Book Analysis Essay on Policy Paradox

Introduction

The first chapter of the Policy Paradox book by Deborah Stone introduces a kind of public policy called the Polis Model. In the entire chapter, she compares and contrasts the polis model with the traditional textbook model of public policy. At the beginning of the chapter, she introduces the motives of each model. The market model is inspired by the idea that individual members of the community take action to improve their self-centered interest. However, the idea that members of society are motivated to pursue self-interest does not mean that the community members are selfish (Stone 1997). The pursuit of self-interest does not necessarily translate to selfishness because in most cases the self-interest of the members of a society includes family members and friends. Nevertheless, the whole idea of the marketing model is that people are pursuing things that benefit them directly.

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Key Takeaway

The core principles of the Polis model are that members of the community pursue the collective interest of the community. The Polis model appreciates the fact that there is always a conflict between what benefits the community and what benefit individual members of a community. In the polis mode, people in the community want what is good for the large part community. In the traditional market model, altruism is rare, whereas in the Polis model altruism is common than what the majority of the people in the community would expect. The polis model appreciates the fact that people work on more than the cold facts and a single perspective of things. The model recognizes that people in the community are not robots, and so people behave differently but to increase the collective good of a community.

Market model promotes the idea that human behavior happens predictably, and they are always motivated by self-absorbing interests, interest to only maximize individual goals. In the traditional market model, anything not motivated by self-interest is considered irrational and outside of the status quo. On the other hand, the Polis model is centered on the values of sharing and maintains healthy relationships within a community. Stones assert that things that motivate people in the market model also motivate people in the polis model, the point of differences in the two models is that in the communities where the polis model is entrenched people appreciate that there are things which motivate people besides self-interest goals. In the communities where the polis model is practiced people are moved by emotions of human nature which promotes values of caring for one another. People practicing the Polis model are not just moved by cold hard facts of biology.

I agree with stone's elaboration of the Polis Model, this is because the values enlisted in the Polis model are applicable in real-life situations. Further, I do not agree with the Marketing model, marketing model involves scientific rationales that are not applicable in day to day life. In my opinion, the traditional marketing approach is more of a textbook approach; the approach does not take into consideration the complete dynamic attributes of human nature. It appears like the marketing model was fronted by scientists and biologists who never left office to experience real-life human interactions. They looked at life in the community from a single perspective based on scientific facts and failed to appreciate other attributes of life which could not be measured with scientific metrics. The marketing model has some truth in it, it's only undoing is that it fails to encompass all of the areas of human life and public policy.

In the Polis Model stones assert that many things affect and influence human choices and actions. In the book Stones addresses the Laws of Passion as part of the principles which affect human behavior. I agree with Stones on her interpretation of human behavior and politics in the theory of the Polis Model. I appreciate her perspective on altruism and the view on how people will do anything to achieve the desired end goal of a community. According to Stone People will strategize, coerce and influence others to achieve the desired goal. I believe there is more evidence of Stones Polis's model in modern-day politics and government activities and operations. Stones Polis's model is evident in contemporary politics at the community level and the central national government level. Because of its applicability in the modern world, I think the Polis Model should be present in every book on Public policy. If we can increase understanding of how contemporary society and politics function, then there would be reduced friction in our interaction: Contention would reduce.

Example of Information Policy and Information Policy Issues

The Polis Model can be applied in the day to day relations. Whether in the interactions is between two friends or even when the interaction involves a whole community (Weiss 1983). For instance, in case of a conversation where one friend wants to convince the other about something, the aspect of the influence in the Polis model would come in, and in cases where the conversation involves a whole community in instances where governments need people to adhere to certain laws and policies the aspect of coercion in the Model would come in handy. The government would coerce the members of the society even if this would result in forgoing individual wellbeing of some community members for the good of the whole community.

Further, the Polis Model can be applied to various notable political figures and government institutions. Congress, for instance, is an institution of government that is greatly influenced by issues outside of self-interest (Fallis 2007). The members of congress speak for the citizens of the state communities they come from. Many of the congress representatives might have their agendas they would want to talk about and seek to accomplish while in the office, but almost always they make decisions based on the interests of the communities they represent. When in parliament the Congress members often vote based on the challenges, problems, and interests of the communities they represent. Stone states self-interest and community interest as an area where interest work against each other. Further Stone states that conflict problems are frequent and diverse and they involve everything in the public policy.

Also, interest conflict is depicted by the fact that Congress House representative's term is short and because they would want to be reelected, they tend to do things and activities which would woo and appease their voters. This could be considered as altruism, the unselfish concern for the community welfare and happiness. The act of self-denial could also in another angle be viewed as a selfish act because the congress representatives do the self-denial activities for their political future ambitions.

Furthermore, there are other activities of congress in the Polis Model that manifest congress influence. The activities revolve around the decisions congress make, decisions which are influenced by the views of the voters. Congress will make voting decisions based on the views of their voters and most of the time the decisions could be selfish: not translating to the good of the community. Also, Congress will be influenced by the views of the wealthy and popular people in the community even though these people are not the biggest percentage in the community. Before decisions are made in the congress there is a dire need to determine the authenticity of information on which decision is based, the authenticity of information helps in ensuring the decisions made address the real issues in the community (Woolley 2010). An example of false claims cases include a case where Facebook banned political ads from running because of making giving inaccurate information.

The difference between Polis Model and Market model is clear, both models have a place of application in the community, but the Polis Model has more clear and realistic application opportunities. The application of both models is Cleary seen in both our local and international political arenas.

References

Fallis, D. (2007). Information ethics for twenty-first century library professionals. Library hi tech, 25(1), 23-36.Stone, D. A. (1997). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making (Vol. 13). New York: ww Norton.

Weiss, C. H. (1983). Ideology, interests, and information. In Ethics, the social sciences, and policy analysis (pp. 213-245). Springer, Boston, MA.

Woolley, J. K., Limperos, A. M., & Oliver, M. B. (2010). The 2008 presidential election, 2.0: A content analysis of user-generated political Facebook groups. Mass Communication and Society, 13(5), 631-652.