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Discuss one of these conceptual frameworks with specific public policy examples

Public Policy

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Political scientist have developed different conceptual framework to study different types of politics (and the consequences for public policy) across different policy types. Discuss one of these conceptual frameworks with specific public policy examples.

There exists a different type of policy concepts from which public policy is designed and implemented into public law. This paper will discuss the distributive policies and highlight their consequences.

One type of policy is regulatory policy. As the name suggests, this is a policy made to regulate a certain process or activity. This kind of policy takes a long time in the drafting stage because more parties are involved in making the policy (Kagda & Koh 2009). These policies are created to bring a sense of control through creation of regulatory bodies and institutions. An example of regulatory policies is the policies that govern different professions. Through the creation of professional bodies, the code of conduct for all professionals in the particular field is set. All professionals, individuals practicing a particular profession are required to adhere to the code of conduct.

Regulatory policy could be in the form of competitive regulatory policy or protective regulatory policy (Kagda & Koh 2009). Competitive regulatory policy is designed to set limits to a process or activity. For example a policy set to limit the supply of particular goods and services. When the provision of certain goods and services has a limit, the field is regulated and all players must adhere to this. Such policies are not well known by members of the public since not all people are involved in the supply chain. The policies are only known to the business stakeholders involved.

A protective regulatory policy on the other hand is designed to protect a society group from receiving unworthy goods or services or being harmed during the business transaction. These include policies that protect consumers of certain products (Kagda & Koh 2009). The policies are designed and implemented by oversight bodies like consumer organizations. The policy ensures that the consumer is protected and that no business organization takes advantage of the consumer. Such policies also exist to protect the environment from being harmed by business organizations.

The formulation of such policies involves two stakeholders, the regulatory agent on behalf of the government or the consumers and the organization. The process of coming up with these regulations is a long one and it involves negotiations between both stakeholders (Kagda & Koh 2009). The regulatory agency negotiates to bring fairness and equity in the field while the organization negotiates to have favorable conditions to practice business. Legislature may also at times intervene in the policy making process to ensure that the process is free from corruption and that the interests of the public are taken good care of.

A major characteristic of regulatory policy is that once the policy is created, there are penalties to those that are concerned but do not adhere to the conditions (Kagda & Koh 2009). Penalties could range from termination of a contract or suspension from practicing a particular profession. Regulatory policies are designed to bring out competition in that field and ensure that all practices are ethical and fair. Receiving a penalty for lack of adhering to the set code of conduct would tarnish the name of an organization or individual thus people follow regulations.

References

Kagda, F., & Koh, M. (2009). Hong Kong (2nd ed.). New York: Marshall Cavendish

Benchmark.

Current Events The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the whole world by storms with more than two million persons infected, and mor

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Current Events

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the whole world by storms with more than two million persons infected, and more than 100,000 dead. The novel coronavirus has spread through the world at unprecedented speeds spread through human to human contact. The virus spreads through fluids released during coughing and sneezing. These microparticles then spread to other surfaces where they are spread through touch from one person to another. The virus can survive for hours in the air, and on solid surfaces such as metals and plastics for days. The highly contagious nature of the virus makes jails and prisons high-risk areas of exposure as inmates live in cramped conditions. As there is currently no cure for the coronavirus, the best way to deal with the pandemic is to avoid spread from human to human. Quarantines and lockdowns have thus been instituted in most parts of the world. However, one major area of concern is the incarcerated population, and the government has taken some steps, such as releasing nonviolent petty offenders, delaying sentences, house arrests, among others.

The United States has more than 2.3 million people incarcerated, and this population is especially vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus. In many jails, inmates live in crowded conditions where it is hard to maintain high standards of hygiene. In addition to this, it is almost impossible to enforce social distancing rules in prisons. Reuters carried out a spot check on prisons across the US to find out how inmates were being protected from the virus. By the 28th of March, 2020, the city of New York had reported 132 and 104 cases of COVID-19 among inmates and staff respectively (Parker et al. 1). Unfortunately, the prisons had done little to protect inmates, leaving the vulnerable prisoners asking for more to be done to protect them. Calls to depopulate prions and take adequate measures to protect the prisons population have come from public defenders prosecutors, prisoners, local officials and human rights activists.

Some prisons across the country have taken steps to decongest the prisons and curb the spread of the virus. For example, Reuters reports that New York City’s Board of Correction has identified more than 2000 inmates eligible for release (Parker et al. 1). However, one point of concern is that inmates are released into the population without testing, and this could mean they are spreading the virus into the public. Other measures that have been implanted to protect those in prisons include early releases for those whose sentences are almost complete, and house arrests where possible. Prions such as those in New York City have stepped up hygiene measures such as providing soap for hand washing and masks in places where someone tested positive for COVID-19.

Another article titled ‘Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations — Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons’ addresses the issue of protecting inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article explores some of the factors that expose inmates to the most devastating consequences of the pandemic. Most of those incarcerated come from demographics that are high-risk for the COVID-19 pandemic. They come from minority groups, those living in poverty, those with underlying health conditions, and those with unstable housing. The COVID-19 pandemic has been found to hit the elderly population the hardest, and this presents concern as roughly 86000 persons in jails and prisons are aged 60 or older (Akiyama, et al. 3). Additionally, more than half of all inmates have a chronic underlying illness. Social distancing measures to try and curb the spread of the virus are almost impossible to institute in prisons. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the vulnerable position of inmates, and the government has done little or nothing to protect them from the coronavirus.

In November of 2002, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome spread across the world from China. The disease is quite similar to COVID-19 and presented the same challenge for the prison population. Luckily, the epidemic was not as severe as the 2019 coronavirus. At the time, the prison system instituted several measures to keep prisoners safe from the virus. Examples of the measures included the identification of probable infected persons from their travel and contact history (Bick 2). Those arrested were not allowed to mingle with the general prisons population until they were cleared. Additionally, the prisons isolated any person suspected to be infected with SARS, and the impact on the prisons population proved minimal.

The government needs to step up its efforts to protect incarcerated persons from infectious diseases such as SARS and the current COVID-19. Although some state and federal prions have stepped up their efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus in prisons, they need to do far more. All prisoners who can serve their term in alternative locations such as house arrests should be released, as should those serving sort sentences for petty, nonviolent offences. Jails and prisoners are a disaster waiting to happen, judging from the ay the virus has already ravaged populations across the world. Prisoners are at an even higher risk of contracting the virus due to various factors. The current pandemic gives the government a chance to depopulate prisons, most of which are filled with inmates who can pay for their crimes in different ways. Prisoners should not be treated like an afterthought simply because they broke the law. Just as the government has made efforts to protect the general public, it should also protect prisoners by providing masks, releasing those who can be released such as the sickly and elderly, and isolating the sick.

Works Cited

Akiyama, Matthew J. et al. “Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations — Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons.” The New England Journal of Medicine. 2 April 2020. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2005687Bick, Joseph A. “Infection Control in Jails and Prisons.” Infectious Diseases Society of America. 15 October 2007. academic.oup.com/cid/article/45/8/1047/344842Parker, Ned et al. “Spread of coronavirus accelerates in U.S. jails and prisons.” Reuters. 28 March 2020. www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-inmates-insigh/spread-of-coronavirus-accelerates-in-us-jails-and-prisons-idUSKBN21F0TM