Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T01:52:08.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Political Appraisal of Employment Policies*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Richard Rose
Richard Rose
Affiliation:
Public Policy, University of Strathclyde
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Because employment is a problem of public policy, it involves elected politicians as well as economists designing policy instruments. The political appraisal of economic policies is necessary and often decisive in the selection of government policies. It first considers what we mean by saying that employment is a public policy problem. Secondly, it considers two attributes for appraising policies: political desirability, and economic effectiveness. In the third section alternative models of choice in conditions of uncertainty are presented, depending upon whether or not there is consensus among politicians about political desirability, and whether or not there is consensus among economists about the effectiveness of a policy. The concluding section considers conditions for integrating political and economic appraisals in government decision making.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 285 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, C., Fenton, P. R. and Larsen, F. (1986) ‘Differences in Employment Behaviour Among Industrial Countries ’, Staff Studies for the World Economic Outlook Washington DC: IMF, 07, 1–50.Google Scholar
Alber, Jens (1982) Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfarhtsstaat, Frankfurt: Campus.Google Scholar
Allen, William R. (1977) ‘Economics, Economists and Economic Policy: Modern American Experiences ‘, History of Political Economy 9, 1, 48–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumer, D. C. and Van Horn, C. E. (1985) The Politics of Unemployment Washington DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Bean, C, Layard, R. and Nickell, S. (1986) ‘Unemployment ’, a supplement to Economical,53 No. 210 (S).Google Scholar
Braun, Dietmar (1987) ‘Political Immobilism and Labour Market Performance: the Dutch Road to Mass Unemployment ’, Journal of Public Policy 7, 3, 307–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brittan, Samuel (1973) Is There an Economic Consensus? an Attitude Survey, London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Brittan, Samuel (1975) ‘The Economic Consequences of Democracy ’, British Journal of Political Science, 5, 2, 129–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britton, Andrew (1984) ‘Full Employment as a Policy Objective ’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 109, 08, 78–84.Google Scholar
Bruno, Michael (1986) ‘Aggregate Supply and Demand Factors in OECD Unemployment: An Update ’, Economica, 53, No. 210(S), 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutter, W. Bowman (1984) ‘The Presidency and Economic Policy: a Tale of Two Budgets’. In Nelson, Michael (ed.), The Presidency and the Political System, Washington DC: CQ Press, 471–93.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. (1976) Modem Political Analysis, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Destler, I. M., Gelb, L. and Laker, A. (1984) Our Own Worst Enemy, New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Gilpin, Robert (1987) The Political Economy of International Relations, Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hahn, Frank H. (1985) ‘Recognizing the Limits ’, Times Literary Supplement, 2 12.Google Scholar
Hargrove, Erwin C. and Morley, Samuel A. (1984) (eds.) The President and the Council of Economic Advisers: Interviews with CEA Chairmen, Boulder, Col.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh (1974) Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden, New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh (1975) ‘OMB and the Presidency- the Problem of “Neutral Competence” ‘, Public Interest No. 38 (Winter).Google Scholar
Kaysen, Carl (1969) ‘Model-Makers and Decision-Makers: Economists and the Policy Process ’. In Heilbroner, R. L. (ed.), Economic Means and Social Ends, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 137–53.Google Scholar
Layard, Richard (1986) How to Beat Unemployment, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Layard, Richard and Nickell, Stephen (1985) ‘The Causes of British Unemployment ’, National Institute Economic Review, 02, 62–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leman, Christopher K. and Nelson, Robert H. (1981) ‘Ten Commandments for Policy Economists ’, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 1, 1, 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leontief, Wassily (1985) Essays in Economics: Theories, Theorizing, Facts and Policies, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar
