Reference no: EM133907346

Assignment:

As we learned from the group presentations last week, several mental models have been developed and applied to the policy process, exploring how social dynamics such as cognitive bias and groupthink can influence its development. Lynam and Brown (2012) define mental models as "internal representations of the external system". In other words, they help us process ideas and select between alternative options in the decision-making stage.

When it comes to public policy, Douglas North maintains that it is inevitably shaped by these mental models, often to the detriment of rational thinking. He uses the term "representational descriptions" to describe how ideologies are linked to these mental models and how institutions adapt to these values, changing gradually in time as they adjust to the incremental evolution of beliefs developed by such models (Fiori, 2002).

We can perceive the effect of mental models in current U.S. policy, both in incrementalist terms and as an example of "punctuated equilibria" theory. Policy proposals such as free healthcare conflict with long-established individualistic and limited government ideals. Therefore, although policy has moved in that direction as demonstrated by the Affordable Care Act, change must necessarily be gradual, even in the face of contrary evidence.

Dramatic policy changes can only happen, according to Fiori, as a result of long periods of incremental change in informal rules and in "representational description". One example of this can be seen in the nationalist policies proposed by the current administration, which can arguably be seen as the result of decades of increased political polarization among the population.

Can you please respond back in one paragraph agreeing with the situation and relating.