Types Of Govt Policies
To have a good know- how of the political on goings, one needs to have one’s basics cleared on concepts like the types of government policies. The very basic definition of policies is that those principles which help shape decisions to bring about a favorable outcome in any field are called policies. The term is applicable in a plethora of contexts, but it is most commonly and widely heard in the working of the government. The various types of government policies are in the forms of a network, as well as layers. A certain network of policies gives rise to types of government policies which are much more specialized in their nature. These policies are put into action to bring out the desired results.
When elections are around the corner, the newspapers and TV news channels are rife with clippings of political parties promising reforms and bringing in of new policies to change the way things have been working. How many of us actually give a thought to how these various types of government policies will impact us and the nation as a whole? Let us take a step towards being responsible citizens and gain tools of making an informed choice. There are four different kinds of government policies.
DISTRIBUTIVE POLICY
As its name suggests, distributive policies are not meant for the benefit of a massive whole. It is designed in order to have an impact on a particular group or community of people. The capital for such policies is sourced from the general tax revenue. It has been seen that distributive policies are a low- cost affair, while yielding an optimum result. On the flip side, it becomes a tendency of political parties to favor a particular group to gain political mileage. An example of distributive types of government policies can be the subsidies provided to farmers.
REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES
Redistributive policies are very much opposite to distributive policies in their approach as well as implementation. Where distributive policies focus on a small group and small scale budget, the redistributive types of government policies aim to bring about a larger change. The focus area is much larger, the cost is very high, and it is given much more importance, so much so that these policies come from high up in the hierarchy, like from the President. Policies affecting nation- wide educational system or health care system are examples of this.
REGULATORY POLICIES
The regulatory policies are the ones which people are most familiar with as they come across examples of these in daily life. These policies are implemented by the government through certain rules and laws. These aim to bring about betterment in the social as well as the economic scenario, proving beneficial for the citizen. A very basic example would be the implementation of traffic rules.
CONSTITUENT POLICIES
Similar to redistributive policies, constituent policies are derived from the legislation. The only difference between them is that constituent policies work on a smaller scale. The steps undertaken under this policy have a nation- wide affect, but it is not revolutionary in its nature.
This was an outline to the types of government policies. There is always scope for a much more in depth understanding to grasp the effect of these policies.
