The Effect of Culture on Public Policy - Essay Example

The Effect of Culture on Public Policy Name Institution Course Date Introduction The true meaning of culture is highly contested since culture is considered an ever-changing process. The relevance and role of culture cannot be consigned to a sub-standard role in the field of public policy (Algan and Cahuc, 2007). But it should be offered its due diligence since the benefits of culture are numerous. The role of culture in public policy is a subject that has gained immense interest from the scholars (Evans, 2007). There are values that are different in different cultures that can influence how a society is organized, how organisations work and the role of governments. Understanding cultural beliefs establishes why unrelated issues are traced to the same basic principles (Fernandez and Fogil, 2005). In addition, understanding the importance of culture and how it influences policy formulation and implementations may bring about unusual conclusions. Culture influences behaviour of people. Culture can be defined as the collective mental-sets which tend to differentiate one group from the other (Fernandez, 2007). The world is ever-changing and people are forced to conform to these changes and take up new behaviour. The development of this behaviour is highly influenced by mind-sets that are brought about by culture (Fernandez, 2007). Consequently, culture is said to shape economic as well political success. This paper will highlight the validity of the question; how does culture affect public policy? The Effect of Culture on Public Policy Culture is said to precede facts. Citizen might be more concerned about how public policies cohere with their cultural values (Karma, 2007). In addition, what citizens believe about the results of the public policies established by the government originates from their cultural worldview. An individual accept or reject the assertions about the results of public policies based on their perception about a good society. Examples of the public policy decisions in the United States that has raised a lot of questions involves death penalty, environmental issues and gun control to name a few. Cultural commitments function as heuristic analogy when processing the information on public policy (Fernandez and Fogil, 2005). Citizens are not in the position to determine whether public policies decisions undermine societal enhancement or affects the environment etc. What they have to do is take the word of people they trust of what assertions are credible. The people they trust completely are the ones who share the same values. Due to this, even people who are open-minded about policy issues often align themselves into cultural groups (Evans, 2007). In order to persuade an individual to accept information involving policy decisions, it is important to go extra miles than just offering information to the public. The cultural cognition of the public policy has the potential to obstruct processing of information. The cultural cognition of the public policy is the psychological temperament of an individual to adapt to their beliefs about perversity of their cultural law subject to regulation (Richardson, 2010). An individual perception of what is good or what is bad is considered the commitment to the cultural orderings. An individual tend to choose certain risks to focus on in a way that reflects his worldview. Overall, an individual generate a risk perception that conform to their cultural worldview (Anderson, 2011). As mentioned earlier, culture in the public policy decision making has been a topic of concern. For instance, in sponsoring the state agenda that was in the process of banning gay marriage, the Bush campaign decided to mobilize its conventional base by focusing on cultural issues in 2004 presidential election. This strategy played significant role in securing Bush victory. The presidential race indicates the significance of cultural values in the United States politics. There are two positions that have been debated with regard to cultural conflict in the United States politics (Anderson, 2011). The prominence of public policy issues including gay marriage, gun control and abortion suggests the struggle existing between different opposing cultural groups to enact an ethical belief through law. And as a result, culture tends to overweigh economics in relation to matters concerning public policies. Evidently, it is by aligning their beliefs with the cultural values of majority people that enabled the Republicans to win the majority vote of this constituency (Anderson, 2011). The framework of cultural cognition argues that culture does not influence public policy decision-making. The phenomenon of the “end of ideology” underestimates the power of culture in affecting political opinion and other public policy issues (Anderson, 2011). According to this view, the complexities of public policy are less important as viewed by the citizens. A number of political science literatures suggest that ideology and affiliation do not predict citizens’ opinions as such, it just predicts only for people who are too much involved in public policy issues. Nevertheless, Selen, (2007) argues that our cultural worldview is huge predictors of public policy issues such as environmental issues and economic regulatory issues etc. Mgbeke (2009) views suggest that cultural worldview does indeed influences the opinions of people about public policy. The public sector is changing very fast as a result of environmental influences, economic developments and new leadership styles (Anderson, 2011). The change that has taken place in the public sector has resulted in new challenges that have affected the political, cultural as well as ethical decision-making process. More often than not, the public utilizes the political progressions of voting to influence the government (Fernandez, 2007). The public also employs its influence by creating special-interest groups that exerts more influence. On the other hand, the government utilizes the public policy formulation in order to influence the public. Policy formulation today is considered to be brought about by a number of forces that influences the policy outputs such as the socio-economic, geographical conditions and elite perceptions (Fernandez, 2007). Socio-cultural framework may either limit or offer opportunities for policy formulation. Policy formulation takes place within the context of policy logic which often simplifies the role of policy designs (Fernandez, 2007). The main aim of the public policy is to enhance the quality of governmental decisions as well as improve the quality of human life. As such, public policy implementation is a fundamental concept that enables governments move successfully (Fernandez, 2007). When utilized effectively, a participatory process assist in developing the capacity of the government and other institutions to implement a policy by designing incentives and generating institutional alignment in order to attain effective solutions. Public opinions as a result of cultural beliefs and norms tend to influence policy implementation (Evans, 2007). Democratic policy formulation tools react to and shape opinions and preferences. Although the citizens can influence implementation of the public policy, the cultures of the citizens do not necessarily decipher into policy outcomes. In this view, there are some differences between values of the policy makers and those of the citizens (Evans, 2007). For instance, in the United States, public opinions brought about by differing cultures do not dictate policy indentation process. However, it establishes some priorities for the public agenda. Similarly, political culture has the power to influence public policy. The governments have the power to offer incentives such as social infrastructure, political stability and legal framework in order to smooth the progression of public policy implementation (Evans, 2007). In Australia for example, the power of the government is seen in the negotiation on the issues concerning immigration procedures, drug trafficking fights and gun control among others. How governments utilizes their authority is determined by factors such as their environmental outlook, political power and socio-economic issues (Evans, 2007). All these are elements of the political culture. In addition to political influence, as mentioned before, culture is one of the major determinants of political choices and public policy implementation. Many societies emphasize culture as a non-unitary concept; several political cultures exert their power over policy decisions. In addition, Hofstede illustrated the effect of culture in five dimensions. First is the power distance which explains how people in different cultures accept the fact that power is unequally distributed (McSweeney, 2002). People in the low power distance are less threatened hence allow themselves to trust people easily. These people trust the policy makers in their decisions. On the other hand, high power distances cultures feel threatened by unequal distribution of power due to lack of basic trust (McSweeney, 2002). The second dimension is individualism versus collectivism. In individualistic cultures, people think they should focus on themselves more than other people. In this culture, people advance from the notion that values are applicable to everyone. In collectivist cultures, loyalty is in-group and everybody looks out for other people’s interests. Collectivist cultures believe that core values can only apply to in-group and other values apply to outsiders (McSweeney, 2002). It proves to be difficult for these people to trust the regulators in policy implementation. The other dimension is the masculine versus feminine dimension. In the masculine cultures, people tend to be enthused by challenges, ambition and competition while in the feminine cultures people are less interested in such factors. In the masculine cultures, trust is founded upon the feeling people have when the element of fairness is observed. In feminine cultures, trust is obtained if citizens feel they are “seen” and can are involved in decision-making. Uncertainty avoidance additionally indicates people’s needs for predictability or risk taking (Hofstede, 2001). On the other hand, cultures with low uncertainty avoidance prefer unstructured circumstances and ambiguity bringing about innovation and favours risk-taking while cultures with a high degree of uncertainty avoidance prefer predictability and established structure which brings about strict rules and behaviours. Policy makers are expected to address the cultural aspirations of the public when implementing public policy. Consequently, in the implantation of the public policy, the policy makers must strive to take into consideration both the cultural and economic values of the results they aim to achieve in order to serve the interest of both the cultural society and the economy (Evans, 2007). In view of the ethical influence, individuals tend to associate moral values and beliefs with the values that apply to personal relation structure in which they interact. The society cannot enforce cultural behaviour only through the use the promulgation of legislation. When decision-makers apply cultural values to the public policies decisions, they utilize strategies that align the process of cultural reasoning and moral judgement (Evans, 2007). Normally, when people are confronted with the same issue, they tend to make different decisions in overcoming the issues. These different approaches may be based on different cultural beliefs and rules. Due to the influence of culture on the public policy, any decision made regarding policy should be founded upon reasons and supported heavily by information. Laws and policies should thus be developed through combined dialogue and reasoning that need to satisfy the citizens who are the foundation of the political authority. According to Mgbeke (2009), government legitimacy is achieved by joining two normative concepts; the concept that policies should be based on reasons and not arbitral and the concept that the process of reason development must be structured so as to guarantee respect for the public. Public policy therefore should demonstrate diversity in terms of occupation, ethnicity, age etc. Our cultural identity tends to have an impact on how we think and reason (Evans, 2007). Therefore, it is paramount not to give room for cultural beliefs and identity to influence our reasoning. But it is fundamental to cultivate cultural interrelations in order to improve public policy decision making. In order to create conducive situations for the public, appropriate laws and policies should be developed when required (Minkov, 2007). Regulators play a fundamental role in implementing these policies since they take a huge part in decision making. Therefore, public policies should encompass cultural values. For instance, in Bhutan, the national educational curriculum was developed and has incorporated values of the public (Minkov, 2007). Basically, policy processes involves a number of stages. Regulator’ commitments to cultural and ethical reforms are important in enhancing the effectiveness of public policy decisions making. Generally, cultural movements influence public opinion and consequently public policy implementation (Anderson, 2011). It is therefore clear that policy formation and implementation cannot be effective without putting into consideration the cultural stand and values of the public. Designing effective public policies requires considerations of policy-making as a way to account for procedural and substantive elements. The use of different customs and values for different cultural groups is a way of addressing many public policy concerns (Evans, 2007). Conclusion In conclusion, culture affects the formulation and implementation of the public policies. Individual policies have different operational procedures which often reflect the deep-rooted cultures of the people found in a country. Trust is the major element that comes between culture and public policy. In order for a group of people sharing a certain culture to accept the policies of decision-makers, they should show some degree of trust in the policy makers. In addition, what people believe about the results of the public policies originates from their cultural worldview. Culture does indeed influence the opinions of people about public policy. This may influence policy decision-making. When utilized effectively, culture can assist in developing the capacity of the policy-makers to implement a policy by designing incentives and generating institutional alignment. In addition, people of different cultures form divergent beliefs about which public policies will amend societal challenges. Its only when people perceive that policies have a social significance amiable to their cultural values that people become interested in the formulation and implantation of public policies. Therefore, it is important to develop policies that have a social meaning to people of different cultures. References Algan, Y and Cahuc, P 2007, Social attitudes and economic development: an epidemio-logical approach, Working Paper CEPR. Anderson, J 2011, Public Policymaking: An Introduction, USA, Cengage Publishers. Evans, M 2007, An Institutional Framework for Policymaking: Planning and Population, UK, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Fernandez, R. and Fogli, A 2005, Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Research Department Star Report 361. Fernandez, R 2007, Culture and Economics, New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, edited by Durlauf, S. and Blume, L., Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and New York. Hofstede 2001, Culture's Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Karma, U 2007, “Culture, Liberty, and Happiness,” in Media and Public Culture, Thimphu, Centre for Bhutan Studies. McSweeney, B 2002, Hofstede's model of national cultural differences and their consequences: a triumph of faith – a failure of analysis, Human Relations, 55(1), 89-117. Mgbeke, D 2009, Public Policy Implementation in a Democratic Governance Society: A Roadmap to Empowering Citizen Participation: An Empirical Study. USA: Library of Congress. Minkov, M 2007, What makes us different and similar: A new interpretation of the World Values Survey and other cross-cultural data, Sofia, Bulgaria: Klasika y Stil Publishing House. Richardson, H 2010, Public Opinion, Happiness, and the Will of the People: Policy-making in a Democracy, in Beyond the Ballot Box, Oxford University Press. Selen A 2007, Recognition through Deliberation:Towards Deliberative Accommodation of Cultural Diversity, Monash Univeraity, Melbourne, Australia. Read More