Discuss the arguments made by scholars such as Thomas Dye, Hebert Simon, Charles Lindblom and Edward Woodhouse among others, for the need to recognize the limitations of public policies in eliminating socio-economic and political problems.
Introduction.
The science of decision making has over the years captivated and produced many scholars of repute who have become authorities such as Thomas R. Dye and William Dunn. Not only individuals have grown to be giants of authorities in the field of public policy, but institutions like the Brookings Institution in the United States of America and Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) have been established. The public and private organizations annually disburse funds to sponsor
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Public policy can be defined as “What ever governments choose to do or not do” (Dye, 2008, p 2). In the context of this essay, public policies are a set of actors by the government in order to reach out to the masses. The ministries and departments are mandated to deliver specific mandates in the form of public goods and services.
Limitations of public policies are a set of factors that distort public policy to resolve socio-economic and political problemes faced by the society.
Socio-economic problems. Thomas R. Dye term those to be maladies refers to socio-ecomic problems
Political problems or issues has to do with government or politics. This may include issues related to party politics or a political systems or social, environmental or other issues as determined by the voting
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As a result, research and public policies are designed to try and solve the problems. Dye (2008, p 7) observed that, in the American context the problems faced by communities include; ingnorance, crime, poverty, racial conflict, inequality, poor housing and ill health. It follows that in attempting to resovle these issues there are limitations that disturb the good process of public policy for the benefit of the society. Dye (2008, p 7) said, “there are many reasons for tempering our enthusiasim for policy analysis, some of which are illustrated in the battle over education policy”. The reasons or limitaions include; limits on government power, disagreement over the problem and complexity of human behavior. Argawal and Somanathan (2005, p 13) has discussed the shortcomings to public policy in resovling economic and political issues as excessive overlap between policy making and implementation in the context of India and some of those are; excessive fragmentation in thinking and action, excessive overlap between policy making and implementation, lack of non-governmental inputs and informed debate, lack of systematic analysis and integration prior to policy-making and reforming the policy-making
Gusfield, J. (2011). How Do We Decide What are Social Problems? Retrieved April 6, 2011 from http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc235ch02.html
The amount of government regulation, restriction, and intervention in the economy is substantial. No free markets, and rapid innovations in technology and communications, the need for government intervention in the economy is necessary to correct abuses or to promote general welfare.
Throughout this assignment a variety of terminology will be used, first it is appropriate to define what the term ‘Social Policy’ means. Social policy can be defined in different ways and ‘there is no established or agreed definition of social policy’ (Baldock et, al., 1999:21). From reading different books on social policy, the author’s understanding of social policy is it provides guidelines to deal with social problems . Social problems are matters which direct...
I believe that the single most important societal problem currently is voting right restrictions. November is quickly coming upon us, so does the right to cast our votes for whoever we believe to be the best candidate for the oval office. However, new voting right restrictions will make the voting process harder for certain groups. These laws will affect of upwards to millions of potential voters this coming election. We all have the right to vote. The government also has the right for certain groups to make that ballet harder to cast. The reason that voting right restriction is so important is because it stops numerous people from voting, a specific group of people were targeted, and the reason the law was made is wrong.
“the exercise of that authority is curbed and shaped by the concern of government officials for its possible adverse effects of business, since adverse effects can cause unemployment and other consequences that government officials are unwilling to accept. In other areas of public policy, the authority of government is again curbed and shaped by concern for possible adverse effects of business” (Lindblom page 178).
The main aim of public service is to deliver services that are of need to its people. How fast a public manager can address its people’s problem and concerns indicates its effectiveness. Responsiveness of the manager develops trust between him, the government, and the people. According to (Rainey, p106) bureaucratic responsiveness implies two things; responsiveness to the people’s wishes or responsiveness to the interest of the government.
What is a social problem? A social problem is a problem that affects more than one person in a society. A social problem disrupts the daily life and well being of people in a society. Ryan described a social problem as a problem that affects humans. If a problem affects a human being than it is a social problem. “’What human problem is not a social problem?’” (Ryan 9). Social Problems affect a major part of many individuals’ rights. Some examples of social problems are: sexism, racism, homophobia, and income inequality. In this essay I will be focusing on income inequality and whether this issue is a social problem or an individual problem.
India, the second highest populated country in the world after China, with 1.27 billion people currently recorded to be living there and equates for 17.31% (India Online Pages 2014) of the world's population, but is still considered a developing country due to it’s poverty and illiteracy rates. As these nations continue to grow at rates that are too fast for resources to remain sustainable, the government’s in these areas wi...
... Public sector... being engaged in the providing sevices (and in some cases goods) whose scope and variety are determined not by the direct wishes of the consumers, but by the the decisions of government bodies.
...an HDI of 0.36. These discrepancies in levels of development have led to an exodus of people, from less developed areas to the areas that have been benefitted by development. This situation seems to depict that predicted by the Dependency theory in which the developed countries progressed due to the exploitation of peripheral nations; the same seems to be happening in India. The states that are wealthier are exploiting the poorer states. It would be difficult to imagine India having the economic status that it now has, if it was not for the terrible working conditions and wages at which the Indians are willing to work and the massive work force available in the country. Now that India has seen economic growth the government should start taking care of its citizens by implementing policies that protect the labor rights of the workforce.
Public choice theory analyses the application of economic concepts to the study of how governmental decisions are made and implemented (Edgar Browning & Jacquelene Browning 1994). The study of public choice theory dates back to the early 1400’s. Machiavelli and Hobbes are some of the initial theorist to contribute to and use public choice as an approach to political economy (Hill 1999). Duncan Black was the first to use economic concepts to study voting procedures and the political decision-making process in groups (Hill 1999). Following Black’s writings, public choice schoolwork received widespread attention in 1986, when James Buchanan was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics (Hill 1999). However, research shows that public choice theory has only been methodically studied for the past three decades (Edgar Browning & Jacquelene Browning 1994). In order to compensate for the shortage of information, we will introduce solutions to the issues that have significant influences on the modern political
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
This essay discusses the radical transformation of the principles and foundations of public administration from traditional to New Public Management. Firstly the essay will attempt to define the key terms of traditional public administration and the doctrine of New Public Management. Rabin J. (2003) explains that New Public Management embodies “a process in public administration that uses information and experiences obtained in business management and other disciplines to improve efficiency, usefulness and general operation of public services in contemporary bureaucracies.“Traditional Public Administration progresses from governmental contributions, with services perceived by the bureaucracy.
In conclusion, the impact of the mentioned problems can be reduced by raising wariness and educating people. Ordinary people are one of the elements in the solution of these people as they can as they can affect the success of any solution. In addition, encouraging the public to help each other in tacking these problems would lead to a fraternal and cooperative society. There is a national concern toward these problems. Therefore, tackling the roots of these issues should be on the government’s priorities.
Indian population has a mixture of culture, variety of languages and difference in resources. The difference in occupational structure, literacy level, health status and other socio-economic factors among the states leads to the