ABSTRACT
As traditionally and currently practiced, policy analysis is dominated by the rationalist approach. In general, this means policy analysis has a strong bias toward quantitative methods and conceptual frameworks taken from the positivist traditions in social science. Post-positivists, drawing on decidedly less positivist theoretical foundations like discourse and critical theory, have leveled some important criticisms at the rationalist approach. The rationalist approach represents a distinct theory of public policy. Public policy is conceptualized as a solution to a problem, its central goal is efficiency, and the practice of policy analysis is theoretically and methodologically oriented toward identifying the most efficient solution to a given problem. The biggest impact of behavioral economics on policy analysis methods may be the renewed interest in social experimentation, or as Carlson put it, "an intense focus on identifying the causal effect of a policy or intervention" on outcomes. This focus reflects the roots of behavioral economics in psychology, historically an experimental discipline.
