1.  Rationalism or the Benevolent Despot Model

• Government chooses policies resulting in maximum gains to society that exceed costs by greatest amount
• Unrealistic assumptions

 
 
 

2.  Elite Theory

• Elites determine policy
• The people are ill-informed and do not care
• Change is rare, only to appease the people
• Elections do not really matter

 
 
 

3.  Institutional Approaches (including behaviorism)

• The individual purpose does not exist
• Institutions control outcomes

 
 
 

4.  Group Theory or Pluralism

• Policy is the product of the interaction of interest groups
• Policy changes when group interests change or their relative power changes
• No theory about the reason certain groups exist, etc.

 
 
 

5.  Public Choice Theory

• Application of economic logic to politics
• Individuals as consumers of government and services
• Rational individuals but irrational, (sub-optimal) outcomes
• Institutions and groups are studied but the individual decision-maker is still the driving force in the theory.