| This explanatory case study evaluates how well the ideas of self-interest and public interest explain public decision-making. The research examines whether theories based on self-interest and public interest perspectives explain the decisions made by policy makers. The answer is important because it may lead to a better description of political debate and policy making, and possibly affect participation in the decision-making process. This investigation analyzes three policy decisions that policy makers in the Canadian federal government made regarding the compensation of individuals transfused with blood contaminated by HIV or Hepatitis C.;Data collected in interviews with politicians, public servants, and political staff, along with a review of legislative and government documents was analyzed using a pattern-matching technique to determine how well each theoretical model fit the evidence for each policy decision. The analysis considered the information collected by decision makers, the target groups they aimed to serve, the decision-making activities that they employed, and any changes to their policy choices.;The results show that a combination of all three theoretical models (electoral interests, bargaining, and deliberation) explained the decision-making process. The deliberation model consistently explained a substantial proportion of decision makers' behaviors, while the electoral interests and bargaining models had stronger explanatory power in situations where institutional constraints governed the behavior of certain types of decision makers. The bargaining and electoral interests models also strengthened in situations where there were key contextual factors involved in the policy decision, including strong public views on the issue, political positioning by parties, and substantial intergovernmental activity.;This study concludes that theories derived from the perspective of self-interest and public interest will be able to explain similar social policy decisions concerning small, spending initiatives where there are significant moral or justice considerations. It is hoped that the research results will help policy advocates refine their efforts to use the policy making process and that it will help public servants and policy makers to better understand factors affecting their decisions. This research may also assist scholars to describe the decision-making process more accurately. |
