Fundraising and State Support Essay -- Public Choice Theory, Education

The examination of the relationship of fundraising and state support change was based upon an understanding of public choice theory, which is rooted in political economy and used to determine societal resource allocation preferences through the legislative process to attain the maximum social benefit (Herber, 1983). The theory has evolved over time with the core research of Buchanan and Tullock (1967) examining individual economic preferences demonstrated through the political system, establishing an approach for analyzing political decision-making. The focus of public choice theory in the context of the proposed research questions is on decision-making cost in terms of offsetting fundraising increases to reach consensus. This incorporates the direct cost involved in funding, or not funding, higher education, the opportunity costs of bargaining through the political process, and the trade-offs between competing public demands (Herber, 1983). Society could follow non-strategic behavi or in order to allow for collective decisions (Herber). Decision making costs become an outcome of the public choice bargaining in order to reach agreement; public choice involves making decisions within a dynamic context of higher education as a public good, particularly when examining the relationship of fundraising and state support (Buchanan & Tullock, 1967). Constitutional Economics Within public choice theory is the concept of constitutional economics that accounts for the rules pertaining to the legislative process that restricts the role of government and the scope of its decisions (Buchanan & Tullock, 1967). Buchanan and Tullock (1967) espoused the operational stage of rule-making that stem from the constitutional limitations. The budget pro... ...support the mission of the college. At the opposite end of the continuum is the unconstrained vision. The unconstrained vision believes that people’s nature and institutions can be improved (Sowell, 1987). The unconstrained vision welcomes direct government intervention for the good of society (Sowell, 1987). Equating Sowell’s vision to public choice theory, there is a great deal of similarity between the unconstrained vision and how an individual categorizes higher education as a public good (Sowell, 1987; Ostrom, 1975). This research is intent in finding the relationship between the change in fundraising and the change in public funding of higher education. In an effort to determine how policymakers choose to fund higher education, acknowledging the policy maker’s vision of people and institutions will help understand how they may respond to funding scenarios.