Re-visiting Meltsner: Policy Advice Systems and the Multi-Dimensional Nature of Professional Policy Analysis

10.2139/ssrn.15462511-2

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Participatory policy analysis in a social service agency: A case study

In this article, I identify four types of participatory policy analysis (PPA) that have been proposed to address two alleged failures of traditional policy analysis: that it is antidemocratic and that its positivist framework creates a mistaken view of the analytic task. Then I present a case study of one type of PPA that has received little research attention, organization-stakeholder policy analysis. In the case, I describe how the Georgia Division of Rehabilitation Services used an 11-member policy analysis team, all employees of the organization, to analyze its order of selection policy and present advice to its executive committee. Following the case description, I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this type of PPA and suggest that it should be viewed as a “method of the second type” that may be well suited for addressing some messy or ill-structured policy issues.

The efficiency and distribution of mortgage revenue bond subsidies: The effects of behavioral responses

Mortgage revenue bond (MRB) programs are frequently justified on the basis that they enable low- or moderate-income families to purchase houses that they otherwise could not afford. This article argues that evaluations of MRB programs must include estimates of the responses of buyers and sellers to the subsidies. The empirical evidence indicates that the behavioral responses reduce the efficiency of MRB programs (the amount of the subsidies provided to targeted households) and cause the subsidies to be distributed more inequitably than previous research has shown. The capitalization of 10% to 14% of the value of MRB subsidies diverts some of the program benefits to sellers. Horizontal inequities are created because one group of moderate-income households use the subsidies to purchase more housing services than unsubsidized households with the same incomes.

Policy analysts' roles and value orientations: An empirical investigation using Q methodology

Several scholars have suggested that policy analysts and policy researchers can be classified as falling into one of a small number of ideal types. These ideal-type models are based largely on analysts' views of their roles in an organization and their value orientations, including their relationships with clients, their perceptions of their responsibility to the public, and their acceptance of professional norms. To determine to what extent practicing policy analysts and researchers resemble the ideal types, we administered Q-sorts to 38 analysts and researchers in three states. In our analysis of the Q-sorts, we identified five types. Also, we found that the analysts and researchers hold in common many views of analytic roles and values.