Policy and Complex Systems
disappeared . Instead of being involved in the political process in its entirety , the Second Wave emphasized policy analyzes and measurements in the program evaluation stage .
A second focus of the Second Wave related to the downplaying of democracy was an emphasis on linear and unilateral policy process in stages embodied in applied economics and policy impact assessment . The impetus for policy analysis and applied economics commenced in the Planning , Programming , and Budgeting System created in the US Department of Defense ( Bardach , 2000 ; Bellinger , 2016 ). Primary goals of policy analysis was to bring a market-oriented economy and efficiency or the greatest wellbeing to society with the least amount of expenditures and costs ( Bardach , 2000 ; Bellinger , 2016 ).
By the 1990s , critics of the Second Wave argued that the model lacked testable hypotheses . They claimed that it was biased toward an elite and insider model of how policy making occurs , did not incorporate intergovernmental levels , did not accurately describe how policy worked and occurred , and removed Lasswell ’ s original call for policy analysis related to democracy in the entire policy making process , not just the program evaluation phase ( Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith , 1993 ). Others such as Lowi had previously argued that interest group liberalism was a philosophy and condition in US policy making that undermined democracy due to the expansion of the administrative state since the New Deal ( Lowi , 1979 ). This allowed the emergence of interest-group liberalism , which in turn reduced popular control as an elite constellation of interest groups , which increased their political influence over legislation and public agency activities ( Lowi , 1979 ). This shifting of power has meant that the US government is ruled by interest groups and not always to the benefit of average citizens ( Lowi , 1979 ). Other scholars have also indicated that there has been a dramatic increase in interest groups in recent years that primarily represent and are advancing the interests of the wealthy over those of less wealthy Americans ( Ferguson et al ., 2015 ; Fukuyama , 2011 ; Gilens and Page , 2014 ; Jorgensen , 2011 ). This has resulted in a linear policy system that is not substantially beholden to democratic accountability of individuals and citizens , but rather powerful interest groups .
Third Wave of US Policy Theories and Democratic Theory
The extensive criticism of the policy cycle model by Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith and others ( Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith referred to the policy cycle model as the stages heuristic model ) in the 1990s resulted in a dramatic shift in U . S . public policy theory with significant fragmentation and balkanization as of 2016 into numerous other theories vying to become the predominant theory explaining U . S . policy making . As of 2015 , this included : Multiple Stream Theory ( MST ), Punctuated Equilibrium Theory ( PET ), Social Construction Theory ( SCT ), Policy Feedback Theory ( PFT ), Advocacy Coalition Framework ( ACF ), Narrative Policy Framework ( NPF ), Institutional Analysis and Development Framework ( IAD ), Social-Ecological Systems ( SES ), and Policy Diffusion ( PD ) ( Sabatier & Weible , 2014 ).
Analysis of Current US Public Policy Theories
In order to consolidate the myriad of fragmented and balkanized US public policy theories , I utilize a conglomerated flow diagram of the interactions of
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