Summation of Intro to Australian Policy

The following report is intended to explore policy making in relation to technology. The report will be structured by firstly providing a summary of an excerpt from “The Australian Policy Handbook” (Bridgman & Davis, 2004). This will also identify the key concepts and ideas from the article. The report will then look at policy making around technology and whether or not this is important for an individual, personally and professionally.

The chosen reading “The Australian Policy Handbook” (Bridgman & Davis, 2004) explores public policy in relation to Australian policy making and outlines that the intended audience are persons who intend on compiling or investigating public policies. The purposes and the methodologies involved with public policies are also discussed. Furthermore, the authors (Bridgman & Davis, 2004) explain the three components that define public policy, which are policy as an authoritative choice, policy as a hypothesis, and policy as an objective.

Policy as authoritative choice describes how policy is the result of politics. Public policy is the result of political decisions that provides the “authoritative response to a public issue or problem” (Bridgman & Davis 2004, p. 4). The policy is considered “authoritative” because people of the government system who are recognised by Australian law generate public policy.

Policy as a hypothesis deals with the assumptions and speculation on cause and effect in relation to society and the world. The authors (Bridgman & Davis, 2004) state that policies “contain incentives that encourage one behaviour over another, or disincentives to discourage particular actions” (Bridgman & Davis 2004, p. 5).

Policy as an objective is the result of the public policy as implemented by the government. In essence, public policy is the pro-activeness of the government utilising resources to achieve a purpose. It is also important to note that public policies must be thought out thoroughly as consequences of policies can “undermine the policy’s effect or create new, complex problems” (Bridgman & Davis 2004, p. 7).

References

* Bridgman, P., Davis, G., 2004. “The