Actors and Institutions in the Policy Making

Process

Kofi Ayisi (PhD)

Introduction

• A number of actors and institutions influence the public policy making process.

• These actors can be subsumed under two broad categories: official / unofficial;
authoritative / non-authoritative; institutional /non institutional actors.

• Official authoritative/institutional actors are those involved in public policy

because their responsibilities are sanctioned by law or the Constitution and they
therefore have the power to make and enforce policies.

• The legislative, executive, and judicial branches are official institutions, because
they are explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.
Unofficial/ Non-authoritative/ Non-institutional actors

• These are actors who play roles in the policy process without any clear legal
authority (or duty) to participate.

• They are involved because they have the right to be, and because they have
important interests to protect and promote.
• Being referred to as “unofficial actors” does not mean that they are any less
important than the official ones, or that their roles should be discounted.

• They have no formal, guaranteed role in policy making, but are important
because, in many ways, the policy process would not function well without them.

• They include the media, interest groups, political parties, policy think tanks and
the citizenry
Official authoritative/institutional actors

1. The legislature
• It is considered the major policymaking institution because they exercise the
popular will.
• Their primary responsibility is to make laws - consider bills introduced by
government and other private citizens
• The laws they pass establish how various programs should run, how money will
be distributed, what public works projects will be funded etc.
• They also perform oversight functions –
• supervising the executive branch’s implementation of laws and programs.
• Inviting ministers to answer questions on policy issues and problems
• reveal the gaps in state policies and provide alternatives for improvement in policies
 2. The president and executive agencies
• Unlike the legislature, the president does not directly make laws but only approves
and disapprove legislation, i.e. by signing bills into law.

• He has the power to veto any legislation that he does not like on substantive or
political grounds.

• As the Chief executive of the state, he sets national policy agenda, by persuading
members of the legislature, the bureaucracy, the media and the public on issues
that require attention.
The president and executive agencies

• The president can also take action through executive orders and through his
constitutional role as the nation’s head of government to address public problems.

• He appoints ministers and other officials to implement and supervise public

policies.

• They use the powers and perks of their office to maximize their policy agendas
3. The Judiciary

• Judiciary is the arm of government that interprets laws in the state

• By interpreting the laws that set out policies they influence the policy process and
determine the acceptable application of policies.
• They review acts of the legislature and the executive branch and strike them down if
they find them to be unconstitutional.

• By their judgments (case laws), they also make laws and policies.
• The judiciary fine-tunes laws to ensure their successful application in the real world.
• The legislature and executive initiates public policy, but the judiciary reacts to the practical
effects of such policies. Therefore the law is not what the legislature orders but what the
courts decide in concrete cases.
4. The Bureaucracy (Civil Service)

• The authoritative body charged with the responsibility of helping government to

formulate and implement its policies.

• They have control of expertise and technical knowledge and therefore help government
to formulate public polices by bringing out the objective advantages and disadvantages.

• They are responsible for implementing/enforcing policies government for example,

police officers enforce traffic regulations in Ghana.

• They evaluate public services to determine whether they are being delivered efficiently,
while achieving 'value for money’ and within the principles of justice and democracy.
Unofficial/Non-institutional actors
1. The Media
• The media consists of both print and electronic - radio, tv, newspapers, internet
platforms etc.

• They help set the agenda by shedding light on issues that require attention.
• They help define social reality- the public rely on the media’s portrayal of reality
because they cannot be everywhere.

• They perform a “watchdog” role, by holding governments accountable. They

illuminate the actions of government and expose shortfalls in implementation of
policies.

• Public polices result from what the media recognizes as a problem and their vigilance
in demanding value for money in government programs.
2. Political Parties

• They help to set the agenda by campaigning for policies that will address public
problems.

• Their manifestos serve as the main source of public polices- policies are directly
tied to manifesto/ideology of parties.

• Party labels provide voters with cues for voting; while in government, parties still
influence the direction of policies.

• They are important in elections, patronage appointments, legislative committees

and national policy discourse.
3. Interest Groups

• TUC, GNAT, UTAG, GMA etc.

• They attempt to influence government policies in the interest of their members.
• They engage in a range of activities such as lobbying and media advocacy to
make group members’ voices heard.
• They lobby (the organized, continuous act of communicating with the
government) and petition government/policy makers, not only for the redress of
grievances, but also to encourage government to support their interests.
• They provide data and expert analysis on policies that affect their members.
• Their influence on policy is dependent of bureaucratic knowledge, a network of contacts,
citizen backing, ability to make political contributions and ability to mount public
relations campaign.
4. Policy think tanks and independent research
institutions
• CDD, Imani, IDEG etc.

• They provide valuable inputs into the policy process. They are more scholarly,
objective and less ideological and official actors often rely on them for expert
advice.

• They specialize in specific policy areas and provide politically and socially relevant
research to units of government.

• They are good sources of information and ideas for research on important policy
issues.

• They support government in policy advocacy and lobbying.

Conclusions

• Public policies result from interactions and influences between a number of

actors and institutions, both official and unofficial.

• All the various actors and institutions are expected to act in the interest of
the public that they serve.

• However, they sometimes act in their own self interest and that negatively
affects policy outcomes.