Approaches to Public Policy

• Political System Theory – The political system gives the policy.

• Elite Theory – says the policy reflects the values and interests of Elites’ management.
• The Concept of Rational Choice – states that the government must choose policies that lead to greater social benefits.
• Institutional Perspective – states that public policy is determined by public institutions.

• Add-on Model – Analyzes public policy as minor changes or changes to previous policies.

• Game Theory – this theory says that when more participants have choices to make and when their choices decide outcomes, then study of their rational decision should be done.

Who is in charge of public policy?

• The elected representatives with authority make policies. They take advice from higher levels of bureaucracy during policy making.
• In Democracy, ministers are elected by the people and therefore they have legitimate authority to design and create the policies. Non-elected government officers, on the other hand, are in charge of policy execution.

Entities in the Policy Making

• There are many players involved in the different stages of policymaking. These players can be combinedly called as actors (Individuals, institutions, and agencies).
• It looks as if only the government is involved in the ultimate decision-making and its funding. But in reality, other factors also contribute greatly to the delivery of complex policy goals.

⇒ Government: It has social control over behaviour and coercive authority.

⇒ Cabinet: It has access to resources and high power to make decisions.

⇒ Public Servants: They assist policymakers with bureaucratic skills and technical expertise. They also provide advice on policy making.

⇒ Political Parties: When political parties provide their support to the policymaking, it is beneficial for their interparty relations in the longer run.

⇒ Media: Media plays a role to spread knowledge about the policies and generate public opinions, pro or against, the policy decisions.

⇒ Interest Groups: They try to pressurise the policymakers to design the policies according to their interests.

⇒ Legal system: It plays the role to find the legal side of the policy and scrutinise the policy from the legal angle.

⇒ Public: People elect members of the legislature, they form their opinion about the policy, they oppose or support the policy.