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CHAPTER 5: CATEGORIES AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES

TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY IN
MALAYSIA Upon the completion of this chapter, students should
be able to:

 List down and explain several types of public policy

(Constituent, regulatory, distributive, redistributive)
 Describe on the types of public policy in the
Malaysian sphere.
 Discuss on merits and demerits of each types of
public policy

INTRODUCTION CONSTITUENT POLICY

 There are several types of public policy which are  Constituent policy involves the composition or
patronage, regulatory, redistributive and monetary make up of government.
policies.  It concerns with the establishment of government
structure, with the establishment of rules (procedures)
 Joseph Stewart et al. (2008) highlighted several for the conduct of government, of rules that distribute or
types of public policy, namely regulatory, distributive divide power and jurisdictions (James E. Anderson,
and redistributive policies. 2011).
 Constituent policy also includes such matters as
 Meanwhile, Meier (1987) had identified 4 types of
personnel practices and budgetary actions (James
public policies namely constituent, regulatory, E. Anderson, 2011).
distributive and redistributive policies.  It can be divided into two elements which are
structural and procedural constituents.

CONSTITUENT POLICY Examples

 A Structural Policy creates government structure. For Structural Policy

instance, the creation of the Department of Homeland
Security. This new department pulled together functions  The establishment of The Global Infrastructure Anti-
from 22 units in other executive departments. The idea is Corruption Centre (GIACC)
to enable the department to act in a more unified and  The establishment of Central Asset Management
effective manner to protect the nation’s internal security
against terrorist attacks (James E. Anderson, 2011). Corporation (CAMcorp). They are responsible for the
management of seized and forfeited assets.
 A Procedural policy outlines the steps in a process:
Courtroom procedures, procedures for the government Procedural Policy:
to take people’s land and homes, and procedures for
which the government bans a particular drug from being  The compulsory acquisition of land. land acquisition
sold on the market (Carter A. Wilson, 2016). process under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 (“LAA”).

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Merits
Costly

Protect national
Conflict avoidance
interest/safety Time consuming:

Demerits
People not fully
an in-depth
understand the
analysis is
procedures
needed

It provides a
Employment guideline for both Not stable and it

Opportunities government and would be facing

changes-depends
on who is the
citizens. government of
the day.

REGULATORY POLICY REGULATORY POLICY

 This kind of policy is different as compared to patronage policy as  There are two types of regulatory policies: competitive and protective.
this policy employs the use of the stick (punishment) rather  Competitive regulatory policy generally regulates entry into markets
than carrot (incentive). and may also regulate prices.
 This policy set guidelines for the actions and practices of private
individuals, firms, or businesses (Carter A. Wilson)  For instance, the role of state public utility commissions in regulating the
 Regulatory policy is about achieving government's objectives price of electricity. Electric companies operate as a monopoly. They can
charge whatever the market of consumers of electric services is able to bear.
through the use of regulations, laws, and other The commissions were established to regulate the prices of electricity-
instruments to deliver better economic and social generating monopolies in order to protect the public interest.
outcomes and thus enhance the life of citizens and
business (OECD, 2016).
 The Protective Regulatory policy protects the public from a perceived
 According to James E. Anderson (2011), regulatory policy imposes harm. Protective regulatory policy often requires a change in behavior
restrictions or limitations on the behavior of individuals brought about by invoking rewards or penalties. Examples of regulatory
and groups. agencies are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product
 In other words, the government formulates regulatory policy for the Safety Commission, the Occupational Safety ad Health Administration, and
purpose of controlling the conduct of certain behavior that can bring the Federal Aviation Administration. All these agencies protect the public
from pollution, hazardous products, workplace dangers, and unsafe
harm to the society. airplanes.

Examples
Regulatory Policy:
 A) Occupational Safety And Health Act 1994 (OSHA 1994). Able to solve people’s problem People obey and conform the
 Enforced by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health promptly policy
(DOSH).

