Public Policy Essay

Link you might find useful

https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijps/v4-i1/2.pdf

Textbook Theories Definition Dye, T. R. (2016). Understanding Public Policy.

· Group Theory

· The group model assumes that public policy is a balance of interest group influence; policies change when particular interest groups gain or lose influence.

· Group theory views public policy as the outcome of the struggle among societal groups.

· Elite Theory

· Elite theory suggests that the people are apathetic and ill-informed about public policy, that elites actually shape mass opinion on policy questions more than masses shape elite opinion. Thus, public policy really turns out to be the preferences of elites.

· Society is divided into the few who have power and the many who do not. Only a small number of persons allocate values for society; the masses do not decide public policy.

· Rational Theory

· A rational policy is one that achieves “maximum social gain”; that is, governments should choose policies resulting in gains to society that exceed costs by the greatest amount, and governments should refrain from policies if costs exceed gains.

· The rational model assumes complete agreement on goals, knowledge of alternative policies, and the ability to calculate and select the policies with the greatest benefits and least costs.