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What is Public Policy and Why Study It?

Ted McAllister , is the Edward L. Gaylord Chair/Associate Professor of Public Policy Pepperdine School of Public Policy. He is a an intellectual historian who brings a historical imagination to the public policy curriculum. McAllister teaches the core MPP courses "Ethical Dimensions of Public Policy" and "Great Books and Great Ideas, along with elective courses in public opinion, American democratic culture, among others.

"What is Public Policy?" was the first question that I asked when I got a phone call recruiting me to a new policy school about to open at Pepperdine. So, there is some irony in the fact that I'm now writing an essay on the subject. And yet, it is a matter of some consequence that one of our program's defining classes has the very same question in the title of the class: "The Roots of American Order: What is Public Policy?" The question, more than a textbook answer, is essential to Pepperdine's approach to educating policy leaders.

A class that asks this question in the midst of a serious historical examination of the sources, development, and crises/challenges of the American constitutional order implies that the answer is somehow bound up with history; that public policy is related to the regime; that public policy is somehow a cultural as well as political subject, a moral as well as technical matter. For these reasons we cannot define policy without considering its modifier, public.

In terms of the growing number of autocratic or fascist regimes (most so-called "communist" regimes are better understood as fascist), the modifier ought to be state or government policy. One of the goals of such regimes is to absorb publics into the state and destroy institutions and associations that interfere with the integration of individual identity with the abstract state. To the degree that these states can accomplish this goal, the government need not consult any public in making policy since the government gives the only means of expressing collective purpose and because the state wishes to define collective identity rather than reflect it. Under these circumstances, policy is primarily a matter of the relationship between two things: the interests of those who rule the state and the technical analysis that demonstrates possible outcomes, benefits, problems, with any suggested policy. If the government determines that it is in its interest (and that of the state, which amounts to the same thing) to dramatically increase the supply of electricity then it sees the policy question in terms of technical problems, costs, and efficiency. The building of huge dams that displace tens of thousands of families does not present a political or public challenge, only a technical one that must be weighed against other technical challenges.

The United States, however, has publics, and the existence of publics creates the fundamental tension that governs the policy establishment—including the universities that teach policy makers. Policy establishments are prone to think of policies as responses to problems and they are attracted to the most streamlined, efficient means of solving the problems. To the degree that this perspective dominates policy making, technical knowledge and related forms of analysis are wedded very closely to the policy aesthetic that glories in efficiency.

Publics introduce, among other things, profound political and social complexity that clash with the beauty of simple, streamlined efficiency. Publics are not just those bodies being served by policy regimes, but they are diverse, self-interested, and often profoundly ignorant sovereigns who demand that policies express their often inchoate will or desires. To be public policy the policy decisions must somehow express the will of a public, whether local, state or national.

To love public policy is, therefore, to love the profound and often confounding complexity of making good choices that both invest a large group of people with a serious role in deciding policies and yet incorporate the best policy analysis. Truly good public policy must find ways of understanding the will of the public while at the same time educating and informing that same public. If we left it here we might engage this complexity with a reasonable process of incorporating various stakeholders and policy makers in an "inclusive" system of public engagement. Alas, this is only the beginning of the complexity

A good public policy must engage deeper norms and principles and "values" of a community. No community is understood in this way through town hall meetings or by "civic engagement" efforts, however valuable they may be otherwise. A community has a deep history and its cultural and social character requires historical knowledge as well as a subtle understanding of emerging pressures and challenges to the nature of that community by a wide array of economic, political, demographic and other changes. A public might deeply value its long-term commitment to the rights of minorities and so protect those whose eccentric ways of living would otherwise make them vulnerable to policy czars who look for an efficient policy solution to a given problem. Understanding that a community honors its historically grown, socially expressed, culturally validated, species of tolerance requires that the voices that make up the public is something more comprehensive than the will of a self-interested majority.

This one example suggests that every public in a large nation is distinct in some important respects and that no good local public policy can be made without a great depth of what we might call "local knowledge"—often the knowledge that can only be possessed by those who have absorbed it through decades of living in that place.

The larger the public the greater the tendency to think of policy in technical terms, the more hostile policy makers are of the very idea of a public. A nation of 300 million souls cannot be said to have a public in a deep sense of that word. Some common historical, cultural, and social ground makes the American public something discernible and distinct from, say, the Canadian public. But it is nonetheless not substantial enough to be one thing that can be heard or expressed by a government seeking to make national policy that expresses the deeper will of the people. America is a public of publics and if it ceases to be this then it loses a necessary condition for a free and self-ruling nation.

To approach public policy as a technocrat is to be an idiot—the word "idiot" originally referring to a deeply private person who is ignorant of public matters. Therefore, to talk about "American public policy" (national policy) we are forced back to a defining question of policy-making in our regime: what is public policy?

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Understanding Public Policy

Checked : Mark A. , Greg B.

Latest Update 21 Jan, 2024

12 min read

Table of content

What is Public Policy?

What is the nature and scope of public policy.

Students taking economics at higher levels of education should understand public policy and what it represents. It is one of the most important topics, as it leads one to understand why and how governments make certain policies. When there is an issue within an economy, say a high inflation rate or a depression, the government comes up with different approaches to resolve them. But that is just for fiscal and monetary policies. Public policy is wider and takes on more serious issues concerning how people generally live and interact.

