Our discussion of the ways private and collective actions lead to socially unsatisfactory
conditions provides a conceptual framework for diagnosing public policy problems.
We now turn our attention to policy solutions. We focus on what we call
generic policies-the various types of actions that government can take to deal with
perceived policy problems. They represent a range of general strategies. Because
policy problems are usually complex and always contextual, generic policies must be
tailored to specific circumstances to produce viable policy alternatives. Nevertheless,
familiarity with generic policies encourages a broad perspective that helps the analyst
craft specific solutions.