Public policies are increasingly debated and approached from a war perspective that is clearly at odds with the academic focus on objective, evidence-based policy in the field of public affairs education. This paper introduces and defines the Powell-Bush Doctrine as policy interests and surrogates that have taken to waging war on issues, and do so increasingly through unilateral preemptive strikes and the use of overwhelming force with the sole objective of winning, regardless of public opinion, evidence, or consequences. This leads to discussion of the five major pitfalls of the evidence-based policy education in light of the Powell-Bush Doctrine: ideology/politics, emotion versus reason, lack of an evidentiary standard, poor messaging, and lack of a definition of public affairs. Each of these pitfalls is integrated with a NASPAA core competency and is informed by knowledge of other disciplines in the true nature of public affairs. The goal of this work is to identify the enemy of teaching evidence-based policy to better educate students in the field so they are less susceptible to the five pitfalls of the Powell-Bush Doctrine and more ready for the policy battlefield that is increasingly expected to lie ahead.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonC. J. (2003). The psychology of doing nothing: Forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion.Psychological Bulletin, 129(1), 139–167.
2.
AndreasonA. R. (2002). Marketing social marketing in the social change marketplace.Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 21(1), 3–13.
3.
AsthanaS.HallidayJ. (2006). Developing an evidence base for policies and interventions to address health inequalities: The analysis of “public health regimes.”Milbank Quarterly, 84(3), 577–603.
4.
AxelssonR. (1998). Toward an evidence-based health care management.International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 13, 307–317.
5.
BardachE. (2005). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem solving (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
6.
BelfieldC.LevinH. M. (2005). Vouchers and public policy: When ideology trumps evidence.American Journal of Education, 111(4): 548–567.
7.
BronarS. G.LottJ. R.Jr. (1998). Criminal deterrence, geographic spillovers, and the right to carry concealed handguns.American Economic Review, 88(2), 475–479.
8.
Burson-Marsteller. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.burson-marsteller.com/practices_and_specialties/public_affairs/pages/default.aspx (Web page has since been revised.)
9.
The Campbell Collaboration. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/
10.
CampbellK. J. (1998). Once burned, twice cautious: Explaining the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine.Armed Forces and Society, 24(3), 357–374.
11.
ChongD.DruckmanJ. N. (2007). Framing theory.Annual Review of Political Science, 10, 103–126.
12.
CNN. (2001, November 6). You are either with us or against us. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/
13.
CookP. J.LudwigJ. (2006). Aiming for evidence-based gun policy.Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 25(3), 691–735.
14.
DellaVignaS.GentzkowM. (2010). Persuasion: Empirical evidence.Annual Review of Economics, 2, 643–659.
15.
DilulioJ. J.Jr. (1996). Help wanted: Economists, crime and public policy.Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10(1), 3–24.
16.
DunnW. N. (1994). Public policy analysis: An introduction (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
17.
FarringtonD. P. (2003). British randomized experiments on crime and justice.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 589, 150–167.
18.
FlanaganT. J.CohenD.BrennanT. G. (1993). Crime control ideology among New York State legislators.Legislative Studies Quarterly, 18(3), 411–422.
19.
GilgunJ. F. (2005). The four cornerstones of evidence-based practice in social work.Research on Social Work Practice, 15(1), 52–61.
20.
GormleyW. T.Jr. (2007). Public policy analysis: Ideas and impacts.Annual Review of Political Science, 10, 297–313.
21.
GrierS.BryantC. A. (2005). Social marketing in public health.Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 319–339.
22.
GrossJ. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299.
23.
HealeyG. (2003, August 11). Requiem for the Powell Doctrine. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3209
24.
International Journal of Evidence-Based Health Care. (n.d.).
25.
JervisR. (2003). Understanding the Bush Doctrine.Political Science QuarterlyInternational Journal of Evidence-Based Health Care118(3), 365–388.
26.
JHL Company. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jhlcompany.com/public-affairs
27.
JostJ. T.FedericoC. M.NapierJ. L. (2009). Political ideology: Its structure, functions, and elective affinities.Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 307–337.
28.
Journal of Evidence-Based Health Policy and Management. (n.d).
29.
Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work. (n.d.).
30.
KleckG.GertzM. (1998). Carrying guns for protection: Results from the national self-defense survey.Journal of Research of Crime and Delinquency, 35(2), 193–224.
31.
KooleS. L. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review.Cognition and Emotion, 23(1), 4–41.
32.
KotlerP.LevyS. J. (1969). Broadening the concept of marketing.Journal of Marketing, 33(1), 10–15.
33.
KotlerP.ZaltzmanG. (1971). Social marketing: An approach to planned social change.Journal of Marketing, 35, 3–12.
34.
LaFeberW. (2009). The rise and fall of Colin Powell and the Powell Doctrine.Political Science Quarterly, 124(1), 71–93.
35.