The public policy becomes an academic pursuit in the early 1950s and has been expanding into different dimensions ever since. Today, the subject is attempting to acquire the status of a discipline. And since it is the study of products on governments, it is a vital organ in different social science studies, including economics and management. Public policy has received such a huge and rapid growth in the academic arena, attracting researchers, teachers, and public administrators who now feel it is becoming complex. All disciplines associated with public policy cut through traditional academic lines on demarcation. This means it is an inter-disciplinary subject that has become quite interesting and thought-provoking.

Public policy has continued to be more challenging by the day. It has achieved so much attention over the past few years, yet many still don't understand how it works.

In the field of economic studies, the policy comes in as an instrument of direction and resolutions. It seeks to offer guidelines on what should be done when certain situations arise and how stakeholders should handle economic shocks. Therefore, it is vital to learning policy because sooner or later, you will be required to apply.

That is why, in this unit, we shall be looking at the meaning, nature, scope, and importance of public policy. There is a significant constant change in the conceptualization of 'public' and 'private' domains in the study of policy, which should be well understood too. We also attempt to look at this subject to understand the changes and what they mean to society, both socially and economically.

The term public policy is one of the most common terms used in our daily lives. It is also a major aspect of academic literature where we use terms such as education policy, fiscal policy, and monetary policy, among other various references in different disciplines. It is an area that involves all spheres labeled as public. The idea behind public Policy presupposes that there is an aspect of life that is common, and far from an individual or purely private.

During the initial years of public policy studies, it was only in researchers and political science students who got involved. Their focus was mainly on the institutional structure and philosophical justification of the government. In other words, they never sort to look at the policies themselves. Instead, they only focused on making the government look good. Political science was mostly preoccupied with the political activities of different political institutions. It concentrated on understanding political statuses and how they change governance. Yet, the policy is a critical component of the political process. It helps participants understand why certain directions should be taken and not anything else.

According to Thomas Dye, a renowned scholar of policy analysis, the traditional approach to a public policy defined the institution where the policy was formed. However, the relationship between crucial institutional arrangements and public policy consent was not very much explored. He continues to note that the political science of the modern era is shifting more towards public policy, which means it is now more about the description and explanation of causal and consequential activities of public policy. Economic studies have also focused more on understanding the cause for public policy and what determines which policy to be applied under certain circumstances. Modern political sciences have also focused on the organization of public authorities and public servants' behavior. This approach means determining the formulation of public policy is much harder. Even though it is largely contended that experienced policy implementation feeds back into the more in-depth application of policy-making processes, economic studies, more than political sciences, attempt to apply policy issues into the public field of administration. By seeking to understand how policies are generally made, it helps stakeholders, and the general public knows which policies are useful in resolving economic and administrative issues.

The public-policy-studies' past has mainly focused on the policy's content and the process of formulation and application. Today, this subject's study has evolved into its own discipline known as policy science, formulated by Harold Laswell in 1951.

There are two aspects of public policy that make it a worthy subject of study.

The 'public' is the first and most important concept of public policy. You may have come across terms such as 'public interest,' 'public sector,' 'public opinion,' and many others that involve the public. They are all founded on public policy, which means the spheres involved have to do with 'public' instead of 'private.' The public sector is made up of human activities regarded as requiring government intervention or common action. Despite this clear definition, there has always been a conflict between what is regarded as 'public' and what should be seen as 'private.' W.B Baber states that there are ten main points that differentiate the public from the private sector.

He says, public policy:

• Face more complicated and ambiguous tasks
• Faces more issues implementing its decision
• Involves more people motivated by a wider interest.
• Us concerned more with securing opportunities or implementing capacities.
• Compensates for market failure
• Engages in activities that bring out more significance
• Has strict standards of commitments and legality
• Must operate in the public interest
• Maintains a minimal level of public support.

Because of these key features, public administration emerged, coming in to secure public interest rather than private. Political economists hold that only markets can balance private and public interest, which is true. But new liberalism is founded on a belief that public administration is a more rational approach to encouraging public Policy. In this case, the civil servant is mainly tasked to serve the interests of those who elected them. This means public bureaucracy is different from anything that exists in the private domain. The issue of rational public interest became a major point of argument after World War II. Herbert Simon describes bureaucrats as exhibiting a large function of 'bounded rationality.'

The second aspect of public policy is the idea of 'policy,' and, like the concept of 'public,' is not a very precise term. It is a denotation of guidance of action, among other elements. Therefore, a policy can take different forms, including a declaration of goals, declaration of course of action; declaration of general purpose; and an authoritative decision. Hogwood and Gunn state that there are ten applications of the term 'policy,' where it a label for a field activity, the show expected state of affairs; specified proposals; government decision; frontal authority; a program; an output, a result, a model or thought; and a process. But the policy is something that cannot be seen from a single perspective because it assumes different forms. There is a push to designate policy as 'outputs' of the political system. Hence, public policy has been defined lesser as more or less inter-dependent concerned with different activities. Public policy studies have contrastingly focused more on the examination of policy decisions concerning specific values, more than just a political analysis.

This are magnum issues that can be recognized from various definitions that have come from different scholars. Y. Dror states that policies are a general directive of the mainline of action that should be followed. Peter Self also opines that policies change directives as to how tasks should be understood and undertaken. Sir Geffrey Vickers says polices are decisions giving directions in relation and continuity to the courses of action, which the responsibility of the decision-making body. And according to James Anderson, Policy can be regarded as the "purposive action course followed by an actor or actors handling a certain issue. According to Thomas Dye, public policy is the decision of governments. All these definitions have something in common, that policy involves an action, which should be taken or followed by concerned parties.

