Public Policy Formation and Analysis - Assignment Example

?Evan J. Ringquist, Empa 507, January 22, Public Policy Formulation and Analysis Introduction Oman is a beautiful country but notoriously known for its high road accident incidences. Each day a high number of citizens lose their lives from road accidents. The Government of Oman via the aid of its policy makers have been battling and debating on the right policies that will help in curbing this misnomer. The rising death tool due to motor vehicle accidents in Oman has reached an alarming crescendo and the Government and policy formulation makers have developed and proposed certain policies and or penalties in a bid to put an effeminate stop to this unwholesome saga. Using Taxes to Address Traffic Safety Problems in Oman: According to Weimer and Vinning ( ) Taxes should be levied against motor vehicle owners in favour of the accident victim. This should serve as a penalty with an intention of reducing recklessness of motor users. If this is executed adequately by the Government, drivers will be more careful as they fully well know that they will part with a lot of money if they cause an accident on the motorway. All medical bills and third party indemnities will be the sole responsibility of the motor vehicle owner. These taxes should be on the high side to the extent that it sparks careful driving on the side of the motor owner. The use of taxes will go a long way to both influence the behaviour of the road users and the attitude of the people towards being responsible. The population that will be affected by this taxation are males between the ages of 16 to 30 as they are the more active road users in Oman. Also, the use of taxes levied on companies or citizens who make use of the roads will help raise additional funds for the Government of Oman. These funds will be used to repair the roads, maintain safety rules and regulations i.e putting up proper signpost, repairing potholed roads, and paying road safety officers/equipping them to further carry out their duties effectively. This area of negligence on the part of the road traffic enforcers in Oman, is a primary reason why the accident rates in the country is on the increase each day. The roads are left unchecked and un patrolled and thus people take that as an opportunity to beat the set speed limits, drive while drunk and even drive recklessly. But the taxation process will suddenly raise enough funding to tackle this issues. The Government can also disburse what economist/policy analyst call; subsidies. This will boost the economic power of the various traffic enforcement agencies which will in turn replay itself positively in the social, political and cultural super structures of Oman. So in my humble opinion, I personally believe the imposition of this taxes on the citizenry of Oman is a timely policy that will help in reducing the horror of road traffic experiences that destabilizes the Oman Nation. Question 2: Using Rules to Address Traffic Safety Problems in Oman: The use of rules according to Weimer and Vinning ( ) is paramount in Oman if the issue of continuous road traffic accidents is to be curbed. According to the Times of Oman in a news caption they stated that “Oman has one of the highest reported road crash fatality rates in the world, an upward trajectory that shows no sign of levelling out. To put it in context, the population of the UK is 25 times that of Oman, but has only five times as many deaths from road traffic crashes. We are repeating the pattern experienced by rapidly motorising high income countries in the 1970s when death on the roads claimed one life in every 3,000,” . This is a terrible situation that must be stopped and one of the viable was of doing that is to come up with “Rules” that will be both welcomed from by the public and implemented by the Government without fear or favour to certain political blocks. Rules are regulations laid down to guide a particular coursed. Rules are meant to be obeyed and measures in the forms of penalties are put in place to ensure that such rules are obeyed. When these rules are disobeyed, the Government uses the penalties to punish offenders and there are also rules that the citizens could use to try and punish Government offenders. For instance there are criminal and civil laws set ass rules for guiding National conduct. These rules have been formulated into policies in Oman One of such rules is the law that forbids drivers to drive while they are under the influence of alcohol. Drunk driving is one of the primary causes of accidents in Oman, especially at night. The policy makers have thus set aside a rule that forbids all drivers to practise such acts of irresponsibility and recklessness. The stipulated punishment is the paying of heavy fines and the withholding of offenders vehicle particulars and personal driving licenses for a period of six months. The affected population are men between the ages of 16 to 30 who form the bulk of this category. We must also note that the Government and Religion of Oman forbids the use of alcohol in all ramifications and thus the Sharia law also tends to support the formulation of this particular rule. In my humble opinion, based on the above analysis, these rules most especially the drunk driving and speed limit rules, is very important for the social structures of Oman. Question3 Using Government Provision to Address Traffic Safety Problems in Oman: Weimer and Vining ( ) identified the Governments ability to provide a benefit