Public Policy and Stakeholder Analysis

Public Policy:
Public policy means the principles upon which social laws are based, which are more often than not, unwritten. As a law, public policy is the principle of denying of a contract through injury of a public good (Knoepfel, 2011, p.12). Using simple language, public policy is the decision, made by any government, to either act or not to act when it comes to solving a particular problem.
Gun violence is a threat affecting public health, as some doctors and medical associations are claiming. This information came
from an article posted in the US News website. Using Argumentative Analysis, we shall go deeper to see the two sides, when it comes to gun violence as a threat to public health.
Claim: Gun violence is a major threat to public health. This claim is being pushed forward by Doctors and Medical associations in the Unites States of America.
Information: Many cases of death, through guns, are being reported on a daily basis, for examples, homicides. These Doctors and the medical associations see gun violence as a threat to public health.
Objection: Death is not only occurring due to guns, or are not only gun related, but also accidents and diseases cause death on a daily basis too.
Warrant: In supporting the claim that gun violence is affecting public health, the general public will be educated on how to handle firearms.
Backing: Since education of the public, in safety measures when it comes to handling guns, is the first step towards reducing gun-related deaths.
Objection: Policy against guns is a move to restrict private gun ownership.
Rebuttal: In addition, it’s a method of obtaining new ground and techniques for seizing firearms
Qualifier: The doctors and medical associations believe this policy will definitely save lives.
Assumption: The underlying assumption with gun violence is that it is highly related to mental illness. (Point (A) on Figure 2)
Some states, in United Sates of America, are pushing for the Legalization of Marijuana. Some sides, for example, antidrug bodies have been against the move to legalize the drug.
Claim: Marijuana is a highly addictive and destructive drug
Information: Many Americans have been admitted to various rehabilitation centers seeking help with addiction to marijuana.
Objection: other drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes are addictive too, and they are legal everywhere.
Warrant: The drug should not be legalized because it has very severe effects than a cigarette, especially on the fragile mind of the youth
Backing: students and the youth in general are the abusers of marijuana. Legalizing will basically be giving them the stamp of approval to use the drug.
Objection: No one is forcing the youth to use the drug, they can choose not to smoke marijuana as some obviously do.
Rebuttal: marijuana has numerous medical benefits, and not legalizing it will not be fair to people who genuinely need it to deal with certain medical issues.
Assumption: The underlying assumption with Marijuana is that it is not an addictive and harmful drug. (Point (B) on Figure 2)


Figure 1: Distribution of warrant by plausibility and importance

                                                    X (A)

                               X (B)


Figure 2: The underlying Assumption on the Plausibility versus Importance graph
The argument that is most plausible is the policy on Legalization of Marijuana. Plausibility means having an appearance and possibility of truth and reason (Manski, 2013, p.66). The antidrug bodies that are pushing to stop the Legalization of Marijuana have a point. They are strongly saying that the government is against drugs and is advocating for the people to stop the use and sale of them. If the same government now goes ahead and legalizes one of these drugs, what message is that government try to send to the public? The war on drugs then will have been a futile venture doomed to fail.












Stakeholders Analysis:
A stakeholder is a person, whose sole responsibility, is to represent a group made up of either the people affected by a policy, or those that affect a policy (Kimmich, 2012. p.45). Some of the stakeholders in the legalization of Marijuana policy are:
Government
Drug Companies
Schools
Healthcare Providers
Substance Abuse Councils
The Policy Documents by the various stakeholder are as follows:
Government: “The Administration steadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana and other drugs. This is because Legalization would increase the availability and use of illicit drugs and would also pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans, particularly young people.”
Drug Companies: “Marijuana should be legalized. The benefits it offers would be very much welcomed by a number of people. As a painkiller, it serves a better role compared to some of the traditional drugs we are currently producing.” They are Opponents.
Schools: “Marijuana impacts heavily on the learning curve of students. Many students can acquire the drug quite easily, and through per pressure, are leading their friends down this unfulfilling path. Marijuana is an addictive drug, which should not be legalized.” They are Proponents.
Substance Abuse Councils: “Marijuana is a deadly drug that affects the minds of people. It should not be legalized, as this would be the beginning of a never ending disaster.” They are Proponents.
Healthcare Providers: “Legalization of Marijuana would aid in the treatment of terminally ill patients. It would soften the pain most of these patients go through. After legalization though, certain steps should be taken to ensure, only people who need the drug due to medical reasons, get the drug, and not just any individual.” They are Opponents.
Government:
Statement 1: The Administration steadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana and other drugs
Schools
Substance Abuse Councils
Statement 2: This is because Legalization would increase the availability and use of illicit drugs and would also pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans, particularly young people.
No new stakeholders

Figure 3: Graph showing Stakeholders against the statements

New ideas generated by the stakeholders:
Government: “We will Legalize Marijuana but restrict its distribution and resale. Only individuals with medical cards will be able to purchase the Marijuana. Individuals caught in the sale of Marijuana, illegally, and not under the strict rules and laws stipulated, will be prosecuted.”
Drug companies: “The objective of selling marijuana is to help humanity as it struggles to survive in this harsh planet. If we can assist in making that journey swifter in any way, of course we will. Marijuana should be legalized.”
Schools: “Objective behind pushing for Marijuana not to be legalized is because we have the best interest of the students in mind. If by not smoking marijuana a student is more likely to succeed in life, then we will have done our job as institutions.”
Substance Abuse Councils: “Marijuana should remain illegal to protect this fragile society. Already drugs such as heroin, cocaine, alcohol are destroying families and lives. If we legalize one of the numerous drugs, then the fight against drugs is slowly going to be won by the enemy.”
Healthcare Providers: “The mental effects Marijuana has outweigh its benefits, for example, pain relief. The drug is also responsible for psychological addiction, something that is very complicated and difficult to detect and treat.”

Cumulative Distribution analysis:
The graph eventually flattens out due to lack of anymore stakeholders agreeing, that is those stakeholders that are against the policy, of the government’s public policy statement on the Legalization of Marijuana (Schibi, 2014, p.89).
Only two support the public policy statement number one, then the remaining statement does not have new stakeholders.




Reference:
Kimmich, C. (2012). Methods for stakeholder analysis. Place of publication not identified: Europ Ischer Hochschulver.
Knoepfel, P. (2011). Public policy analysis. Bristol: Policy Press.
Manski, C. F. (2013). Public policy in an uncertain world: Analysis and decisions. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Prasad, K. (2015). Strategic management. Place of publication not identified: Prentice-Hall Of India.
Schibi, O. (2014). Managing stakeholder expectations for project success: A knowledge integration framework and value focused approach.