An Overview of Approaches to the Study of Public Policy

Abstract

We usually view policy as designating behaviour of some actor or set of actors, such as an official, or government agency, or legislator, in area of activity such as public enterprise or poverty reduction.Public policy also may be seen as whatever a government chooses to do or not to do.Such definition may be sufficient for ordinary discourse, but definitely inadequate for a systematic analysis of public policy, hence a more precise definition is needed to structure our thinking and to facilitate effective communication with one another (Anderson, 1997).Nonetheless, there is still common reference point by all users of various disciplines.It is used mainly in reference to what government does in order to meet the needs of the citizenry.Public policy may refer to what government intends to do to achieve certain goals.This definition makes public policy look like a mere decision.That is to say that mere declaration of intentions, wishes, principles, or expression of desires cannot be called public policy.Public policy should mean actual resource allocation presented by projects and programmes designed to respond to perceived public problems and challenges requiring government action for their solution.That is, it should mean hard patterns of resource allocation presented by projects and programmes designed to respond to perceived public demands.This conception of public policy can be identified with a political scientist, James E. Anderson who defines policy as a relatively stable, purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a problem or a matter of concern (Anderson, 1997).This statement focuses on what is actually done instead of what is only proposed or intended, and it differentiates a policy from mere decision, which is essentially a choice among competing alternatives.Public policy, therefore, is that policy developed and implemented by government agency and officials, though non-state actors and factors may influence its process.The scope and content of public policies will obviously vary from country to country, depending on the system of government and ideology in force in that country.In most developing countries where so much is expected of government and where government actions transcend virtually all aspects of Abstract: Political and social scientists have developed many theories, models and approaches for analysing policy-making.The theoretical approaches include elite theory, group theory, political systems theory and institutionalism, policy output analysis, incremental theory and rational-choice theory which are primarily concerned with public policy-making as a process.This paper therefore, attempts to examine each theory, pointing out its strengths and limitations.The study relied heavily on secondary sources for data collection.The paper reveals that one cannot authoritatively see which of these theoretical approaches is the best or the most satisfactory as each approach focuses on different aspects of policy-making, and this seems more useful for understanding some situations or events than others.It is, therefore, wise not to be bound too dogmatically to one approach.A good rule for the policy maker is to be eclectic and flexible, and to draw from theories that seem most useful for the satisfactory and fair-minded description and explanation of policies.The objective explanation of political behaviour rather than the validation of one's preferred theoretical approach should be the goal of political inquiry.Each of the theories discussed, if drawn upon skilfully and selectively, can contribute to a better understanding of policy-making.

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