The Study of Macro and Micro Implementation of Social Policy

Paul Berman

Expert InsightsPublished 1978

Implementation analysis lacks a conceptual framework for conducting research on what goes wrong with social policy and how to improve policy performance. This essay offers some building blocks for a framework. It assumes that implementation problems stem mostly from the interaction of a policy with its institutional setting. Federal policy takes place in a loosely coupled setting in which many actors interact to determine who gets what and policy is transmuted by successive levels of implementing organizations. The net result is that a policy's outcome rests with local deliverers, not federal administrators. Within the local system, the process of micro-implementation consists of the mutual adaptation between local policy (adopted in response to federal policy) and local organizational characteristics. This complex adaptive process inevitably creates uncertainty in how policy will be implemented; the uncertainty cannot be eliminated without removing the local flexibility necessary to make policy work.

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Berman, Paul, The Study of Macro and Micro Implementation of Social Policy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1978. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6071.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.