Good Critical Thinking On Problems Arising From Public Policy When Politicians Use Subjective Measures Instead Of Objective Measures In Making New Laws

After policy analysts come up with objective policies, it’s the work of politicians to pass them into laws. Most policies do not reach the implementation stage because of political influence. Political influence arises from agenda setting where some groups could favour certain policies because of vested interest in certain projects. Special interest groups do their best to influence the political agenda either directly or indirectly. They may represent people based on race, gender, age, income profession, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, income, profession, or other factors.
One of the problems associated with subjective measures in advocating new laws in public policy is the selection of projects which do not maximize the welfare of the society. For a society to benefit from public policy, all projects implemented should directly contribute to the welfare of the whole society in terms of minimum costs and maximum benefits. An example may include failure to support projects such as health care in favour of more expensive diplomatic missions.
Secondly, politicians may pass new laws with high costs compared to the benefits. This may arise when politicians approve projects which are expensive to implement and disapprove projects with high returns provided there will be a constant flow of income throughout their term in the office. For example, prolonged road construction in rural areas.
Finally, subjective measures may lead to unequal distribution of public resources. This may bring about chaos within the economy and hence may cause uprisings and war.

Works cited

Peters, B G. American Public Policy: Promise and Performance. Thousand Oaks, Calif: CQ Press, 2013. Print.
John, Peter. Analysing Public Policy. London: Continuum, 1998. Print.