Public Policy and Social Change

When used effectively, public policy can be a powerful tool to effect social change. Changing how society lives requires thorough thought and reflection. Implementing social change also requires commitment to the cause, living up to expectations, getting the approval of society through communication, and monitoring the effects it will have on society. Because of the many failures associated with policymaking, policymakers have a responsibility to remain focused on how the policies they legislate impact society. Millions of dollars may be spent on a certain public policy yet fail to materialize in the end. 

Currently, the American society is watching with keen interest the contentious tax policy issues being debated by the line-up of party presidential hopefuls competing to win the race to the White House. While taxation is a way of generating the financial resources required to run a government, public resentment can at times lead to tax evasions that drain the national economy. With fair taxation, government can be assured that business owners will not flee with their money for safe keeping in foreign countries. It is a social responsibility when lawmakers ensure business owners feel at home.

Organizations that conduct business in foreign lands have a responsibility to protect the indigenous or local people they encounter. Exploiting the environment and then leaving it depleted is a big plunder that can have catastrophic effects on entire humanity. Overworking or underpaying the locals that do the hard work is against the foundations of public policy.

Having a reliable public policy in place means that the living conditions of society will be sustained, their level of education elevated, and their health needs put to the fore. Seeing policy networks become internationally accepted norms means that governments have now more responsibilities than ever before when it comes to meeting the demands of society. Policy networks are state-interest relations (Thatcher, 1998) and inter-organizational with informal approaches.

 References

Thatcher, M. (1998). The development of policy network analyses: From modest origins to overarching frameworks. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 10(4), 389–416.

Philosophy of Science

For a long time, a section of scientists have been in the forefront of confronting what fellow scientists perceived as the best approach to the philosophy of science. Science, being a broad subject according to one’s philosophical thoughts, has been undergoing constant changes such that diverse views and ideas exist among contemporary scientists who continue to challenge previous scientific settings. What Creswell (2009) perceives as ‘worldview’ is perceived by others as “paradigms, epistemologies and ontologies, or broadly conceived research methodologies” (p. 6). Philosophy of science (commensurability) pertains to anticipated implications, methods of applications, assumptions used, and foundations that stand as the basis for arguments. Where philosophy exists to clarify propositions and settle controversies surrounding the limitations of natural science (Gattei, 1995), science pursues the relevance of logic.

Epistemology, a branch of philosophy, is concerned with the “study of” and that it addresses questions such as: what is knowledge? How is it acquired? How can a given subject or entity be known? From the Greek word epistēmē, epistemology is concerned with analyzing the nature of knowledge by using justifications to come to the right answer. This is done in order to brush aside skepticisms. In essence, epistemology is the study of the theory of knowledge. Paradigm is used to show, point out, exhibit or expose distinct concepts in a scientific field. Likewise, paradigm can be used to delineate scientific disciplines at any given time. Ontology pertains to the philosophical study of the existence, reality, and nature of entities. 

References

Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Gattei, S. (1995). Karl Popper’s philosophy of science: Rationality without foundations. Routledge studies in the philosophy of science. ISBN 0-203-88719-0 Mater e-Book