Public Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Public Policy - Essay Example The underground economy is seen as only a means of criminality and any efforts outside of the mainstream is thought to be an effort to defraud the government for welfare. There are a great number of misunderstandings of both financial success and poverty. There is the belief that success is found through individual effort. This is not true. There is also the belief that if they tried harder, those who are poor could do better. This is also not true. To understand the nature of poverty and how the truth of success includes a much more collaborative experience, one must take a look at the way in which the inequalities in the nation have set people up to either succeed or fail based on their circumstances. There is no doubt that the nature of life for those who live in poverty could be raised from that level into success, but in order to do that a number of different factors need to change. Neighborhood regeneration, public transportation, equal school opportunities, and better infrastructure on the whole would all contribute to better opportunities for those who are poor. This is not the problem, however. The problem is that there is a belief that pove rty is a state of criminality and does not deserve resources because of its nature. Addressing this issue will begin meaningful change. In order to address public policy through changing social policy about the poor, it is important to follow a path towards public policy. Stone (2002) writes â€Å"A theory of policy politics must start with a model of political society, that is, a model of the simplest version of society that retains the essential elements of politics.† (p. 13). Stone (2002) goes on to discuss public policy in relationship to a market as individuals are all competing for their position in the market and for the ability to use available, but limited resources. Trying to gain what they can at the lowest possible cost means that they can change those raw materials into something