Final Project

Outcomes

In this final project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following outcomes:

• Analyze complex democratic processes for discerning how policies are made at the federal, state, or local levels
• Contrast how critics and advocates affect policy outcomes in the public sector for informing public program design
• Determine appropriate accountability strategies for public programs through assessing governmental monitoring and funding options
• Assess the extent to which public program benefits match intended outcomes
• Recommend measurable process improvements for public programs through evaluation of program effectiveness

Overview

Throughout the course, you assessed public policies' perspectives, relevance, and usefulness in a dynamic political setting. You explored how policies are formulated in a complex environment with competing interests.

For your project, you will demonstrate what you have learned by preparing a program review report. This specific type of report is designed to examine a program critically and objectively, from policy formulation to policy evaluation. In your project milestones, you selected a public policy and corresponding program of interest and drafted sections of your program review report for instructor feedback. You have analyzed the political framework of the policy that precipitated the program, including describing the stakeholders and assessing the program’s effectiveness. You focused your evaluation on where you see the program's implementation having the most impact.

Directions

For your final project, incorporate the instructor feedback you gathered in your milestone submissions to produce a final, polished version of your program review report. The report should be ready to be delivered to a public agency affected by the program. You must also demonstrate that your ideas are well-founded in credible evidence. Be sure to cite multiple reputable sources in your paper using APA style formatting.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

1. Policy Formation: In this section, you will analyze the significance of your selected public policy and provide the contextual background for the program that operationalizes the policy. You should address the following:
   1. Introduction: Provide a comprehensive description of your selected policy and the issue or problem that precipitated the formation of the policy and associated program. Consider questions such as these in your description:
      1. Who or what is the policy and program designed to benefit?
      2. How will society benefit from the policy and program?
      3. What is the evidence of the scope of the issue that led to the creation of the policy and program?
      4. How does the evidence support the creation of the policy?
   2. Democratic Processes: Analyze the democratic processes used to inform the creation of your selected policy. For example, how was the policy influenced at the federal, state, or local level? What law(s) regulate the policy or program?
   3. Stakeholders: Describe the stakeholders involved in the democratic processes and their effect on the creation of your selected policy.
2. Program Factors: In this section, you will assess some factors that contributed to the program's design. You should address the following:
   1. Stakeholders: Describe the program’s stakeholders. Consider questions such as these in your response:
      1. Who will be responsible for the successful implementation of the program?
      2. What are the influences from the media, interest groups, or lobbyists?
      3. What is their vested interest in the outcome of the program?
   2. Advocates: Identify the program’s advocates. Why are they advocating for its design and implementation?
   3. Critics: Identify the program’s critics. Why does this program pose a threat to them?
   4. Impact: Contrast the effect of the critics and advocates on the program's design. In other words, how did the critics and advocates of the program affect its design?
3. Program Outcomes: In this section, you will examine what happened once the program was implemented. You should address the following:
   1. Intended Outcome(s): Assess the program to determine its intended outcome(s) and benefits. In other words, how was the program intended to add value to public services?
   2. Actual Outcome(s): Assess the program to determine the actual program outcome(s) and outputs. In other words, how did the program add value to public services?
   3. Match: Determine how closely the program results match its intended benefits based on your assessment of the intended and actual outcomes. Were there any unintended consequences of the program?
4. Program Accountability: In this section, you will appraise the program’s metrics for accountability, including funding. You should address the following:
   1. Monitoring: Assess how the program's effectiveness is monitored. For example, compliance, auditing, or accounting strategies could be used to establish factual claims about the program’s performance.
   2. Funding: Assess the funding contribution(s) from federal, state, or local governments. Consider questions such as these in your response:
      1. What type of funding is used?
      2. Is the funding distribution equitable?
      3. Does the program receive sufficient and appropriate funding?
   3. Strategies: Determine appropriate accountability strategies for the program based on your assessment of how the program is monitored and funded. How can gaps in funding or accountability be addressed?
5. Recommendations: In this section, you will develop feasible and politically tenable recommendations for process improvements. You should address the following:
   1. Evaluation: Evaluate the effectiveness of the program. In your response, consider the program outcomes you described. Is the program achieving what it intended?
   2. Process Improvements: Recommend feasible and politically tenable process improvements based on your evaluation of the program's effectiveness. Justify your recommendations.
   3. Funding Strategies: Suggest strategies for funding these process improvement recommendations (particularly if you recommend a course of action beyond the current program's funding scope). Explain your funding strategy suggestions.
   4. Measurement: Explain how your process improvement recommendations will be measured and monitored. In other words, how will you assess the effectiveness of the recommendations?

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit a program review report, which should be a double-spaced, 15- to 20-page Word document using 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.