How small system dynamics models can help the public policy process

Abstract Public policies often fail to achieve their intended result because of the complexity of both the environment and the policy‐making process. In this article, we review the benefits of using small system dynamics models to address public policy questions. First we discuss the main difficulties inherent in the public policy‐making process. Then, we discuss how small system dynamics models can address policy‐making difficulties by examining two promising examples: the first in the domain of urban planning and the second in the domain of social welfare. These examples show how small models can yield accessible, insightful lessons for policy making stemming from the endogenous and aggregate perspective of system dynamics modeling and simulation. Copyright © 2010 System Dynamics Society.