Unit 4

Public Policy Decision Making

Public policy describes the actions of government. Usually created in response to issues
brought before decision makers, these policies come in the form of laws and regulations.
The goal of public policy cannot entirely be separated from its source. Both government
and public policy help meet basic societal needs and obligations; decide how
communities, states or nations manage resources; and keep general order in society.
Public policy decision making refers to actions taken within governmental settings to
formulate, adopt, implement, evaluate, or change environmental policies.
These decisions may occur at any level of government.
Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the
values, preferences and beliefs of the decision-maker. Decision-making is the process of
making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing
alternative resolutions. In the public sector, the decision-making process is
multidimensional.
The final stage of policy formulation is decision making.

Rational Decision Making

Rational decision-making is a multi-step process for making choices between
alternatives. The process of rational decision-making favors logic, objectivity, and
analysis over subjectivity and insight. The word “rational” in this
context does not mean sane or clear-headed as it does in the colloquial sense.
Rational decision-making brings a structured or reasonable thought process to the act of
deciding. The choice to decide rationally makes it possible to support the decision maker
by making the knowledge involved with the choice open and specific. This can be very
important when making high value decisions that can benefit from the help of tools,
processes, or the knowledge of experts.
Rational decision-making is a multi-step and linear process, designed for problem-
solving start from problem identification through solution, for making logically sound
decisions.
Rational decision-making is when individuals use analytics, facts and a precise
systematic process to come to a fact-based decision.
The rational decision making model is a good model to make good decisions because it
depends on rational way used for problems solving. The elements of rational
comprehensive theory are basic to know its process, essentials and requirements.
The rational approach to decisions is based on scientifically obtained data that allow
informed decision-making, reducing the chances of errors, distortions, assumptions,
guesswork, subjectivity, and all major causes for poor or inequitable judgments. Such an
information and knowledge based approach promotes consistent and high quality
decisions, and reduces the risk and uncertainties associated with decisions.
A rational decision making approach is a methodical approach in which data that has
been obtained through observation or statistical analysis or modeling is used in making
decisions that are long-term.
The rational planning model is the process of understanding a problem followed by
establishing and evaluating planning criteria, formulation of alternatives and
implementing them and finally monitoring the progress of the chosen alternatives.
 Assumptions of the Rational Decision-Making Model
 An individual has full and perfect information on which to base a choice.
 Measurable criteria exist for which data can be collected and analyzed.
 An individual has the cognitive ability, time, and resources to evaluate each alternative
against the others.
Disjoint Incrementalism
Incrementalism, theory of public policy making, according to which policies result from a
process of interaction and mutual adaptation among a multiplicity of actors advocating
different values, representing different interests, and possessing different information. In
public policy, incrementalism is the method of change by which many small policy
changes are enacted over time in order to create a larger broad based policy change.
Incrementalism as an alternative approach. Hence, it represents decision model, which
attempts to correct the barriers of the rational comprehensive theory. It focuses on a
choice that is marginal or incremental, and is based on previous policy. Incremental
theory has limited human problem solving capacities. Incremental theory is narrow
concept rather than rational theory.

Incrementalism emphasizes the plurality of actors involved in the policy-making process

and predicts that policy makers will build on past policies, focusing on incremental rather
than wholesale changes. Incrementalism is the method of change by which many small
policy changes are enacted over time in order to create a larger broad based policy
change.
Incrementalism is a model of the policy process advanced by Charles Lindblom, who
views rational decision-making as impossible for most issues due to a combination of
disagreement over objectives and inadequate knowledge base. Policies are made instead
through a pluralistic process of partisan mutual adjustment in which a multiplicity of
participants focus on proposals differing only incrementally from the status quo.
The incremental theory of decision-making posits that decision makers use previous
activities, programs, and policies as the basis for their decisions and focus their efforts
on incrementally increasing, decreasing, or modifying past activities, programs, and
policies.