We have already seen what public Policy and why it has become such a huge concern for modern governments. It is also good to note that policy may be general or specific, narrow or broad, simple or complex, discretionary, or detailed, among other features. In economics, public policy is more emphasized as to what the government chooses to do or not to do. In which case, it can appear into three categories:

• Activities attached to a specific policy
• Activities that are more general in nature.
• Activities based on vague and ambiguous policies.

However, it is rare to find government with a set of guiding principles for every activity in real life. This means some decisions are just made because they come as an impromptu. The Supreme Court comes in with its decisions to offer new interpretations for some constitution articles that may seem hard to comprehend.

Public policy may cover a larger part of its activities, which follow the country's development policy. For instance, the development policy can be adopted through the socio-economic development, equality, or similar broad principles of guidance for action. It can also be adopted as a basic framework of goals. As stated above, public policy may be narrow, covering specified activities, like child labor protections, or maybe as wide as women's empowerment.

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In modern political systems, public policy is seen as purposive or goal-oriented statements. Also, public policy may be negative or positive. Positive public policy may some form of government intervention resolve a particular issue, like policies to shield markets from failure. On the other hand, a negative public policy could be when public servants refuse to take action on some matters the government is required to handle. Public policy is also defined by legal coercive qualities accepted by citizens as legitimate – like paying of taxes to avoid severe penalties.

The nature of public policy can be better understood when compared to related concepts, including:

• Policy-making and decision-making where policies influence decisions. However, policy-making does involve decision-making, but not every decision carries a policy.
• Policies and goals. Policies can be used as a means to end action. In other words, we can expect policies to the deliberate choice of action to attain certain goals and objectives.
• Policy analysis and policy advocacy. There is some distinction between policy analysis and policy advocacy. In this case, policy analysis is all about discovering the impact of a policy.
• Policy analysis and policy management. There is a need to understand the distinction between policy analysis and policy management. However, despite their differences, they are linked through policy-making and cover a large aspect of senior administrations.

Apart from the nature of public policy, the scope is another significant aspect of its study. It consists of the development of scenarios and extrapolations of contemporary trends concerning the public. The public sector scope and size have grown exponentially, making it important to consider how it is linked to public policy.

In trying to understand public policy, there are many other aspects of the subject you are going to cover. For instance, some scholars have tried to discuss the typologies of the policy issue. According to Lowi, for instance, policy issues can be classified as distributive; regulative; redistributive; and constituent. There are other issues you will come across, including: Regulatory Policy issues, constituent policy issues, conflict policy issues, and bargaining policy issues.

It is also vital to understand the significance of public policy. In this case, we have seen that public policy is focused on resolving public problems. It seeks to determine how issues and problems are defined, constructed, and resolved. Also, policy is purposive and deliberately formulated, it is well-thought-out, the real action, it delineates a time frame and follows a defined course of action.

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Introduction Border security has been one of Texas’ major issues due to increased immigration. If this issue is not addressed in the short term, there are likely to be more cases of thefts and deaths at the border. In contrast, in the long term, the government will result from implementing...

Senate Bill (SB) 1 Must Be Changed

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Texas bail reform requires that individuals accused of violent crimes post cash bail before being released from jail. The main issue associated with the adoption of this law is the increase in economic disparity. In other words, the poor accused of violent crimes would not be able to provide bail,...

Integrating State Policies Into Internal Policies

Introduction Policies refer to the basic principles and fundamental positions that an organization sets to govern conduct. Within the context of the healthcare industry, the federal and state government has a set of laws that hospitals are expected to follow. In other words, there is an inevitable political context in...

Transsexual Law in Germany: The Transsexuellengesetz

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The Crisis Intervention Team: Public Policy

Introduction Public policy significantly impacts crisis intervention organizations as it provides rules and guidelines for efficient decision-making. Institutions, governments, and experts in various fields cooperate, developing procedures, enhancing public administration, and improving the quality of life for citizens. In particular, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model was created to strengthen...

Gun Control in America: Necessary Restrictions

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Strategies to Solve Wicked Problems

Introduction A wicked problem is a term used to describe public policy issues such as air pollution, bullying, and animal rights. The policies are described with the term wicked because they are aggressive or tricky when solving them. The most challenging issues might appear difficult to solve, and the article...

Bad Leaders in Power and Their Impact

Introduction The global political landscape is currently characterized by upheavals and uncertainty due to the most recent war that sparked from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Consequently, the war has led to a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and nations that depended on Ukraine and Russia’s supplies for their economies. Nonetheless, it...

Obama vs. Romney First Debate and Lessons Learned

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The American and Swedish Policies Comparison

Introduction Analysis of a country’s policies on various social and economic issues can give insights into the quality of life experienced by the citizens of that country. Quality of life is largely dependent on the policies and laws instituted in areas such as education, healthcare, employment, and housing. The United...

Data Surplus from Shoshana Zuboff’s Viewpoint

Introduction Profitability is a driver for many new developments, yet their ethical side is not always taken into the proper assessment. Professor Shoshana Zuboff has raised a vital topic for modern society: data manipulation by big tech companies. Her position has helped me to realize a significant flaw in policies...

Replacing Affordable Care Act With a Single-Payer Plan

Introduction In the United States, efforts have been made for centuries to achieve Universal Healthcare, raising fears and hopes but yielding little beyond Medicaid and Medicare. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ushered in a new reform era. Despite the full implementation of the law, it is evident that...

