ABSTRACT
Policy, in the sense of the quasi-definition just suggested, refers to the type of behavior, the pattern, which surrounds certain kinds of events in institutional life, when, as, and if these institutions perform in the way in which a reasonable man, familiar with complex institutions in complex societies, may reasonably expect them to perform. Behavior, to oversimplify, tends to assume that we may use the same technique to study men as to study rats. In the study of policy, policy formation, policy analysis, it seems that we are involved in the interpretation of meanings. A policy is very rarely the optimum or ideal preferences of any of those engaged in political action. The distinction between policy preferences on the one hand and opinions on the other has implications for a good many political science studies. 'For any given 'policy-maker' or set of 'policy-makers' in any central 'decision-making' body such as Congress, there is an indefinite number of significant demands'.
