What is Policy?

A policy often comes in the form of general statements about

priorities, written regulations or guidelines, procedures and/or standards
to be achieved. At its simplest, policy refers to a distinct path of action
which is suitable for the pursuit of desired goals within a particular
context, directing the decision making of an organization or individual.

What is Public Policy?

Generally speaking public policy is what the government chooses
to do, or not to do. It is a decision made by the government to either act,
or not act in order to resolve a problem.
Public policy is a course of action that guides a range of related
actions in a given field. They rarely tackle one problem, but rather deal
with clusters of entangled and long-term problems.
Public policy provides guidance to governments and accountability
links to citizens. Decision making is clouded by values, rather than
based purely on objective data. Most issues tend to involve deeply held
values/ interests and large amounts of money, making the policy process
very complex.
The policy process is a process of balancing different solutions
that address the different aspects of a cluster of problems. Every policy
has three key elements: a problem definition, goals to be achieved, and
the policy instruments to address the problem and achieve the goals.
Policy may be formal or informal: a formal policy might take the
form of a planned policy document that has been discussed, written,
reviewed, approved and published by a policymaking body. It could be a
government’s national plan on HIV/AIDS for example. An informal policy
might be an ad hoc, general, unwritten but widely recognized practice or
understanding within an organization that a course of action is to be
followed. Even though this policy may not be made explicit in writing it
still exists in practice.

Who Makes Public Policies?

Policy comes from those who have legitimate authority to impose
normative guidelines for action. It is made by elected officials acting in
concert with advisors from the higher levels of the administration.
Government ministers are the elected officials at government who have
the right to articulate policy. Non-elected officials are then required to
implement the policy through programs.

What are Policy Instruments?

Policy instruments are techniques at the disposal of the
government to implement policy objectives. After the issue/ problem is
defined, tools are found to achieve the desired outcome. Examples of
policy instruments used are expenditures, regulations, partnerships,
exchange of information, taxation, licensing, direct provision of services,
doing nothing, contracts, subsidies and authority. The purpose of policy
instruments are to:
● Achieve behaviour change within individuals
● Realize social, political or economic conditions
● Provide services to the public
Government’s choice of policy instruments is bound most
importantly by past actions (policy instruments the current government
has used in the past). Other restraints include financial, social,
international and cultural pressures. The political framework may be the
largest constraint. The types of policy instruments available to
government include:
● Doing nothing:​ decide not to intervene. There may be no
problem, financial constraints or precedents that cause the
government to choose to do nothing. Or, the problem may be
self-corrective
● Information-based:​ influence people through knowledge transfer,
communication and moral persuasion (behaviour is based on
knowledge, beliefs and values). This is the least coercive of the
instruments
● Expenditure-based:​ money is used as a direct instrument to
achieve outcome (grants, contributions, vouchers, etc.)
● Regulation:​ government’s role is to command and prohibit - this is
the most widely used instrument/ tool. It defines norms &
acceptable behaviour or limits activities
● Acting directly:​ providing a direct service to achieve outcome
(rather than working through citizens or organizations to achieve
goals). Examples include education, garbage collection, Parks and
Recreation
Public Policies benefits for Economy

Economic growth depends in part on policies that affect

productivity and the labor supply

Output per person grows when output increases faster than

increases in population. That means anything that positively impacts
productivity leads to higher rates of economic growth. A government
policy that encourages the accumulation of the four economic resources
increases output and the rate of growth.

Examples of policies that affect productivity are: Encouraging labor

force participation: By increasing the share of the population that are
workers, you increase the quantity of labor available. Investing in human
capital - By increasing the health and education of workers, those
workers are more effective and can produce more. Improving human
capital increases the quality of labor available.
Policies that increase infrastructure and technology affect
economic growth

Technological progress comes largely from initiatives in the private

sector, but governments also play an important role in encouraging
research and development​. For example, government policies that
protect intellectual property, such as patents, give private firms more
incentive to create that intellectual property.

Additionally, governments are frequently the creators of technology

themselves. For example, many countries have government agencies
that engage in creating original science and research and development
that directly benefits the private sector.

Governments also play a key role in developing a country’s

infrastructure. Good, dependable transportation systems help
businesses get inputs to production, and get goods to customers. That
means that not only does government spending on infrastructure raise
government spending and real GDP, but also contributes to the growth
of real GDP in the long run.

What is the Importance/significance of Public Policy?

There are three main reasons for formulation of clear cut policy on any
issue:
Awareness Creation:​ Firstly, to create awareness among the public in
general and the stakeholders in particular about the resolve of the
government to address the pressing issue for which a policy is being
formulated. By creating such awareness among various sections of
society, it hopes to get the tax and non-tax support of the people and
avoid bad publicity in the media and anger of the civil society.

Big Picture:​ Secondly, policies are always part and parcel of the big
picture which is in the mind of the governing elite of a country. By
formulating a holistic policy, the government intends to give clear
guidelines to those implementing these policies regarding the best way
to solve a problem.

Transparency:​ Thirdly, clear cut policies are needed to ensure

transparency about the government’s intentions, actions and priorities.
People should know who is getting what and to raise their objections if
there are some serious equity issues in allocation of resources.
Homeless people have the right to object to housing policy which
allocates too many resources on the carpeting of roads of posh areas
while setting aside peanuts for slums and low income housing societies.

Formulating Public Policies

The Policymaking Process
Public policy refers to the actions taken by government — its
decisions that are intended to solve problems and improve the quality of
life for its citizens. At the federal level, public policies are enacted to
regulate industry and business, to protect citizens at home and abroad,
to aid state and city governments and people such as the poor through
funding programs, and to encourage social goals.
A policy established and carried out by the government goes through
several stages from inception to conclusion. These are agenda building,
formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation, and termination.

Agenda building
Before a policy can be created, a problem must exist that is called to the attention of
the government. Illegal immigration, for example, has been going on for many years,
but it was not until the 1990s that enough people considered it such a serious
problem that it required increased government action.

Formulation and adoption

Policy formulation means coming up with an approach to solving a

problem.

Implementation
The implementation or carrying out of policy is most often accomplished
by institutions other than those that formulated and adopted it.
Successful implementation depends on the complexity of the policy,
coordination between those putting the policy into effect, and
compliance.

Evaluation and termination

Evaluation means determining how well a policy is working, and it is not
an easy task. People inside and outside of government typically use
cost-benefit analysis to try to find the answer. In other words, if the
government is spending x billions of dollars on this policy, are the
benefits derived from it worth the expenditure? Cost-benefit analysis is
based on hard-to-come-by data that are subject to different, and
sometimes contradictory, interpretations.
 Democratic Public Policy

Democracy is a realization of public sovereignty. Public space becomes

a media to establish interactive communication between the public and
the state which is usually called as public participation or public opinion.
Democracy is not only related to politic (e.g. parliament decision), but it
is also related to public policy. The process of public policy has been
developing. Previously, public policy is a struggle result of idea, interest,
and ideology of public representation to elite group in government
institution. It influences public opinion in making policies.