This assignment builds on policy analysis assignment #3 and the plan you previously outlined for stakeholder analysis. The assignment is structured in three main parts. In Part 1 you will provide a brief overview of the main elements of the policy case you are working on. This part of the assignment is ancillary and helps in the review of the other two parts. It also allows you to reflect any refinements or adjustments you may have made to the problem statement and/or the three policy options you are exploring while working on assignments #4 and #5. In Part 2, which is central to the assignment, you will provide an updated and expanded version of the stakeholder analysis chart you developed in assignment #3 confirming the information you uncovered on each stakeholder through the available secondary data. Using the “optimal fit” framework referenced in the reading by Varvasovszky and Brugha (2000, p. 344, Week 7 materials folder), you will also clarify what would be your strategic approach to engage with each stakeholder. Finally, in Part 3, you will select one of the key stakeholders included in the stakeholder chart you provided in part 2 and develop 6 interview questions tailored specifically for this stakeholder. In addition to the information needs for your specific topic, in deciding on how to formulate and sequence the questions, you will also draw on some of the strategies recommended in the readings we examined in weeks 5 and 9 (see list in point 3). For each question you will also note to which evaluative criterion it most closely relates to and whether it fills a gap in information available from other sources or helps clarify it further.
1: Overview
Please provide a brief overview of the reference policy, main policy problem, and policy options related to your analysis by filling the chart below.
| Reference policy (Select one) | Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP)Nourish NY |
| Policy problem (Provide a problem statement summarizing the key policy issue in a few sentences, reflecting your most recent formulation) | |
| Policy options being examined (List each synthesized in one sentence) | Policy Option #1:Policy Option #2:Policy Option #3: |
2: Who are the key policy actors and their influence and positions? What would be the optimal strategy to engage them? — Stakeholders Analysis Findings Chart
Deliverable: Stakeholder analysis findings chart
Using the chart provided below, which expands on the chart you completed for assignment #3, provide the most up-to-date information you have on each stakeholder (individual/organization) related to policy issue and/or one or more of the three policy options you identified to address the issue. Based on the available data you found on each stakeholder, note their position (which you hypothesized in the previous iteration of the assignment before verifying it through the data) — e.g.., supportive, opposed, mixed (or “no data” if none are available) — and provide hyperlinks to the sources where information on the stakeholder and their position on the policy option are referenced. In the last column of the chart, using the “optimal fit” framework referenced in the reading by Varvasovszky and Brugha (2000, p. 344, Week 7 materials folder), clarify what would be your strategic approach to engage with each stakeholder (e.g., involve, collaborate with, defend from, or monitor) and briefly explain how so.
| Stakeholder (individual or organization) | Relevant for which policy option/s (i.e., #1, #2, #3) | How the stakeholder is connected to the program/policy issue (i.e., sponsor of a bill/resolution, agency overseeing related programs, an organization conducting related initiatives, a supplier of a good service, beneficiary of subsidies, academic expert on the subject, etc.) | Influence/ power (High, Medium, Low) | Stakeholder position based on the available data (i.e., supportive, opposed, mixed, no data) | Hyperlinks for each available secondary data source related to the stakeholder and their position (e.g., links to public testimony on the policy/ legislation, newspaper coverage, organizational websites and reports, etc.) | How would you strategically engage with this stakeholder? Involve, collaborate with, defend from, or monitor? (For full definitions of each of the options listed above, refer to Varvasovszky & Brugha, 2000, table about the «optimal fit», p. 344) Please provide also 1-sentence explanation for each engagement strategy choice. |
3: Interview questions
Deliverable: Interview questions chart
In this part of the assignment you will select one of the priority stakeholders you identified in part 2 above (e.g., it could be a stakeholder that is key for their high degree of influence and/or one whose views and positions on the policy option/s are not covered in other sources of information) and develop 6 interview questions, which, in your view, are central to better understanding the stakeholder’s position on the issue, proposed policy option/s, and their strengths and limitations vis-à-vis the evaluative criteria you selected in policy analysis assignment #2. Listed below are several references from the weekly lectures and materials which would help you think through the types of questions and their sequencing:
- University of Washington. Key Informant Interview Handbook, http://courses.washington.edu/nutr531/HEBD/KIInterviews/KeyInformantInterviewHandbook.pdf (full text also available in Week 9 readings folder).
- Note: For an example of the possible formulation and structure of interview questions (not of the topic! which should be your specific policy case), take a look at the two templates provided on p.10 and p.14.
- Patton, C., Sawicki, D. & Clark, J. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning: “3.2 Interviewing for Policy Information” (full text available in Week 5 readings folder)
- Lecture slides in Weeks 5 and 9 folders
- See also: Bardach, E. & Patashnik, E. The Eight-Fold Path. Part 2, “Assembling Evidence” => Section “Conducting a Policy Research Interview” (full text available in Week 5 readings folder)
| Stakeholder to whom the questions will be addressed: (Please provide the name of the individual or organization from the chart in point 2) | ||
| Relevant for which policy option(s): (e.g., Policy Option #1, #2, #3) | ||
| Interview questions: (Please list 6 interview questions which you have crafted specifically for this stakeholder, not considering introductory/closing remarks) | To which of the evaluative criteria from those you selected in assignment #2 is the question more closely related? (e.g., effectiveness, efficiency, equity, liberty/freedom, social acceptability, political feasibility, administrative feasibility, technical feasibility,, etc.) Please explain in one sentence what is the connection. | Does the question: help to fill a gap in available secondary data (e.g., no data is currently available from public sources on this aspect of the policy issue or policy option) or help cross-check or clarify information already available from other sources (if yes, please provide a hyperlink to the source pointing to the same topic/information the question is asking)? |
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