cost analysis law in other to calculate and compare all costs and benefits of government policy instruments. They state that “One indicator of whether we should engage in a certain public policy. It is one of the decision aids available for public officials. If government wants to improve the traffic safety in Oman, a BCA is a tool to use to assess the policy. Cost analysis as a major way of helping to solve the traffic problems in Oman”. The Government must ensure that both primary and secondary cost concerning the traffic system rules and policies in Oman must be calculated and taken into strong considerations. The Government in doing this must first of all decide what type of policy should be adopted i.e. a retrospective BCA, a prospective BCA, a scenario BCA or a cost effective analysis. When it is decided the Government should then invoke that strategy into the mainstream of the policy traffic law. The affected population will be both male and females between the ages of 16 to 60 as this will affect everybody, organizations inclusive. In my opinion I believe assessing the cost of implementing traffic policies to the extent that such will be receptive to civilians and the citizenry as a whole, will aid in setting the foundation of traffic policies on a good note for Oman. PART TWO QUESTION 8. Weimer and Vining ( ) rules could be very difficult to implement most especially traffic rules. (292-295) There are numerous reasons why this is so. The first reason why it is very difficult to implement the rule against drunk driving is simply because the paradigms that guide such rules are faulty. For instance the Government have neglected the importance attached to monitoring the high ways and by ways and ensuring that road users are checked constantly. This could be achieved by positioning strategic patrol teams and high surveillance cameras on such highways. Also, bribery and corruption is a major huddle to the implementation of this rule as the road traffic enforcement units are usually bribed when carrying out their duties. Monetary gifts and other benefits (including sexual) are given out to the officers on duty in other to free culprits of drunk driving. This has made the rule on drunk driving void and ineffective. This in-efectivity shows in the number of people who get hit and killed by drunk drivers. Also, those who drive while drunk most especially at nights are usually the children or relations of the sultanate and strong politicians within Oman. Their very societal status intimidates those whose duties are meant to implement this rule and or policy. Thus most of their drunken activities and even vehicle abuses are either neglected or pushed beneath the sheets. The politicking in high places even among policy makers makes the decisions to both formulate and implement this rule very problematic. The genuine intention to stop the use of alcohol and stipulate penalties is handled with severe politicking as many of the policy makers hypocritically use alcohol at night for relaxation and over use it sometimes. Thus they are caught in the web the created and this public humiliation they find hard to take and so they underplay the relevance attached to severely implementing this rule. All these and much more, make the implementation of rules very difficult in Oman, to the detriment of the populace. The Government attempting to make provisions for a benefit cost Analysis ( BCA) is a very good idea but in reality is pragmatic in Oman. A BCA is a highly political and sensitive issue in both the market place and to the Government as a whole. The greedy nature of policy makers (bureaucratic supply) makes it very difficult if not impossible for the government or despairing parties in the policy circle to agree on cost analysis and its benefits as everyone is fighting to maintain certain selfish interest. Calculating the cost of road traffic policies and its implementation is problematic. For instance, the taste of the citizens are different, the seller of traffic lights/headlamps has his interest to protect, the policy makers themselves have individual interest to protect, the traffic enforcing agencies also have their personal agendas and interest to vie for etc. All these makes it difficult to ascertain the actual figures involved in repairing roads, needed as stipulated traffic offenses etc. Most BCA is based on primary benefits and costs. This is for all parties involved. Even the Omanis citizenry do not appreciate the BCA policy for numerous reasons. Which makes the policy all the more difficult to implement. This is seen as a Government failure where the Government policy actions do no increase social welfare. Many argue that policy decisions are supposed to increase social welfare Policy Analysts help to achive this in the following ways: Help governments identify the information necessary to make efficient policy choice, find the information necessary to make the efficient policy choice and generate the necessary information necessary to make efficient policy choice. Where all this is lacking among legislation, the BCA cannot be adequately implemented. References: s Naik, M. (2010) “Stricker penalties need of the hour” Times of Oman (online), (Web) http:// www. timesofoman.com, Accessed January 21, 2011 Weimer, D. L and Vining, A.R (2004) “Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice” (4th Edition) Amazon.com, online, page 292-295 (Web) www.amazon.com › ... › Political Science › Public Policy – Accessed January 21, 2011 Read More