 B) Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007

(Act 672) Merits
 Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, WP Putrajaya, Pahang, Johor,
Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Perlis dan Kedah
 1 SEPTEMBER 2015 Keep the public safe from a
 Fine RM 1000 wide range of dangers: Help to solve the problem of
 MHLG
community safety and sound market failure
environment
 Rear Seat Belt Policy
 Consumer Protection

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DISTRIBUTIVE POLICY

 This policy appear to allocate benefits or resources to the larger

Conflict migh occur population. A good example is the interstate highway system.
The issue of The highways are found in every state and are used by most people.
between two or more
enforcement
parties.  Those who do not use them still benefit from them indirectly
because most goods such as foods, clothing, automobiles, furniture
etc are distributed by way of interstate highway (Carter A. Wilson,
2013).
Demerits
 This policy do not impose costs upon any specific group. Rather, the
costs are paid by public treasury, which means tax payers generally.
The issue of
The use of coercive
standardization among  Distributive policies usually involve using public funds to assist
power particular groups, communities or industries (Anderson, 2015)
states

DISTRIBUTIVE POLICY Examples

 A) Grants received by Local Government: Annual

 According to Robert B. Denhardt and Janet V. Denhardt Equalization Grant, Road Maintenance Grant, Launching
(2009), distributive policy is the most common form of Grant, Development Grant etc.
government policy, uses general tax revenues to provide
benefits to individuals or groups, often by means of B) Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak:
grants or subsidies.  Total road length: 1060 KM
 Construction period for phase 1: 2016-2021
 The federal government provides direct grants to state
and local government for a variety of purposes.  Estimated Construction Cost: RM 16.488 B (phase 1).
Besides that, the government often creates public goods that  Toll Free
all citizens can enjoy. In some cases such as national defense,
the good is provided to all while city, state or national park, it
is anticipated that some citizens will use the benefits and  General tax reduction
others will not.
 Malaysian Educational Policies

Merits Demerits

The issue of
Those who do Less effective
priority and
not use them during economic
Low level of citizens’
still benefit downturn
preferences
conflict
from them
indirectly

The issue of
Wastage of
equality of
Create Improve people’s money if
development
winners and society’s the project
throughout the
no specific standard of delayed/cancelled
country
losers. living

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REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY

 The policy involve deliberate efforts by the government to shift the
 This policy involves the process of redistribution of wealth and resources to allocation of wealth, income, property, or rights among broad classes or
the citizens by managing economy effectively and efficiently. groups of the population (i.e haves and haves-nots, proletariat and
bourgeoisie) (Anderson, 2015).
 This policy is more likely to benefit one group of people (poor) at the
expense of other groups through the relocation of wealth.  Some people believed that this policy refers to Robin Hood policies because,
allegedly, they take from the rich and give to the poor. One example of
 According to Robert B. Denhardt and Janet V. Denhardt (2009), redistributive policy is welfare payments for low income, single women
Redistributive policies take taxes from certain groups and give them with children.
to another group.
 Affirmative action is another example of a redistributive policy, as this
 Redistributive policy deals with income stabilization, which help to support policy is perceived to shift privileges from advantaged to disadvantaged
those who are unemployed or retired, social welfare where the groups.
government provides either direct payments to individuals or supporting
state and local efforts for the indigent (poor people), or health care  Every American President since Roosevelt and prior to Reagan has
program such as Medicaid and Medicare. supported some major redistributive effort. Presidents Reagan and George
H. W. Bush seeking to limit and even reduce redistributive programs.
 This can be clearly seen in the case of progressive taxation. Income tax
is the example of progressive taxation in which the person who earn high
income needed to pay more income tax as compared to low income earners.  Redistribution can also take place on a global scale such as foreign aid
 On rare occasions, redistribution is from the less-well-off to the better-off, being provided to impoverished countries. i.e. food aid to Somalia (Miller
example: Capital Gains Proposals. and McTavish, 2014).

