The theorists all try to classify public policy and explain how it works. Theodore Lowi typed policies according to whether they were regulatory, distributive, or redistributed in nature. This theory classified policies by the impact the policy had on society and the relationship among those involved in the policy making. Murray Edelman viewed policies as being either material or symbolic. Material policies provide benefits or power to some while imposing costs on others.
Symbolic policies provide no material benefits and gives no one any advantages or disadvantages.
James Anderson classified policies as either substantive or procedural. Substantive policies are policies the government intends to implement while procedural policies are how the policies will be implemented. Michael O'Hare sees policies as actions the government might take. He believes that there are direct and indirect actions the government may take when the private or public sector sectors do not allocate goods efficiently or when there are equity or distribution problems. Although the language of public policy has become specialized over time, it is the ideas and elements that compose public policy that are important to study.