ERIC Number: ED350662
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1992-Apr
Pages: 44
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
An Application of Mazzoni's Arena Models to the Passage of Ohio's S.B. 140: A Preliminary Study.
Fowler, Frances C.
Findings of a case study that examined how nonincremental policy changes occurred in Ohio education are presented in this paper. Specifically, the paper applies Mazzoni's two arena models of policy innovation to understand the 1989 passage of S.B. 140, or the Omnibus Education Reform Act. In the first model, policy innovations occur when the policy process shifts from the subsystem arena (legislature, agencies, and interest groups) to the macro-arena. The revised model includes the commission and leadership arenas. Methodology involved document analysis and interviews with 17 participants--interest group and elected leaders, governmental staff members, and commission members. Findings indicate that although the process shifted from the subsystem arena, it moved not into the macro-arena, but rather to several appointed commissions that functioned as a subsystem of the leadership arena. The revised model, however, showed that unified top elected officials played the most important role, influenced by national school reform leaders and the Ohio business community. Implications are that appointed commissions do not constitute an independent policy arena and that there are several categories of political actors in the leadership arena that need to be identified. The appendix includes a historical outline of the passage of S.B. 140. (Contains 35 references.) (LMI)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ohio
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A