Activate Program Design as a Formal Discipline

Activate Program Design as a Formal Discipline

The President should direct the President's Management Council (PMC) to
sponsor as a high priority project the development and publication of a
comprehensive handbook that will enable federal managers and
policymakers to understand the strengths and weaknesses of alternative
program designs.  [Endnote 1] This policy research should include but
not be limited to:

--a complete review of the literature relevant to program design (e.g.,
program evaluation, public policy, policy implementation, public
administration);

--the development of a comprehensive taxonomy of existing federal
programs to highlight the important structural differences and
similarities across the government;

--the identification of the different design approaches (i.e., tools and
modalities) used in federal programs to serve the public;

--an assessment of the comparative advantages of various program designs
under different circumstances across several federal agencies;

--a compilation of analyses of representative case studies that
illustrate the consequences of superior and inferior program designs;
and

--the creation of model designs for each program type (e.g., grants,
loans, insurance, regulatory mandates, tax preferences).

This initiative should be completed on an expedited basis with the first
products to be delivered within one year and the final products
delivered no later than three years. This project would be funded
through the National Science Foundation. External participants in this
effort should include established sources of relevant expertise such as
the National Academy of Public Administration, the Brookings
Institution, universities, and other public policy analysis
organizations.

A governmentwide conference on program design could jump start the
development of program design by convening agency representatives,
congressional staffers, state and local constituencies, academics, and
other policy experts. The conference would have three objectives:

--survey the extent and quality of existing program design knowledge;

--identify specific opportunities for education and research; and

--develop a blueprint for a decade-long, governmentwide training
strategy.

Endnotes

1. See NPR Accompanying Report, Creating Quality Leadership and
Management (Washington, D.C.: U.S.  Government Printing Office,
September 1993).