available, particularly on the net. Most texts in this area are not written by practitioners and often put up presumed processes that are much too neat to be useful. So read widely, particularly the heavier news media for current issues, develop a clear sense of whose views can be trusted and why, and develop your skills in selecting the best material for the purposes you require.

Althaus C, Peter Bridgman & Glyn Davis (2007) The Australian Policy Handbook 4th Edition Sydney: Allen and Unwin
Colebatch H K (2002) Policy 2nd edition Buckingham: Open University Press
Colebatch H K (ed) (2006) Beyond the Policy Cycle: the policy process in Australia Sydney: Allen & Unwin
Dalton, T., Draper, M., Weeks, W. & Wiseman, J (1996) Making Social Policy in Australia: An Introduction Sydney: Allen and Unwin
Smyth, P & Bettina Cass eds. (1998) Contesting the Australian Way: States, Markets and Civil Society. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Yeatman, A. (ed) (1998) Activism and the Policy Process Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Further References

Brennan, D., 1994, The Politics of Australian Childcare: From Philanthropy to Feminism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Drake, J., 'Why I organize', Social Policy, Fall 2001, p. 4
Edwards, L., 2002, How to argue with an economist, Reopening Political Debate in Australia, Cambridge Uni Press, UK
Fine, B, 2001, 'The expanding universe of Social Capital', Social Capital versus Social Theory: Political Economy and Social Science at the Turn of the Millennium, Routledge, London,
Hancock, L. 1999. Women, Public Policy and the State Melbourne: Macmillan
Patmore G and Glover D. eds 2000 New Voices for Social Democracy, Labor Essays 2001, Pluto Press Sydney
Neumann, Klaus, 2004 Refuge Australia: Australia's humanitarian record, UNSW, Sydney
Pocock Barbara, 2003, The Work/life Collision, Federation Press, Sydney
Race for the Headlines, racism and media discourses, 2003, Ant Discrimination Board NSW Sydney.
Saunders, P., 2005, The poverty wars' UNSW Press, Sydney.
Sawer M., & G. Zappala, 2001, Speaking for the People: Representation in Australian Politics Melbourne: Melbourne University Press
Wilson, S, Meagher, G, Gibson, R, Denemark, D and Western, M (eds) 2005 Australian Social Attitudes – the first report, University of New South Wales Press Limited
Winter, I ed, 2000 Social Capital and Social Policy, AIFS Melbourne

POLICY SITES FOR DOWNLOADING RELEVANT PAPERS

The following websites are very useful sources for material which may be relevant to this course. As always, be selective and make sure that what you have found is useful and appropriate.

http://www.aph.gov.au

This is the Commonwealth Parliament site and has a wealth of material on how our system of government works, papers from the parliamentary library on a very wide range of issues, including policy briefings. The website has links to other government departments and state governments. It is very useful as an entry point to government documents. Most departments have lots of policy stuff on line

http://evatt.labor.net.au/publications/papers

This is a Labour/Left based organisation and has many papers up on its website which covers many of the issues raised in this course and offers some book chapters, lectures and other useful documents.

http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au

This is a NSW government website which supports its involvement in community capacity building. It has many resources aimed mainly at people working in the community.

http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute

This is a government funded research centre with lots of useful information and some papers on line, particularly about Families.

http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au

This is another funded research centre at UNSW, looking at issues of social policy with useful downloadable papers.

http://www.apo.org.au/

This is a very useful web service page out of Swinbourne University which posts up weekly lists and URLs for many actual papers from some of the organisations listed above and others as well. This also has lists of members' websites on its site so can be used as a general access point.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au

This has a weekly set of opinion articles and comments which are often quite revolting by readers. It's free and has a wide range of views represented often by people who rewrite for papers

http://www.hawkecentre.unisa.edu.au/institute/HawkePolicyWebsite

The Hawke Policy Website presents research undertaken at the University of South Australia that has implications for social and public policy. The Hawke Research Institute undertakes research and fosters debate on democratic participation, globalisation, equity and sustainable societies.

http://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/lawaccess.asp

This is a useful link for all things legal including human rights and discrimination issues.

http://www.australianreview.net

This is an on line journal, usually left leaning but some interesting discussion issues and articles.

http://www.cis.org.au/

This presents free market, generally neo-liberal and conservative viewpoints but it is worth looking at for different points of view, including some by right wing ALP and the Federal Government.

http://www.ipa.org.au/

This is further to the right than the CIS but somewhat influential with the Howard government.