Rethinking disproportionate policy making by introducing proportionate politics

Area of Science:

• Policy Sciences
• Political Science
• Public Administration

Background:

• Critiques existing theories of disproportionate policymaking, including policy overreaction and underreaction.
• Highlights limitations in current models, particularly their insufficient attention to political factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend and critique Maor's work on disproportionate policymaking.
• To integrate political considerations into the understanding of policy dynamics.
• To propose a new heuristic for analyzing policy decisions.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical critique of existing policy science literature.
• Development of a heuristic model incorporating political perception of threats.
• Analysis of policy dynamics through a political lens.

Main Results:

• Disproportionate policymaking is often a manifestation of proportionate political calculations.
• A heuristic incorporating political perception of program and political threats offers a more holistic view.
• Policy imbalances can be understood as outcomes of political strategies.

Conclusions:

• Reconceptualizes disproportionate policymaking as proportionate politics.
• Advocates for a more politically informed and holistic understanding of policy processes.
• Provides a framework for analyzing policy dynamics considering political motivations and perceptions.