TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY

• In the political system- Government performance number of

activities-
1. It regulates conflict in the society
2. It organizes society
3. It distributes symbolic rewards and material services
4. It extract money from the society in the form of taxes

• Based on this Theodore Lowi (1964) suggested three types of

public policies
1. Regulatory Public Policy
2. Distributive Public Policy
3. Redistributive Public Policy

o Regulatory Public Policy- It regulates and controls the

conduct of individual by using coercive techniques.
- These policies deal with the regulation of trade, quality
of education, safety measures, etc.
- Such regulations are conducted by autonomous
institutions working on the behalf of the government.
- In India Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),
Bureau of Indian Standards, Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) etc. are the examples of such regulatory agencies.

o Distributive Public Policy – These policies grant goods and

services to the particular groups of population.
- All the Public Welfare Programmes are involved in
Distributive Policies.
- Agricultural subsidies to the farmers, subsidized food
for the poor people, Cheap Health Services provided by
 government are the example of such Distributive
Policies.

o Redistributive Public Policies- These policies aim at

redistributing the resources from group to another.
- The main objective of such policies is establishing
equitable society through redistribution of the Social &
Economic rewards.
- Income Tax Policy (progressive tax system) is the
example of redistributive policy.

• Fred M. Frohock (1979) added two other types of policies.

They are-
1. Capitalization Policies
2. Ethical Policies

o Capitalization Policies- Subsidies and tax concessions

received by businessmen are the example of capitalization
policies.
- The basic aim of such policies is increasing the
productive capacity of society’s institutions.
- They are not to achieve any sort of consumptive
distribution of welfare programmes.
o Ethical Policies – They aim at establishing the correct
practices for the moral issues.
- Medical termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 as amended
in 2002 and the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques
(regulation and prevention of misuse) Act 1994 as
amended in 2002 are the acts which be seen as a part of
moral policy of government of not to commit sex
selective abortion.

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