The Justice Motive In The Social Policy Process: Searching For Normative Rules Of Distribution

Policy analysis in the United States relies heavily on the microeconomic assumption that the primary motive in individual and organizational behavior is self interest. After describing how the over‐reliance on self interest emerged, this paper provides evidence that participants in the social policy process relyon other motivations to structure their decision‐rules which are equally if not more important than self interest. The paper goes on to describe and explain how decision‐rules based on notions of distributive justice operate and to integrate this line of inquiry with an evolving paradigm for policy research which is sensitive to organizational context, supports adaptive administration, and encourages the analysis of the normative premises underlying social policy action.