ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to relate the pedagogy of public policy to the concept of practice articulated by Alasdair MacIntyre. It first discusses the challenges of establishing public policy as a discipline in India, where it has been long assumed that only those employed in government need to acquire skills and knowledge essential for policy formulation. It was also assumed that, by definition, all policies made by the government must be in the interest of the public. This assumption is being challenged in recent times, opening up the possibility of fashioning a pedagogy for public policy that could make the subject meaningful to a variety of practitioners besides those serving in the government. In the quest for a philosophy of public policy as a practice, this essay examines an understanding of external and internal goods, the role of virtues, and limitations of economics, a dominant discipline in public policy schools. This contribution further underlines the importance of public policy practitioners connecting with the public, whose interests and concerns provide the raison d’être for the practice of public policy. The paper concludes by raising a paradoxical possibility that while public policy can be a practice as defined by MacIntyre, teaching public policy may not be a practice.