Merits Difficult to enact

because they involve
the relocation of
resources. Those in
power rarely yield the
resources willingly

Deterrent to wealth
Create culture of
dependency Demerits people working or
investing in new
opportunities

The issue of
redistributing the
wealth/resources to
the needy

Examples Additional types of public policy

 Social Assistance- BR1M, BB1M  Foreign and Defense Policy

 Progressive Taxation- Income Tax
 National Social Welfare Policy- Social Welfare  Monetary policy
Department (SWD) has a financial assistance scheme for the  Patronage policy
poor older persons especially those without next of Kin. The
scheme is called Aid for Older Persons (BOT) in which a
monthly allowance of RM 200.00 per person will be given
upon approval. The department also could consider other
assistance such as artificial / orthopedic appliances and
spectacles.
 Skim Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP)
untuk suri rumah
RM 40 1st Phase (August 2018), RM 40 + 10 (SOCSO) (2019),
2 % from husband’s contribution starting in 2020.

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Foreign and Defence Policy MONETARY POLICY

 Foreign and Defence policies are about maintaining national defense,

securing the country’s borders, responding to international threats against  The fourth type of public policy is monetary policy.
the nation and its people, promoting the country’s national interest,
advancing its economic position, and pursuing relations with other nations:  Monetary policy is formulated by the government to
building trust, enhancing cooperation, forging alliances, and building
coalitions. control the supply of money and controlling interest
 Malaysia renounces the use of threat and application of force as a means of rate (Abdul Rauf and Rozalli, 2010).
settling international conflict and advocates and practice the peaceful
resolution of disputes.  Monetary policy is useful to curb the problem of
 The primary objective of the National Defence Policy is to protect and
inflation and recession in a country.
defend national interests which form the foundations of Malaysia’s
sovereignty, territorial integrity and economic prosperity.

 The National Defence Policy illustrates this through the adoption of a

defence strategy based on bilateral and multilateral defence
diplomacy achieved through regional and international cooperation.

Features of Public Policy by Hogwood and Gunn

PATRONAGE POLICY (1984).

 This is a form of policy in which the government  The process of policy making involves several sub
deploys incentives for individuals or corporations as processes and may extend over a considerable period of
a reward. time.
 The government believed that if there is no incentive  The process of policy making involves intra- and inter-
provided to the citizen, they will refuse to accept organizational relationship with a key role of public
agencies
changes or suggestion made by the government.
 Public policy involves many participants (policy makers,
 This policy motivates people or corporation to public, interest groups, the experts and media)
change rather than giving punishment for non-
 It has to deal with many constraints such as technology,
compliance.
resources, assumptions and reactions of interest groups.
 There are three sub-types of patronage policy which  It is also ill-structured in so far as objectives are ill-
are subsidies, contract and licenses. defined and vague.

Importance of Public Policy (Prabir Kumar De, 2012). CONCLUSION

 1. the sum of all government activities that influence  The discussion of typologies will provide the reader with
the life of the citizens either directly or indirectly a notion of the scope, diversity, and different purpose of
 2. the study of public policy enables us to understand public policies.
the causes and consequences of policy decisions and  Besides that, this topic will prove much more useful in
distinguishing several public policies.
improve our knowledge about the society
 This topic also will differentiate policies in the basis of
 3. enables policy makers to improve their their effects on society and the relationship among those
understanding of the linkages among the socio- involved in their formation.
economics force, political processes and public policy  In sum, Distributive Policy is the distribution of new
resources, Redistributive Policy is changing the
 4. Public policy as an activity and area of study distribution of existing resources, Regulatory policy is
continues to hold relevance as long as one finds the regulating activities and Constituent Policy is
process of governance establishing or reorganizing institutions.

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SUGGESTED TUTORIAL QUESTIONS SUGGESTED TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES

Question 1
Briefly explain distributive, redistributive, competitive
regulatory, and protective regulatory policies. Provide an Identify any public
example of each. (10 marks)

Question 2
policies in Malaysia
and categorise it
Explain FOUR (4) drawbacks of Redistributive Policy (10 marks)

Question 3

accordingly
Elaborate on FOUR (4) features of Public Policy (10 marks)

Question 4
Briefly explain FOUR (4) importance of Public Policy (10 marks)