Bewogen beleid

Samenvatting

Policies are often made without those whom they affect being able to influence them. A business venture which decides to fell a grove of trees makes a decision which touches the lives of many people who have nothing to say about how that policy is made. It is clear that increasing production does not in all cases lead to increasing prosperity and happiness. It has been argued that the sociologist who researches this type of question cannot produce value-free results. While it is true that the choice of what to study is a subjective decision, it is equally true that given modern statistical methods, the results of that study may be seen as having a fair degree of validity. Analytic and policy models are formally similar, eg, in the extensive use made by both of mathematical principles. They differ in that analytic models attempt to explain something, whereas policy models have as their goal, the making of policy. In a democratic state, people affected by a decision or policy should also be involved in making that decision or policy. An important instrument in this is the use of communication media. P. Tiersma