Pittsburg Police Officer Meets With Community in Trust

The article entitled “Pittsburg police officer meets with the community in trust” describes the efforts of the police officers to mend relations with the Afro-American population of the neighborhood. The meeting is organized to acknowledge the wrong that has been done and is attended by police officers and Afro-American community...

Pillars of the 21st Century Policing

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Opioid Crisis Healthcare Policy: Description and Importance

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Legalization of Marijuana in Texas

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Creative State 2025: The Main Goals

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Unemployment Policies in the US and Europe

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Discussion: Political issues in Texas

Summary Politics refers to a set of activities related to decision-making in groups or any form of power relations among individuals, such as the circulation of resources and positions. Political issues refer to everything politicians talk about when in parliamentary sittings. This document will discuss issues associated with politics in...

The Effects of Firearms’ Disappearance

In her article What if all guns disappeared?, Rachel Nuwer reflects on possible results of the sudden disappearance of firearms. She focuses mainly on three major consequences: a decline in the murder rate, reducing the frequency of suicides, and probable social and psychological effects. Firstly, the author argues that due...

The Sierra Club and Its Impact on Politics

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Biden Harm Reduction Program

One of the directions of drug policy is the increasingly widespread model of harm reduction. Its main idea is to reduce the harm associated with drug use and reduce various costs both for society and for the drug users themselves. The definition of harm reduction refers to the policies and...

UFOs Are the World Conspiracy of Silence

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Gun Control: Effective Management of the Right to Carry

Introduction The constitution of the United States prohibits legislative bodies from restricting ownership of firearms. The constitution’s Second Amendment reads that a person who is well-regulated and belongs to a free state shall not be prohibited by the legislation to own firearms (Buttrick, 2020). Numerous insights arise from these Amendments...

The National Labor Relations Act

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) governs hiring rules, the violation of which involves acts of discrimination or unreasonable denial of cause. Section 8.1a states that employers may not interfere with Section 7 rights: it regulates, among other things, joining a union and engaging in union activities (US Congress). Section...

Global Issues: Politics, Economics, and Culture

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Aspects of Policies and Its Issues

Equal Pay Act The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) is a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which prohibits gender-based wage discrimination among men and women who work in the same organization and perform equal tasks that require the same level of responsibility, skills, and effort...

The Problems of Drug Policy in the United States

The main purpose of mandatory punishment for drugs is to prevent illegal trafficking. The irreversibility of punishment should positively influence the state’s fight against drug traffickers and drug cartels. Show trials that emphasize the radical policy of the state about drugs make sense, but often it goes beyond the law....

Drug Policies for the United States and Germany

The number one enemy in the United States is substance abuse. On June 18, 1971, about 50 years ago, Richard Nixon declared War on Drugs (Mosher & Akins, 2021). According to Nixon, it is necessary to fight with manufacturers and dealers of illegal drugs and their users. Even today, 50...

Health Care Policy Bill for Vulnerable People

Introduction To ensure access to and proper treatment for people with rare diseases, legislation should be enhanced. For example, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a gradually progressive neurodegenerative illness of the central nervous system accompanied by damage to motor neurons (Kiernan, et al., 2021). The mentioned disease...

Impacts on Right to Carry a Gun

Introduction In the United States of America, statistics data carried out in 2017 revealed that about 39,773 deaths were related to firearms. The research showed that some committed suicide using weapons, some through homicide, and others due to intervention through polices officers, which was legal. Gun control-right to carry was...

Cap and Trade Reception in the US

The introduction of a cap and trade policy in the US has been a long-standing source of debate, discussing the effectiveness of such a policy and its particular implementation on a national level. With the start of the Joe Biden presidency, the question has become even more pivotal to the...

Resource Availability for Low to Moderate Income Families in New York City

Introduction Effectiveness is the primary evaluative criterion that should be considered during policy assessment. It can be defined as a measure of the extent to which “an intervention is achieving or has achieved its objectives” (OECD, 2021, p. 52). The analysis of the policy effectiveness is beneficial for determining what...

The Decision-Making Process in the Police Department

The decision-making process in the police department encapsulates the objective consideration of the variables affecting both parties. Apart from increasing the risk of encouraging actions that potentially compromise police integrity, developing a personal affinity influences the autonomous essence due to the elevated responsibility and accountability towards the community (Akimova et...

Freedom of Speech Among Military Men and Women

Introduction One of the public policy issues that face profound controversy is the freedom of speech among the military men and women. The American military characters possess the citizenship identities hence qualifying to enjoy the rights of a common nationality. However, in the case an officer offers in-depth information regarding...

Health Policy for Aboriginals in Australia

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The Australian Government’s National Health Plan

Introduction National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan is the government policy that has been developed to eliminate the gap in the well-being of the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The Australian aboriginal society has been facing many issues, and one of them is an access to the healthcare. In...

Legalizing Marijuana by the Federal Government

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Overcrowding in the Dubai Emergency Department

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US Gun Control as a Public Policy Issue

Public policy issue Gun control is a widely debated topic in the United States. However, the law protects an individual right to self-defense, which includes carrying firearms. Right-to-carry (RTC) laws allow civilians to have concealed handguns away from home with or without permits depending on the state. Around 74% or...

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Discussion of Vehicle Insurance Coverage

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Freedom of the Press in the United Arab Emirates

Over the years, the UAE government has waged scare campaigns targeting mainstream media groups. Journalists have been abducted, imprisoned, or fined, and executives and broadcasters have been interrogated for purportedly breaking vague media regulations. The authorities in the United Arab Emirates monitor and limit the mainstream press and online forms...

