ABSTRACT

As a relatively young discipline and an intrinsically complex science, public policy has yet to congeal into a clear-cut school of thought. Rather, its borders are diffuse, both overlapping with and comprising multiple “pure” disciplines of the social and natural sciences. Indeed, the complexities of the open systems subject to study necessitate a multidisciplinary approach that pragmatically draws from the fields most germane to the particular issues at hand. Further, by drawing from different approaches, scholars can develop constructively competitive views of a context in order to come to a more enlightened understanding about the potential effects of public action.