Preschool Policymaking by Stealth: Application of an Alternative Framework for the Policy Process

ABSTRACT

This study uses the design and passage of universal preschool in two states, Oklahoma and West Virginia, to present an alternative framework for understanding the policy process, Policymaking by Stealth, and demonstrate its usefulness both in expanding the understanding of the politics of public preschool and as a tool for social work policy practice. An overview of the current state of preschool policy in the United States and the political history of federal preschool policy is presented first to provide context to the analysis, followed by an introduction to the analytic framework, and then a formal analysis of the policy passage processes in the two states via the lens of Policymaking by Stealth. The contributions of this new framework to the study of the policy process in general and the practice of policymaking in complex political contexts are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Policymaking by stealth
• policy practice
• policy process
• public policy
• universal preschool

Notes

1. Bushouse (2009) suggests that, in addition to his interest in early childhood programs, Jackson took on the case of universal pre-K because he was planning to run for governor. In Georgia, Zell Miller’s gubernatorial campaign had benefitted from its promise of universal pre-K and Bushouse (2009) suggests that Jackson hoped to replicate that scenario in West Virginia. Although getting universal pre-K passed would be politically challenging, Bushouse (2009) suggests that Jackson believed that once passed, the program would be very popular and his leadership on the initial passage of the program would be an asset to his campaign.