Discussion about Police Defunding

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Public management & Governance Questions and answer

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Modern Diplomacy

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woodrow wilson is known for his remarkable contribution in administration. Any one can easily understan hin contribution by reading of this summarization.

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As a professional field public administration is not new one. Its trace can be found from primitive age to medieval age. Different kings and ruler used to apply their own style of administration to run their state. Woodrow Wilson & Co were first to think this as a field of study or academic discipline. The classic age of public administration witnessed a series of theories and path breaking model to conceive public administration. It ranges from Wilsons’ study of public administration, Weber’s ideal type bureaucracy to Taylor’s principle of scientific management. This intellectual journey didn’t end up with not only the then ideas but faced lots of challenges with the advent of modernity & globalization. That is why Ali Farazmand made an attempt to conceive this discipline from global perspective. Even this discipline has already a series of paradigm-shift. for detail understanding go to the main paper.

Indian Institute of Public Administration

Mohammad Haleem Khan

'If scholars live or die in terms of the images they create, students of public administration are clearly in trouble even if some hope still exists. …' Thus began Robert T. Golembiewski his monumental book: 'Public Administration As a Developing Discipline, Part I, Perspectives on Past and Present'. He devoted the book to provide content for Public Administration as a field. 'Content in his case included not only an orientation to analysis, but also the skills and technologies necessary for supporting cumulative traditions of research and application. To quote from the book ' Public administration's early history is studded with symbols testifying to its rich destiny and performance. Not only were all problems ultimately administrative problems, for example, but the very existence of our civilizations depended upon the success with which we learn of to cope with the administrative ultimates.' Woodrow Wilson's influential conclusion who noted, " it is getting harder to run a constitution, than to frame one " did generate its many an echo. Again to quote from the Foreword to the monumental 1937 publication 'Papers on the Science of Administration' by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, " if those who are concerned scientifically with the phenomena of getting things done through cooperative human effort will proceed along these lines we may expect in time to construct a valid and accepted theory of administration. " The confidence of the first half of the 20 th century, however, did not last long. " For a variety of reasons, " Frederick Mosher concluded, " public administration stands in danger of … senescence. " Frederick Mosher further emphasized the crisis of identity concern soon thereafter: 'More is now known about public administration than was the case twenty years ago. But there is a great deal more to know. There are more depths to probe than were then visualized, and more different perspectives from which to start the probing. This field need bow to no other in respect to its sophistication about its subject matter. But such sophistication can senesce into mere dilettantism unless it is grounded in premises and hypotheses that are in some degree ordered and tested and that are continuously refreshed with new data and experience.' Φ The author a senior member of the Indian Administrative Service-the premier Civil Service of India is presently working as Additional Financial Advisor and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence in the Government of India. Earlier till recently he was working as Secretary Finance, Government of Uttar Pradesh and prior to that as Member (Finance & Accounts) UP State Electricity Board. He was the key person in the UP government's team assigned with the task of structuring and negotiations of first ever stand-alone programme loan to a sub national government by the World Bank. He has vast experience of serving in the various field level Public Administration positions, PSUs and at the policy formulation levels in the secretariat. The views expressed here, however, are entirely his own and in no way should be construed to represent the organization / the government he happen to be serving/have served. In this apparently visible two-part article, the first part is devoted to capture the discipline of public administration as seen by the masters of yore and is based largely on the works of Robert T. Golembiewski. The second part of course is what may be euphemistically called the recipe of the author.

Woodrow Wilson Study of Administration (Annotated) by NurSat

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7 big issues at stake in the 2024 election

WASHINGTON — The policy contrasts between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are sharpening as the general election campaign gets fully underway.

But what does the choice represent for ordinary voters and the economic and cultural issues they care about? A rematch between the Democratic incumbent and his Republican predecessor may feel uninspiring to many voters, but the policy stakes are enormous for tens of millions of Americans — and the world.

Here are seven big issues at stake in the 2024 election.

The contrast: Biden favors federal abortion protections; Trump opposes them. Trump supported nationwide restrictions on abortion as president but now downplays the need for a federal ban, as Republicans are divided over the issue. Biden does not support federal limits.

Biden has championed the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill to protect abortion rights in all 50 states under federal law and prohibit medically unnecessary hurdles to accessing the procedure. He has asked voters to send him a Democratic Congress that supports legal abortion to achieve that.

Trump has boasted that he "broke Roe v. Wade" by picking three of the five Supreme Court justices who overturned it, delivering on a four-decade goal of the GOP. More recently, Trump has openly fretted that the backlash may cost him and his party the election. Last week, Trump said the issue should be left to states, a shift from his support for nationwide restrictions when he was president. His new stance has drawn pushback from GOP allies, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina , and anti-abortion-rights advocates, who say that he is wrong and that Republicans should not be deterred from their long-standing goal of enacting some nationwide abortion limits.

Some Republicans downplay the prospects of federal abortion restrictions’ passing Congress, even if they win full control. Biden and his allies are telling voters to look at the GOP’s long history of championing federal restrictions and not their recent rhetoric.

Immigration

The contrast: Trump has promised a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration and tougher executive actions; Biden is asking Congress to give him more tools to manage an overwhelmed border and create new legal pathways to immigrate to the U.S.

