The Current Situation

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Community Choices Public Policy Education
Program
Exploring the Human Resources/Economic
Development Connection
Module One
The Public Policy Education Model
8 March 2000 The Southern Rural Development
Center
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Objectives

• Determine the meaning of public policy education.
• Know the criteria for assessing which issues can
  be characterized as public policy issues.
• Understand how to use the public policy education
  model for addressing issues of local importance.

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Foundation for the Public Policy Education Program

• Give citizens a better understanding of community
  policy issues.
• Stimulate citizens interest/involvement in local
  policy decisions.
• Enhance communitys capacity to arrive at key
  policy decisions.
• Help citizens participate in the democratic
  process.

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Key Terms

• Policyagreed upon course of action.
• Public Policya designated course of action
  adopted by a governmental entity.
• Educationprocess of imparting information and
  technical assistance to people and communities.
• Public Policy Educationprogram that applies the
  universitys knowledge base to assist citizens in
  making informed policy choices.

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Characteristics of Public Policy Issues

• Involve problems that require group decision.
• Solutions are based on value judgments.
• Issues are of broad interest and concern.
• Deal with controversial matters.
• Tend to be recognized by decision-makers as
  problems/concerns.

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Values

• Peoples views of what should be or what the
  desirable situation should be.
• A persons perceptions of what is good and bad.
• Affect how people think about problems and policy
  strategies.
• Conflicts arise when people discuss public policy
  issues with different sets of values.

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Figure 1. The Public Policy Education Model
Source House and Hahn.
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Prepared by
Lionel J. Beaulieu Southern Rural Development
Center March 2000
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