Mixed Decision Making

It is considered as the third approach to decision making. It is the combination of
assumptions of rational and assumptions of incremental decision-making. Mixed
scanning comprises search, collection, processing, and evaluation of process and
evaluation of information. There are two types of scanning; rational scanning, which is
broad and comprehensive and incremental scanning, which is limited and contemporary.
Rational scanning is fundamental high order scanning whereas incremental is limited and
brief scanning.
Mixed scanning is a hierarchical mode of decision-making that combines higher-order,
fundamental decision-making with lower-order, incremental decisions that work out,
and/or prepare for the higher-order ones. Mixed scanning can be expressed at best as a
method of decision-making that involves both incremental decision-making and rational-
comprehensive decision making. Rational-comprehensive method of mixed scanning
decision-making requires a huge amount of information so that it can provide an effective
decision making approach. It also believes that it is easier to identify and solve problems
using this method. On the other hand, incremental decision-making believes on the
remedial approach towards decision-making. It is dual focus process that comprehensive
and brief focus.
Mixed scanning helps to overcome the conservative slant of incrementalism by exploring
the long run alternative.
This is a combination of the Rational and Incremental Theories. (This is try and error.)
Mixed scanning is a realistic approach but generally results in “satisficing” rather than
“optimizing”.  “Satisfactory” may feel inadequate when compared to “optimal” but it is
good to consider the following quotation: “A good plan executed today is better than a
perfect plan to be developed tomorrow”. This method attempts to compensate for the
limitations of each approach by using a combination of the two.
The mixed scanning model, as outlined by synthesizes the rationalistic and incremental
approach by combining the high order, fundamental policy making processes which
considered as long term scanning, and incremental processes which is related to
fundamental decisions which can be considered as short term scanning. The scanning
process provides a strategy for evaluation and flexibility to scan different level of
situations makes it useful tool for decision making in different levels of environmental
stability.
The basic idea of mixed scanning is combining or to correct shortcomings of rational
decision making and incremental decision making by combining both approaches. It is a
synthesis of two approaches.
Rational decision-making is necessary but it is not adequate approach because it has its
own shortcomings, it has been criticized by unrealistic and unworkable.
As an alternative Lindblom developed incremental theory (incrementalism). Incremental
theory reduce some of the lacking of rational decision-making but it has its own lacking.
Incremental theory is criticized as being conservative and status quo oriented.

Public Opinion Model

Public opinion consists of the desires, wants and thinking of the majority of the people.
It is the collective opinion of the people of a society or state on an issue or problem. This
concept came about through the process of urbanization and other political and social
forces. Public opinion as a basis for policy decision. Public opinion represent the
judgement of the public regarding any specific policy issue.
Public opinion model assumes that the views of public constitute an important base of
policy decisions. It is equally relevant to see that policy makers themselves exert
influence upon the views of the public.
Public opinion represents people’s collective preferences on matters related to
government and politics. However, public opinion is a complex phenomenon, and
scholars have developed a variety of interpretations of what public opinion means.
Public opinion can be viewed as the collection of individual opinions, where all opinions
deserve equal treatment regardless of whether the individuals expressing them are
knowledgeable about an issue or not. Thus, public opinion is the aggregation of
preferences of people from all segments of society.
 Bounded Rationality
Bounded rationality is the idea that rationality is limited, when individuals make
decisions, by the tractability of the decision problem, the cognitive limitations of the
mind, and the time available to make the decision. Bounded rationality is the idea that in
decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the
cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a
decision.
‘Bounded rationality’ has since come to refer to a wide range of descriptive, normative,
and prescriptive accounts of effective behavior which depart from the assumptions of
perfect rationality.
Bounded rationality is a central theme in the behavioural approach to economics, which
is deeply concerned with the ways in which the actual decision–making process
influences the decisions that are reached.
Bounded rationality was proposed by Herbert Simon as a way to represent how real
managers make decisions in real organizations. It is the rationality that takes into account
the limitations of the decision maker in terms of information, cognitive capacity, and
attention as opposed to substantive rationality, which is not limited to satisficing, but
rather aims at fully optimized solutions.
The bounded rationality model was developed to explain making rational choices under
time constraints and other pressures. Simon created the bounded rationality model to
explain why limits exist to how rational a decision maker can actually be within a
decision-making environment.
The bounded rationality phenomenon challenges traditional rationalist perspectives and
suggests that the rationality of actual human and company behavior is always partial, or
‘bounded’ by human limitations. This concept recognizes that decision-making takes
place within an environment of incomplete information and uncertainty. Herbert Simon
pointed out that most people are only partly rational, and are in fact emotional and
irrational in the remaining part of their actions. They experience limits in formulating and
solving complex problems and in processing (receiving, storing, retrieving, transmitting)
information. Bounded rationality means rationality within limits or bounds set by
incomplete information, cognitive limitations of mind and limited time available for
taking the decision.