Trump has called existing border laws an existential threat to the U.S., saying migrants are “ poisoning the blood of our country” and bringing new “ languages .” His campaign website says: “President Trump will shut down Biden’s border disaster. He will again end catch-and-release, restore Remain in Mexico , and eliminate asylum fraud. In cooperative states, President Trump will deputize the National Guard and local law enforcement to assist with rapidly removing illegal alien gang members and criminals.”

After having rescinded some of Trump's policies, Biden has recently shifted to support stricter immigration laws as the system remains overwhelmed. He championed a bipartisan bill to raise the bar for gaining asylum, grant more U.S. resources to process asylum claims and turn away migrants who do not qualify, and empower the president to temporarily shut down the border if migration levels hit certain triggers. (Republicans blocked the bill in the Senate amid lobbying by Trump , who wants to use the border as an election issue.) Biden has also endorsed the U.S. Citizenship Act , which would grant a pathway to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally if they pass background checks and pay their taxes.

Fundamentally, Trump has aligned with forces who want less immigration into the country, while Biden has embraced the belief that immigrants make the U.S. better.

Health care and prescription drugs

The contrast: Biden wants to extend Affordable Care Act provisions and empower Medicare to negotiate more prescription drugs; Trump has aggressively criticized the ACA but not offered a health care plan.

Biden, who was vice president when the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, sees it as a cherished achievement to protect and strengthen. The law, also known as "Obamacare," which has extended coverage to 45 million people through subsidies, insurance mandates and a Medicaid expansion, continues to face conservative opposition.

Separately, Biden has touted a provision in his party-line Inflation Reduction Act that empowers Medicare to negotiate lower prices for 10 prescription drugs. He said he wants to boost that to 50 if he is re-elected, with the goal of $200 billion in savings.

Trump spent his four years as president fighting unsuccessfully to repeal and unravel the law — through legislation and executive action and endorsing lawsuits to wipe it out. In November, Trump called for revisiting plans to "terminate" the ACA . He has recently sought to downplay that and insists he only wants to improve the law. But he has not offered a health care plan. Many of his GOP allies in Congress still favor repealing or undoing the ACA, including a budget by the Republican Study Committee, which boasts about 80% of the House GOP conference as members, including Speaker Mike Johnson, of Louisiana.

The contrast: Trump's 2017 tax cuts expire at the end of next year, and he has called for extending them; Biden has called for raising taxes on families earning over $400,000 to fund various priorities.

A series of Trump tax cuts, which Republicans passed on a party-line basis in 2017, expire at the end of 2025. Congress and the winner of the election will decide what happens to them.

In a recent private speech to wealthy donors, Trump s aid his policies include "extending the Trump tax cuts" if he is elected, according to a Trump campaign official. That would preserve lower rates across the income spectrum, with the biggest benefits for top earners.

Biden has attacked that law as a giveaway to the wealthiest Americans, vowing to make "big corporations and the very wealthy finally pay their fair share." He has backed a corporate tax rate hike from 21% to 28% and said that "nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny in federal taxes." Biden is also calling for a $3,600-per-child tax cut for families, an $800 average tax break for "front-line workers" and a 25% minimum tax on billionaires, according to a newly released campaign plank.

The expiration of the Trump tax cuts will restore the unlimited federal deduction for state and local taxes, which Republicans had capped at $10,000 in the 2017 law. Republicans broadly support preserving the cap, with some exceptions, while most Democrats want to lift it.

Judges and the Supreme Court

The contrast: Their track records tell a clear story. Trump has picked young conservative judges to serve on the federal bench, while Biden has picked liberals with a focus on professional and personal diversity.

One of the clearest contrasts is what kinds of judges Trump and Biden would pick for lifetime appointments on the federal courts. A simple way for voters to think about it is whether they prefer new judges with the conservative views of Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump's first Supreme Court pick, or with the liberal views of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden's (so far only) high court pick.

As president, Trump nominated young conservative judges who will serve for generations. Biden has focused on finding judges with diverse backgrounds and résumés, including more civil rights lawyers and public defenders.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether a Supreme Court vacancy will open up in the next four years. The presidential election winner and the party that controls the Senate would fill it.

The contrast: Trump is pushing a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports; Biden's White House opposes that, saying it would raise inflation.

Trump, long a skeptic of U.S. trade deals, has proposed to impose a 10% tariff on all imported goods if he returns to the White House. He recently told Fox News that it could be 60% — or potentially “more than that” — on imports of Chinese goods.

Biden opposes that idea. In a memo over the weekend, the White House slammed the idea of "across-the-board tariffs that would raise taxes and prices by $1,500 per American family," without naming Trump; it referred to an estimate by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, that Trump's 10% tax on imports could cost an average American household $1,500 per year.

Biden, instead, has sought to boost domestic manufacturing with major federal investments in semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Foreign policy and NATO

The contrast: Biden favors Ukraine aid, while Trump is skeptical of it; Biden supports NATO and a traditional view of American power, while Trump has criticized NATO and voiced some isolationist views.

The clearest example of the foreign policy differences between the two concerns the fate of Ukraine, which is running low on ammunition and says it needs U.S. assistance to continue holding off Russia’s aggression. Biden is an ardent proponent of helping Ukraine, while Trump has poured cold water on U.S. aid to Ukraine and successfully pressured House Republicans to block it since they took the majority in January 2023.

