Process-Policy and Outcome-Policy: Rethinking How to Address Poverty and Inequality
Process matters not just for diagnosing the causes of inequality, but also for how policy is shaped
Abstract
Process matters not just for diagnosing the causes of inequality, but also for how policy is shaped. The dominant paradigms for policy-making — neoliberalism, neo-Keynesianism, and neopaternalism — largely address inequality via “outcome-policies” that manipulate the levers of government and, more recently, draw on randomized trials and “nudges” to change behavior, in a manner that is not only easy to measure, but also easy to reverse. This commentary draws on the essays in this special issue of Dædalus to make the case for “reflectivism,” which shifts structural inequalities in agency, power, social structure, empathy, and aspiration in an incremental manner that is more uncertain and difficult to measure, but that can result in more lasting change.
This is an output of the World Bank’s Strategic Research Program
Citation
Rao, Vijayendra “Process-Policy and Outcome-Policy: Rethinking How to Address Poverty and Inequality,” Daedalus, Volume 148, Issue 3, Summer 2019, Pp: 181-190
Link
Process-Policy and Outcome-Policy: Rethinking How to Address Poverty and Inequality