Question

How does public policy impact the approach to problem solving?

Answer 1

Public policy is the set of unwritten rules and aims of the government. For example, it might be increasing the welfare of the nation. it might be making sure all citizens get equal benefit etc.

Whatever problem a government faces, public policy forms a big part of how its going to solve it. For example, many governments consider the benefits of marginalized sections of society as paramount. So if the government is facing a problem of scarce resources, it will first allocate those resources to those sections.

The above example touches the topic mainly associated with public policy- equity and efficiency. Equity is when all sections of society get equal share of the benefits. Efficiency is when the total benefits are maximized, even if it means that not all are getting them equally. Equity is often seen as policy of socialism while efficiency is often seen as the policy of capitalism.

So, if the government is following a policy of equity, it will focus on distributing the resources equally, no matter what the problem, even if it means the solution was not the most beneficial overall. on the other hand if the government is following the policy of efficiency, it will seek a solution that will result in the greatest benefit to overall society, even if it means some section will get more than the others.

A general example would be building airports vs train stations. Lets say the government has limited budget and it can only either build an airport or a train station. The train station will be used by more people but will generate less revenue and will also mean no international and quick flights. If the government was following policy of efficiency, it will build an airport since it makes more financial sense and has more gains for the city, but only the richer section of society will be able to use it. But if the government was following policy of equity, it will build train station where all people can use it, even if it means the overall gains to the city are lower.

From above examples, we can clearly see that policy affects the approach to problem solving very much.