And that points to a deeper divide: Biden is an outspoken supporter of the NATO alliance as a bulwark against adversaries like Russia and China and of preserving the post-World War II order. Trump has dialed up his criticisms of NATO and aligned with a growing isolationist wing in the U.S. that wants to be less involved in global affairs. Trump recently said that as president, he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to member countries who are “delinquent” in their dues.

Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

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Harris Energizes Democrats in Transformed Presidential Race

1. the presidential matchup: harris, trump, kennedy, table of contents.

• Other findings: Both Harris and Trump are viewed more favorably than a few months ago
• Voting preferences among demographic groups
• How have voters shifted their preferences since July?
• Harris’ supporters back her more strongly than Biden’s did last month
• Large gap in motivation to vote emerges between the candidates’ younger supporters
• Harris and Trump have gained ground with their own coalitions
• Share of ‘double negatives’ drops significantly with change in presidential candidates
• Views of Biden have changed little since his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Nationally, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are essentially tied among registered voters in the current snapshot of the presidential race: 46% prefer Harris, 45% prefer Trump and 7% prefer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Following Biden’s exit from the race, Trump’s support among voters has remained largely steady (44% backed him in July against Biden, while 45% back him against Harris today). However, Harris’ support is 6 percentage points higher than Biden’s was in July . In addition to holding on to the support of those who backed Biden in July, Harris’ bump has largely come from those who had previously said they supported or leaned toward Kennedy.

Harris performs best among the same demographic groups as Biden. But this coalition of voters is now much more likely to say they strongly support her: In July, 43% of Biden’s supporters characterized their support as strong – today, 62% of Harris’ do.

Overall, many of the same voting patterns that were evident in the Biden-Trump matchup from July continue to be seen today. Harris fares better than Trump among younger voters, Black voters, Asian voters and voters with college degrees. By comparison, the former president does better among older voters, White voters and voters without a college degree.

But Harris performs better than Biden across many of these groups – making the race tighter than it was just a few weeks ago.

• In July, women’s presidential preferences were split: 40% backed Biden, 40% preferred Trump and 17% favored Kennedy. With Harris at the top of the ticket, 49% of women voters now support her, while 42% favor Trump and 7% back Kennedy.
• Among men, Trump draws a similar level of support as he did in the race against Biden (49% today, compared with 48% in July). But the share of men who now say they support Harris has grown (to 44% today, up from 38% last month). As a result, Trump’s 10-point lead among men has narrowed to a 5-point lead today.

Race and ethnicity

Harris has gained substantial ground over Biden’s position in July among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters. Most of this movement is attributable to declining shares of support for Kennedy. Trump performs similarly among these groups as he did in July.

• 77% of Black voters support or lean toward Harris. This compares with 64% of Black voters who said they backed Biden a few weeks ago. Trump’s support is unchanged (13% then vs. 13% today). And while 21% of Black voters supported Kennedy in July, this has dropped to 7% in the latest survey.
• Hispanic voters now favor Harris over Trump by a 17-point margin (52% to 35%). In July, Biden and Trump were tied among Hispanic voters with 36% each.
• By about two-to-one, Asian voters support Harris (62%) over Trump (28%). Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged since July, but the share of Asian voters backing Harris is 15 points higher than the share who backed Biden in July.
• On balance, White voters continue to back Trump (52% Trump, 41% Harris), though that margin is somewhat narrower than it was in the July matchup against Biden (50% Trump, 36% Biden).

While the age patterns present in the Harris-Trump matchup remain broadly the same as those in the Biden-Trump matchup in July, Harris performs better across age groups than Biden did last month. That improvement is somewhat more pronounced among voters under 50 than among older voters.

• Today, 57% of voters under 30 say they support Harris, while 29% support Trump and 12% prefer Kennedy. In July, 48% of these voters said they backed Biden. Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged. And 12% now back Kennedy, down from 22% in July.
• Voters ages 30 to 49 are now about evenly split (45% Harris, 43% Trump). This is a shift from a narrow Trump lead among this group in July.
• Voters ages 50 and older continue to tilt toward Trump (50% Trump vs. 44% Harris).

With Harris now at the top of the Democratic ticket, the race has become tighter.

Much of this is the result of shifting preferences among registered voters who, in July, said they favored Kennedy over Trump or Biden.

Among the same group of voters surveyed in July and early August, 97% of those who backed Biden a few weeks ago say they support or lean toward Harris today. Similarly, Trump holds on to 95% of those who supported him a few weeks ago.

But there has been far more movement among voters who previously expressed support for Kennedy. While Kennedy holds on to 39% of those who backed him in July, the majority of these supporters now prefer one of the two major party candidates: By about two-to-one, those voters are more likely to have moved to Harris (39%) than Trump (20%). This pattern is evident across most voting subgroups.

In July, Trump’s voters were far more likely than Biden’s voters to characterize their support for their candidate as “strong” (63% vs. 43%). But that gap is no longer present in the Harris-Trump matchup.

Today, 62% of Harris voters say they strongly support her, while about a third (32%) say they moderately support her. Trump’s voters are just about as likely to say they strongly back him today as they were in July (64% today, 63% then).

Kennedy’s voters make up a smaller share of voters today than a month ago – and just 18% of his voters say they strongly support him, similar to the 15% who said the same in July.

Across demographic groups, strong support for Harris is higher than it was for Biden

Among women voters who supported Biden in July, 45% said they did so strongly. That has grown to 65% today among women voters who support Harris.

Increased intensity of support is similar among men voters who back the Democratic candidate: In July, 42% of men voters who supported Biden said they did so strongly. This has since grown to 59% of Harris’ voters who are men.