LearmonthM.HardingN. (2006). Evidence-based management: The very idea.Public Administration, 84(2), 245–266.
36.
LingJ. C.FranklinB. A. K.LindsteadtJ. F.GearonS. A. N. (1992). Social marketing: Its place in public health.Annual Review of Public Health, 13, 341–362.
37.
LottJ. R.Jr.MustardD. B. (1997). Crime, deterrence, and right-to-carry concealed handguns.Journal of Legal Studies, 26(1), 1–68.
38.
LuntzF. (2009). The language of healthcare 2009. Retrieved from http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/frank-luntz-thelanguage-of-healthcare-20091.pdf?mobile=nc
39.
LuntzF. I. (2011, March 1). The 11 words for 2011. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-luntz/words-2011_b_829603.html
40.
MajoneG. (1989). Evidence, argument and persuasion in the policy process. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
41.
MartinD. (2011, March 28). Indiana Democrats end standoff, return to statehouse. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/28/indiana-democrats-endsta_n_841613.html
42.
MaynardR. A. (2006). Presidential address: Evidence-based decision making: What will it take for the decision makers to care?Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 25(2), 249–265.
43.
McNeeceC. A.ThyerB. A. (2004). Evidence-based practice and social work.Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 1(1), 7–26.
44.
MearsD. P. (2007). Towards rational and evidence-based crime policy.Journal of Criminal Justice, 35, 667–682.
45.
MeierK. J.O’TooleL. J.Jr. (2009). The proverbs of new public management: Lessons from an evidence-based research agenda.American Review of Public Administration, 39(1), 4–22.
46.
MillensonM. L. (2006). Chapter 10: Still demanding medical excellence. In MechanicD.RogutL. B.ColbyD. C.KnickmanJ. R., Policy challenges in modern health care (pp. 13–25). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
47.
MillerW. B. (1973). Ideology and criminal justice policy: Some current issues.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 64(2), 141–162.
48.
Merriam-Webster. (2006). Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus. (2006). Springfield, MA: Author.
49.
NewportF.JonesJ. M.SaadL. (2012, June 22). Americans are at best divided by healthcare law. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/155300/gallup-editors-americans-viewshealthcare-law.aspx
50.
OliverT. R. (2006). The politics of public health policy.Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 195–233.
51.
ParsonsW. (2002). From muddling through to muddling up: Evidence-based policy making and the modernisation of the British government.Public Policy and Administration, 17(3), 43–60.
52.
PawsonR.OwenL.WongG. (2010). Legislating for health: Locating the evidence.Journal of Public Health Policy, 31(2), 164–177.
53.
PetrosinoA.BoruchR. F.SoydanH.DugganL.Sanchez-MecaJ. (2001). Meeting the challenges of evidence-based policy: The Campbell Collaboration.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, 14–34.
54.
Rice University Office of Public Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.staff.rice.edu/staff/Public_Affairs.asp
55.
RousseauD. M. (2006). 2005 Presidential Address: Is there such a thing as “evidence-based management”?Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 256–269.
56.
SampleL. L.KadleckC. (2008). Sex offender laws: Legislators’ accounts of the need for policy.Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(1), 40–62.
57.
ShermanL. (2002). Evidence-based crime prevention. New York: Routledge.
58.
SlovicP.FinucaneM. L.PetersE.MacGregorD. G. (2004). Risk as analysis and risk as feelings: Some thoughts about affect, reason, risk, and rationality.Risk Analysis, 24(2), 311–322.
59.
SmithA. E.Martinez-MoyanoI. J. (2012). Techniques in teaching statistics: Linking research production and research use.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 18(1), 107–136.
60.
TribeL. H. (1972). Policy science: Analysis or ideology?Philosophy and Public Affairs, 2(1), 66–110.
61.
WalkerS. (2011). Sense and nonsense about crime, drugs and communities (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Cengage.
62.
WeisburdD.LumC. M.YangS. M. (2003). When can we conclude that treatments or programs “don’t work”?Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 587, 31–48.
63.
WeismanJ.CalmesJ. (2012, December 13). With gap wide and time short, Obama and Boehner meet. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/us/politics/obama-and-boehner-to-meet-again-on-fiscal-talks.html?hp&_r=1&
64.
WeissJ. A. (2002). Public information. In SalamonL. M., Tools of government: A guide to the new governance (pp. 217–254). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
65.
WeissJ. A.TschirhartM. (1994). Public information campaigns as policy instruments.Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 13(1), 82–119.
66.
WelshB. C.FarringtonD. P. (2001). Toward an evidence-based approach to preventing crime.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, 158–173.
67.
WilsonD. B. (2001). Meta-analytic methods for criminology.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, 71–89.
68.
WrightG. C.Jr.EriksonR. S.McIverJ. P. (1987). Public opinion and policy liberalism in the American states.American Journal of Political Science, 31(4), 980–1001.
