Rational choice theory and the evaluation of public policy

The dominance of rational choice-inspired models of policy development, implementation, and evaluation has grown dramatically over the years as a challenge to traditional, pluralist politics. In this article, we analyze the theoretical foundations of the rational choice perspective and its criticisms of pluralist politics. We explore the values inherent in the rational choice perspective and suggest that they feed into growing public cynicism about government and lead to a conservative policy agenda of less government. We then develop an unusual argument that the very tools of rational choice analysis and its values actually produce far more government involvement than expected, by examining school voucher programs. We conclude by making a case for pluralist politics ar a more appropriate means for addressing the concerns of classical liberals and others about excessive government intrusion.