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Public Policy

Public policy is defined as whatever governments choose to do or not do, and involves laws, regulations, and funding priorities promulgated by governmental entities to address issues of public concern. The making of public policy is a complex process that requires coordination between different institutions and aims to establish guidelines for the public. Key aspects of public policy include problem identification, agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. Ultimately, the goal of public policy is to maximize benefits to society according to a political system's values and priorities.

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Medha Guha Mallick
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46 views

Public Policy

Public policy is defined as whatever governments choose to do or not do, and involves laws, regulations, and funding priorities promulgated by governmental entities to address issues of public concern. The making of public policy is a complex process that requires coordination between different institutions and aims to establish guidelines for the public. Key aspects of public policy include problem identification, agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. Ultimately, the goal of public policy is to maximize benefits to society according to a political system's values and priorities.

Uploaded by

Medha Guha Mallick
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PUBLIC POLICY

Thomas Dye defined Public Policy as “Whatever the government


chooses to do or not to do”. Public policy can be generally defined
as a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and
funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a
governmental entity or its representatives. The topic of public
policy, which consists of various plans, program and schemes,
emanates from the Constitution and is very relevant to governance,
as a collective decision-making process which is the key to solving
public problems. The origin of the discipline of public policy, which
is one of the most prominent means through which government
maintains order and addresses the needs of its citizens according to
the constitution, is from the realization of the fact that running a
state requires a well-needed direction and a course of action.

Characteristics of Public Policy Making


 Public policy is not decided by a single individual or
institution. There are multiple components involved in
the process, from identifying the problem to evaluating
the success of a policy. Hence, it is a process that takes
into play multiple components.
 Public Policy Making requires co-ordination between

different individuals and institutions. A successful public


policy is yielded out of the procedures when each of
them co-ordinate and perform well with their duties and
responsibilities. This makes the making of public policy a
very complex process. It is also a dynamic process, which
changes from time-to-time.
 The primary aim behind making a public policy is to lay
guidelines for the public with regard to a certain problem
of general concern. Every public policy aims at laying out
feasible and agreeable guidelines and bringing them into
action. Hence, the making of public policy is a result-
oriented pro cess.
 While designing public policy, policymakers also look at
the ways in which it would affect the future. Any public
policy is crafted, directing to the future.
 It is the citizens that are supposed to benefit the mist
from a public policy. Therefore, every public policy takes
into account the interests of the public.

Public Policies are crafted by Legislature, Executive and Judiciary


and are evaluated by policy analysts, experts, media and political
leaders. It involves various processes, and can be summarized into
the following:

 Problem identification – the first step is to identify the


problem regarding which the government has to
intervene in the form of a public policy. This might be
identified through the government via various means,
such as general identification, public protests, through
the media etc.
 Agenda Setting – This step helps policymakers decide
the agenda of problems to be addressed.

 Policy formulation– It involves the proposal of


solutions to issues raised in the agenda. The process of
policy formulation involves policymakers discussing and
suggesting various methods to correct the issues raised
by the agenda.

 Policy adoption – This is the process through which the


finalized policy is adopted by government bodies for
implementation. It must be adopted by relevant
institutions of the government to be put into effect.

 Policy implementation – This step involves the practical


implementation of the theoretical proposal of the policy.
The success of the implementation of a policy is
evaluated according to:
 Whether it is communicated accurately from the

creator of the policy to the bureaucratic


 governing body

 Whether the policy is clear, concise, and easy to


interpret for the public.
 Whether the resources used in the
implementation integrate with the existing
processes and agencies, not causing them
extensive disruption, competition or conflict.

 Policy Evaluation – Policies may be evaluated and


analyzed critically at various levels. Research and
extensive studies are also conducted to analyze the
success of the implemented policies. 

Approaches to Public Policy


 Political system theory – says that policy is the output

of the political system.


 Group theory – says that interest groups pressure and

interact with the makers on preferences and self-interest


 Elite theory – says that the policy reflects the values and

preferences of governing Elites.


 Rational choice theory – says that the government

should choose policies resulting in maximum gains to


the society
 Institutional theory – says that public policy is
determined by government institutions
 Game theory – the study of rational decisions in
situations where two or more participants have choices
to make and the outcome depends on the choices made
by each.

Conclusion
Thus, we know that public policies are the collectively formulated
decisions that a government undertakes in order to achieve certain
objectives, with respect to the public. Public policymaking, adoption
and implementation are very important to the efficient governance
of any country. Each and every process in the policymaking and
each person, institution or department that takes place in the same,
are very important and crucial to the analyzing and evaluating the
policies.

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