How useful is public choice theory in understanding the policy-making process? Discuss with reference to the Australian policy-making environment.

Introduction

In this essay I will begin with a brief history of public choice theory, and what public choice theory is. Following on I will relate its use in understanding the Australian policy-making process, and analyse its strengths and weaknesses. I will argue that public choice theory does have some use in understanding the policy-making process, particularly in understanding the actors involved in policy-making and their influence on policy. However due to its focus on individual self-interest, it has limitations in obtaining an in-depth understanding of the policy-making environment as a institutional process, with altruistic and institutional factors also influencing an individuals choices and decisions. In exploring a deeper understanding of public choice theory, I will explore public choice as a user pays system, and how this affects the policy-making environment, and the changes in the focus on accountability.


“Policy-making is sometimes viewed as “a political pr...