Public policy as information

Abstract

Clearly, public policy-making is an activity that both generates and uses information. Both the role of public policy in relation to informational assets and the role of information technologies have been widely canvassed, But can the concept of information itself be used analytically to understand public policy-making? In pursuit of this objective, key theories of public policy are re-interpreted from an informational perspective using a process of reciprocal interrogation. From this analysis, three types of informational role are identified within the policy process: response, control and accountability; structured interaction; and meaning-making. In summary, it is argued that public policy enables collective responses to problems to be formulated and implemented through information transmission and signalling. Through institutional pattern-making, public policy structures and selects information flows. Finally, information forms the basis of meaning-making in public policy. As a result of this exploration, some suggestions are made as to how these concepts may be used to improve policy-making.

Notes

1. Information on the EPA and its operations comes from Summary of the Clean Air Act, available from http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/caa.html [accessed July 2011]; and from Six Common Air Pollutants, available from http://www.epa.gov/airquality/urbanair/ [accessed July 2011].

2. Information on recent air data reporting comes from http://www.epa.gov/airexplorer/ [accessed July 2011].