Across racial and ethnic groups, Harris’ supporters are more likely than Biden’s were to say they back their candidates strongly.

Among White voters, 43% who supported Biden in July did so strongly. Today, Harris’ strong support among White voters sits at 64%.

A near identical share of Harris’ Black supporters (65%) characterize their support for her as strong today. This is up from the 52% of Biden’s Black supporters who strongly backed him in July. Among Harris’ Hispanic supporters, 56% support her strongly, while 45% of Asian Harris voters feel the same. Strong support for Harris among these voters is also higher than it was for Biden in July.

Across all age groups, Harris’ strength of support is higher than Biden’s was. But the shift from Biden is less pronounced among older Democratic supporters than among younger groups.

Still, older Harris voters are more likely than younger Harris voters to describe their support as strong. For instance, 51% of Harris’ voters under 50 say they strongly support her, while 71% of Harris supporters ages 50 and older characterize their support as strong.

Today, about seven-in-ten of both Trump supporters (72%) and Harris supporters (70%) say they are extremely motivated to vote.

Motivation to vote is higher in both the Democratic and Republican coalitions than it was in July .

These shifts have occurred across groups but are more pronounced among younger voters.

Today, half of voters under 30 say they are extremely motivated to vote, up 16 points since July. Motivation is up 11 points among voters ages 30 to 49 and 50 to 64, and up 6 points among those ages 65 and older.

Among the youngest voters, the increased motivation to vote is nearly all driven by shifts among Democratic supporters.

• In July, 38% of 18- to 29-year-old Trump voters said they were extremely motivated to vote. Today, a similar share of his voters (42%) report that level of motivation.
• But 18- to 29-year-old Harris supporters are far more likely to say they are extremely motivated to vote than Biden’s supporters in this age group were about a month ago. Today, 61% of Harris’ voters under 30 say this. In July, 42% of voters under 30 who supported Biden said they were extremely motivated to vote.

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Transgender Texans blocked from changing their sex on their driver’s license

The Texas Department of Public Safety rule change surfaced in an internal email that also asks driver license staff to compile the names of people seeking a gender marker change.

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Transgender Texans can no longer change the sex on their driver’s license to align with their gender identity — even if they present the state with a certified court order or an amended birth certificate verifying the change, according to an internal agency email.

Sheri Gipson, the chief of the state’s driver license division, confirmed the policy change to KUT on Wednesday. A day earlier, Gipson sent the internal email, a photo of which was obtained by The Texas Tribune, detailing the change she said would go into effect immediately.

An employee of the Department of Public Safety, which issues driver licenses, confirmed they received the email but declined to comment further.

Under previous DPS rules , people were able to change the sex on their driver's license if there was a clerical error, or if they presented an amended birth certificate or an original certified court record.

On Tuesday, DPS stopped accepting court orders as a basis to change a person's sex on their drivers license, the agency announced in a statement Wednesday evening. The change was prompted by the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton 's concerns about "the validity" of court orders.

"Neither DPS nor other government agencies are parties to the proceedings that result in the issuance of these court orders," the statement read, "and the lack of legislative authority and evidentiary standards for the Courts to issue these orders has resulted in the need for a comprehensive legal review by DPS and the OAG."

Transgender Texans are now effectively barred from obtaining an accurate foundational government document and could become especially vulnerable to discrimination and harassment, said Ian Pittman, an Austin attorney who works with transgender Texans. The change has also raised privacy concerns from advocates of transgender people who worry their personal information will be used with malicious intent.

The internal email directs driver license employees to send the names and identification numbers of people seeking to change their sex on their license to a particular email address with the subject line “Sex Change Court Order.”

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Employees are also instructed to “scan into the record” court orders or other documentation relating to the sex change request.

It is not clear how that information will be used. Two years ago, Paxton directed employees at DPS to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender on their Texas driver’s licenses and other department records.

At the time, state lawmakers, Gov. Greg Abbott and the attorney general had been pressing to limit the rights of transgender people. More than a dozen anti-LGBTQ measures were filed ahead of the 2023 legislative session and Abbott ordered the state to investigate the provision of gender-affirming care as child abuse .

Advocates worry that the data Paxton sought could be used to further restrict their ability to transition. The latest rule change has raised similar concerns among advocates, such as Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

“Texans will now be subject to involuntary surveillance for simply trying to update a government document,” Pritchett said in a statement. “There is no clear reason why this information would be useful to the DPS nor is there a legitimate reason to deny gender marker updates on driver’s licenses.”

For decades, state agencies have accepted certified court orders as a basis to amend a person's sex on government issued documents. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services a court order is an acceptable document to request a change to birth certificates.

In 2023, the Texas Senate advanced legislation that would prohibit the sex listed on someone’s birth certificate from being amended unless the change was to correct a clerical error. The bill died after it failed to get a hearing in the House Public Health Committee.

Pittman, the attorney who represents transgender people, is advising his clients to hold off on submitting court orders to the state because he worries they could be targeted.

“It will put people on a list that could interfere with their health care,” Pittman said. The state has already passed a gender-affirming care ban for minors, and Pittman worries that could be expanded to adults in Texas.

The attorney general did not immediate respond to the Tribune’s request for comment on DPS’ action this week.

Other states, including Florida and Kansas have also blocked transgender residents from changing their gender on their driver’s license.

Disclosure: Equality Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here .

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Pooja Salhotra

General assignment reporter.

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@PoojaSalhotra

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