Policymaking Cse

Policymaking involves a series of several decisions on the part of citizen, special interest groups and various agencies, as they are part of the policymaking cycle. Today, public administration is generally regarded as including also some responsibility for determining the policies and programs of governments. The rapid development of technological advances and telecommunications has created new challenges for policymakers in the United States and throughout the world. Today, there just is not enough time or resources available to do a really thorough job of policymaking based on relative values of those affected by such policies. While some of these advances in technology have provided decision-makers with more timely and accurate information upon which to base policies, many critics have pointed to such methods as being unfair and contrary to a rationale system of justice. An individual has the right to be responded to on the basis of his or her need, or even individual culpability, rather than on the basis of group stereotypes formed out of ignorance or even through scientific group-difference findings. In an equitable policymaking framework, the question of which individuals shall be differentially treated in which ways can only be decided on the basis of a priori principles to which data collection is irrelevant (in other words, that no amount of data can either support or not support). Further examination is required concerning ethical societal conduct and the nature of social justice, with some consensus being reached on such principles. Justice demands that any principles decided upon must be relevant to the individual, and applied equally to each and every individual. This paper will provide an overview and background of public administration and policymaking, what approaches are commonly used to arrive at policies, and what impact social science and aggregate-data approaches have had on the equitable distribution of the nation's resources through the policymaking process. A discussion is followed by a summary of the research in the concluding paragraph.