Dr. Anthony Marinac is an Adjunct Professor, teaching a course on “Political Psychology” to the students of Master of Public Policy at NUM School of Public Policy
The field of psychology asks the simple yet crucial question: why do people behave the way they do? Why do they feel the way they feel? How can we influence the way that people act and feel?
For students to develop Mastery of Public Policy, they must recognize that public policy is also often about considering the way that people behave, and the things that they feel. People’s feelings and behaviors are crucial to their engagement with public policy, from behaviors such as paying tax and complying with road rules, through to feelings such as national pride, and loyalty towards the King.
The field of political psychology looks beyond the individual, and asks why the population as a whole acts and feels the way it does. In our study of political psychology, we use a range of psychological models and theories to consider the best ways in which public policy can influence the behavior and feelings of people; but also the ways in which the behaviors and feelings of people should influence public policy.
We examine these matters at a range of levels – from individual, to family, to nation – and in a range of circumstances, from positive issues like economic development, through to harmful national emergencies such as genocide and warfare.
Public policy is ultimately powerful because it affects people. A Master of Public Policy must therefore understand the psychology of people, as individuals and in groups, in order to devise and assess public policy which can advance the welfare of those people, and the Kingdom as a whole.
