A Taxonomy for Organizing the Core Concepts According to Their Underlying Principles

This article organizes and classifies the 18 core concepts. There are nine overarching principles into which the concepts fit: life, liberty, equality, dignity, family as foundation, community, capacity, individualization, and accountability. These in turn reflect three approaches to policy: the Constitutional approach, consisting of the principles of life, liberty, and equality; the Ethical approach, consisting of the principles of dignity, family as foundation, and community; and the Administrative approach, consisting of the principles of capacity, individualization, and accountability. There is also a set of Professional principles, which the article illustrates with examples from the field of medicine/health care. Finally, the article demonstrates how the organization and classification of the core concepts create a wholistic, unified approach to policy.