Types,

Models&Approaches of
Public Policy
Types of Public Policy:
• Lowi (1964) suggests that policies may be regulatory, distributive, and
redistributive in nature and each type of policy is associated with a
particular political process.
• Fred M. Frohock (1979) adds two more policies to Lowi’s threefold
dimension of public policy. These are capitalization and ethical
policies
Regulatory policies
• Regulatory policies are concerned with regulation and control of
individual conduct by coercive techniques.
• The regulation of trade, quality of education, safety measures, and so
on.
• This type of regulation is conducted by autonomous institutions that
work on behalf of the government.
• In India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Bureau of Indian Standards,
and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are examples of regulatory agencies.
Distributive policies & Redistributive policies
• Distributive policies grant goods and services to specific groups of the
population. All public welfare programmes are distributive.
Agricultural subsidies to the farmers, subsidized food for the poor, and
government health services are examples of such policies.
• Redistributive policies are aiming at redistributing resources Public
Policy 187 from one group to another. The main objective of such
policies is to set up an equitable society through redistribution of
social and economic rewards. Income tax policies are often cited as
examples of redistributive policies.
Capitalization policies & Ethical policies
• Subsidies and tax concessions received by the business class come
under capitalization policies. It is aimed at increasing the productive
capacity of a society’s institutions.
• Ethical policies are aimed at establishing the correct practice for some
moral issues.
Models and Approaches to Public Policy
• Based on Thomas R. Dye’s classification, following are description of
each model, with attention to the separate ways in which public
policy can be viewed.
• The theoretical approaches include system theory, elite theory, group
theory, rational decision-making theory, incrementalism, game theory,
and institutionalism, political theory etc.
Institutional Approach
• This approach has been the basic analytical tool for studying the
political activities of the government in political science.
• According to this view, public policies have their origin in
governmental institutions such as legislatures, executives, courts, and
political parties.
• Public policy is authoritatively determined, implemented, and
enforced by government institutions.
Incremental Model
• Incrementalism views public policy as a continuation of previous
government activities with only incremental modification.
• Charles E. Lindblom first presented the incremental model in the
course of a critique of the traditional rational model of decision-
making.
• According to Lindblom, decision-makers do not annually review the
whole range of existing and proposed policies because of the
constraints of time, intelligence, and cost it involves. Policy-makers
generally accept the legitimacy of established programmes and tacitly
agree to continue previous policies.
POLITICAL PUBLIC POLICY APPROACH
• Political Policy Process Approach espoused i n pol icy-making. Writers, such as, Laurence
Lynn and Peter deLeon have advocated this " approach. In this approach, public policy-
making is viewed as a 'political process' instead of a 'technical process’.
• The approach emphasises the political interaction from which policy derives. Lynn sees
public policy as the output of government.
• According to him, public policy can be characterised as the output of a diffuse process
made up of individuals who interact with each other in small groups in a framework
dominated by formal organisations. Those organisations function in a system of political
institutions, rules and practices, all subject to societal and cultural influences.
• According to Lynn, individuals in organisations function under a variety of influences,
and "to understand policy-making it is necessary to understand the behaviour of and
interpctions among these structures: itidividuals holding particular positions, groups,
organisations, the political system, and the wider society of which they are all a part."
MEXED APPROACH BY HOGWOOD
AND GUNN
• The approach described by Hogwood which is mixed and concerned
both with the application of techniques and with political process.
• They value the political aspects of the policy process, which they say
is 'mixed', that is, can be used for both description and prescription.
• The nine steps of their model are: i) deciding to decide (issue search
or agenda-setting); ii) deciding how to decide; iii) issue definition; iv)
fosecasting; V) setting objectives and priorities; vi) options analysis;
vii) policy implementation, monitoring, and control; viii) evaluation
and review; 'and ix) policy implementation, succession, or
termination.