Lindbeck, Assar (1976) ‘Stabilization Policy in Open Economies with Endogenous Politicians ’, American Economic Review, 66, 2.Google Scholar
McCracken, Paul et al. (1977) Towards Full Employment and Price Stability, Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Metcalf, David (1982) Alternatives to Unemployment, London: Anglo-German Foundation/Policy Studies Institute No. 610.Google Scholar
Minford, Patrick (1983) Unemployment: Cause and Cure, Oxford: Martin Robertson.Google Scholar
Minford, Patrick (1984) ‘Response to Nickell ’, Economic Journal, 94, 954–959.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moe, Terry M. (1985) ‘The Politicized Presidency ’. In Chubb, J. E. and Peterson, P. E. (eds.), The New Direction in American Politics, Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 235–272.Google Scholar
Mueller, Dennis (1979) Public Choice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, Robert H. (1987) ‘The Economics Profession and the Making of Public Policy ’, Journal of Economic Literature, 25, 1, 49–91.Google Scholar
Nickell, Stephen J. (1984) ‘A Review of Unemployment: Cause and Cure ’, Economic Journal, 94, 946–953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odell, John S. (1982) U.S. International Monetary Policy: Markets, Power and Ideas as Sources of Change, Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (1987) OECD Economic Outlook, Paris: OECD, No. 41, 06.Google Scholar
Parry, G. and Morriss, P. (1974) ‘When is a Decision not a Decision? ’, in Crewe, I. (ed.), Elites in Western Democracies, London: Croom Helm, 317–336.Google Scholar
Richardson, Jeremy and Henning, Roger (1984) (eds.) Unemployment: Policy Responses of Western Democracies, London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard (1976) ‘On the Priorities of Government: a Developmental Analysis ’, European Journal of Political Research, 4, 3, 247–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Richard (1976a) ‘Disciplined Research and Undisciplined Problems ’, International Social Science Journal, 28, 1, 99–121.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard (1980) ‘Ordinary People in Extraordinary Economic Circumstances ‘. In Rose (ed.), Challenge to Governance, London: Sage Publications, 151–174.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard (1984) Do Parties Make a Difference?, London: Macmillan, 2nd ed.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Richard (1985) ‘Can the President Steer the American Economy? ’, Journal of Public Policy, 5, 2, 267–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Richard (1985a) Public Employment in Western Nations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard (1985b) ‘The Programme Approach to the Growth of Government ’, British Journal of Political Science, 15, 1, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Richard (1987) ‘Steering the Ship of State: One Tiller but Two Pairs of Hands ’, British Journal of Political Science, 17, 4, 409–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni (1969) ‘Politics, Ideology and Belief Systems ’, American Political Science Review, 63, 398–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawhill, Isobel V. (1986) ‘Reaganomics in Retrospect ’, In Palmer, J. L. (ed.), Perspectives on the Reagan Years, Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 91–120.Google Scholar
Scharpf, F. W. (1987) ‘A Game-Theoretical Interpretation of Inflation and Unemployment in Western Europe ’, Journal of Public Policy, 7, 3, 227–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solow, Robert M. (1986) ‘Unemployment: Getting the Questions Right ’, Economica, 53, No. 210(S), 23–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Herbert (1984) Presidential Economics, New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Stockman, David (1986) The Triumph of Politics, New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Theil, H. (1958) Economic Forecasts and Policy, Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Therborn, Goran (1986) Why Some People are More Unemployed than Others, London: Verso.Google Scholar
Tinbergen, Jan (1952) On the Theory of Economic Policy, Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Wallich, Henry C. (1982) ‘Policy Research, Policy Advice and Policy making ’, In Lombra, R. E. and Witts, W. E. (eds.), Political Economy of International and Domestic Monetary Relations, Ames: Iowa State University Press, 236–246.Google Scholar
Weidenbaum, Murray (1983) An Economist in Government: Views of a Presidential Adviser, St. Louis: Center for the Study of American Business Contemporary Issues Series No. 5.Google Scholar
Wildavsky, Aaron (1979) Speaking Truth to Power: the Art and Craft of Policy Analysis, Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar