Part 1: Analysis
Summary
Truly Heritage City has serious economic and environmental challenges. In fact, the city now faces more serious economic challenges than environmental issues. The first major economic challenge of Heritage City is the falling businesses and inability to attract new companies. Most companies are leaving while no firm is coming in. This development has left the city’s industrial park with many empty premises that used to operate in the past. The worst case of Heritage City is that many companies are closing shop and shifting to the nearby Beautiful View city. It means that Beautiful View city is now more attractive to business organizations than Heritage.
The second serious economic issue is unemployment and underemployment. As companies continue to close their shops and shift elsewhere, many households are being left in destitution as people lose jobs. For the companies which still run their operations, they are not employing an optimal number of workers. Therefore, the standards of living within the city are declining. The per capita income of the city is on steady decline. It is the reason even the real estate sector of the city is now not performing well.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The main environmental problem of this city is lack of beautification plans and deteriorating condition of available water bodies. The industries which operated in the city used to discharge their waste products into the nearby rivers and lakes hence polluting the city’s water bodies. This development really destroyed aquatic ecosystem and has led to the extinction of many endangered water animals. It is the reason a significant section of the city’s population is highly opposed to the licensing of factories. They pollute the environment especially water bodies. Essentially, the extent of economic and environmental problems faced by Heritage City is huge.
Understandably, creating the balance between hosting many companies and maintaining the good environment is tricky ( Dunn, 2015) . Many factories mean high levels of pollution to the environment. However, it is vital to understand that with proper policies and enforcement plans, the two agenda can be achieved. There is need for policy formulation to effectively counter the problems experienced by Heritage City.
One Theory: Rational Choice Theory
This concept is also referred to as the public choice and formal theory. It is selected in this paper because of its strong connection with the macro-economic theory. This theory largely deals with economic concepts of policy formulation. The main assumption in this theory is that people making public decisions are rational actors. Therefore, those who develop public policies reason out to come up with realistic and justified points of action. It is also clear from this theory that decision-makers have self-interests which they normally seek to further through formulation of the strategic public policies. This theory offers real insight into the political behaviour of politicians. An example is the case of Heritage City which is highly politically divided now. It means policy makers who are politicians will have their self-interests of re-election influence the kind of positions they take when it comes to policy formulation especially legislations. Those whose constituents come from nearby the water bodies may be opposed to welcoming the J.O.B Industries Company because it is the position which sounds well to the ears of their electorate. This theory is realistic and relevant in the modern society. In chapter 3, it is acknowledged that this theory “forces people to think about the core motivation of individual political actors and its consequences for the larger political system and for public policy” ( Kraft & Furlong, 2012, p.83).
Process & Factors
The public policy formulation activity entails procedures and factors to consider. The process of formulating public policy involves steps. The first one is definition of the policy. The preferred policy should be clearly defined in simple terms so that people can easily understand it. The next step is formulation where its details are developed and written down for approval. The formulation step ends with the ratification of the action points enumerated. There is implementation or execution of the policy formulated and its evaluation to find out the level of effectiveness it achieves ( Dror, 2017) . The evaluation step involves simply comparing the actual outcomes of the policy and its intended results.
However, the formulation of a policy must be done in consideration of important factor at play within a given area ( Birkland, 2015) . These factors include equity and stakeholders. For the case of Heritage City, the factors to consider include equity and stakeholders affected. Specifically, there are those opposed to companies’ presence in the city since they are interested in environmental preservation. There are others who are interested in getting employment opportunities hence want new companies attracted into the city. These are sharply conflicting positions which must considered in the policy formulated with a view of achieving equity and satisfactory critical balance.
Part 2: Policy Recommendation Report
Two (2) Short-Term Recommendations
Tax Cuts
Heritage City should consider attracting Foreign Direct Investments by allowing implementation of business incentives for organizations like J.O.B Industries. Tax havens and exemptions should be implemented to lower the cost of doing business. Therefore, the main policy related to achievement of business attraction in the city should be implementation of tax cuts. The Heritage City Council under leadership of Mayor Politico has the power of implementing this tax cuts considering the provisions of the Spending Clause in the United States Constitution. The Spending Clause gives Federal Government of the United States of America the power of taxation. Although there are other statutes in the U.S. Constitution which grant the government and Congress power to collect revenue and spend, this specific clause is the prime source of authority used in taxation and spending of public funds.
In the past, this Spending Clause of the Constitution was employed by courts in limiting the ability of the U.S. Congress to tax and spend (Eastman, 2001). Furthermore, in its effort to influence the state policy and law, the Federal Government has been using the stick of taxes and carrot of spending to offer states the incentive of complying with important national government programs (Neumayer, 2003). An example is the case where the Congress wanted to control child labor laws despite absence of Constitutional mandate to this institution when it comes to the role of regulating. Since it is a governmental body with limited and a few powers, the Congress could not implement such changes. Theoretically, the role of regulation falls on states, especially where the Congress does not have express mandate drawn from the U.S. Constitution (Scarinci, 2016). However, the U.S. Congress passed a law, in the year 1919, where it tried to use its taxing and spending power to provide incentives for changes in the state child labor laws. The implication of this law changes included imposition of a tax on the profits of a business company that recruited used children as laborers. In the Bailey vs. Drexel Furniture Company case of 1922, the Supreme Court found this law to be unconstitutional. In the same case, the U.S. Congress was prohibited from taking advantage of its taxing and spending powers to go beyond a limitation of its authority. This case offers a classic example of events where the U.S. Congress has used to the Spending Clause as a weapon for achieving ends that beyond the authority granted by the same statute in the Constitution.
Environmental Preservation Policy
There should a corporate policy formulated, requiring all companies to file their comprehensive environment preservation and sustenance plans annually. These companies must be required to put in place waste management processes so that no firm releases by-products to rivers and other water bodies. Each company operating in the city must have internal waste management activities aimed at ensuring there is no pollution in the city. Additionally, all companies should be required by the policy to have a section in their financial reports detailing their deliberate actions towards maintaining a clean and sustainable environment within Heritage City. The penalties for the companies which breach the policy should be stated as heavy fine and permanent closure of their business operations.
Two (2) Long-Term Recommendations
Foreign Financial Aid and Implementing Economic Stimulus Program
The main policy should be attraction of foreign aid through capitalizing on political stability and unity in the city and exploiting the available natural resources as well as strategic opportunities within the city. The Heritage City council should embark on an active function of marketing the location as a hub of economic and political opportunities to external financiers. It implies that the city should not target depending on the external financiers for its survival, but attracting them because of the political and economic benefits they stand to get in return (Kim & Oh, 2012) . The model to be applied in this case should like the one used by Vietnam under the Doi Moi policy.
Notably, Vietnam was a country dogged by serious economic crisis in the 1970s and 1980s. Like Heritage City, Vietnam experienced high inflation, famine and low productivity. Really, the gross domestic product of the country was on steady decline. The cause for this economic crisis was the cut off of financial aid by the Soviet Union. However, under the Doi Moi policy of economic stimulus program powered by attracting foreign aid, the country woke up and started developing significantly. Under this policy, the government concentrated on stabilizing the country’s political landscape and exploiting its natural resources to attract foreign partners. The government turned the nation into a market economy. Heritage City must focus on getting financial aid to implement economic stimulus programs in all the sectors of the economy including housing, water, education, industrialization, infrastructure and real estate.
Roll Out Heritage City Beautification Program
The other long-term policy should be launching a city beautification program financed by the city council. The beautification program has to entail building tarmac roads, planting trees and flowers and developing attractive recreation parks within the city. The program must also entail the erection of nice city buildings for commercial purposes and cosmetic intent. It will be a matter of significance for the City Council to constitute a board tasked with the role of overseeing city beautification program. It will be the function of the board to come up with beautification projects to implement.
References
Birkland, T. A. (2015). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making . Routledge.
Dror, Y. (2017). Public policy making reexamined . Routledge.
Dunn, W. N. (2015). Public policy analysis . Routledge.
Kim, E. M., & Oh, J. (2012). Determinants of foreign aid: The case of South Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies , 12 (2), 251-274.
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2012). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives . Cq Press.
Neumayer, E. (2003). Pattern of Aid Giving . London: Routledge.
