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Public Policy

Public policy refers to actions taken by governments concerning goals and means of achievement. There are several types of public policies based on their objectives, such as distributive, redistributive, regulatory, and symbolic policies. The public policy process involves agenda-setting, formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. Major actors in public policy include elected officials, the public, bureaucracies, interest groups, think tanks, and the media. Policies progress through stages of problem identification, definition, alternative specification, selection, implementation, and evaluation.

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53 views

Public Policy

Public policy refers to actions taken by governments concerning goals and means of achievement. There are several types of public policies based on their objectives, such as distributive, redistributive, regulatory, and symbolic policies. The public policy process involves agenda-setting, formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. Major actors in public policy include elected officials, the public, bureaucracies, interest groups, think tanks, and the media. Policies progress through stages of problem identification, definition, alternative specification, selection, implementation, and evaluation.

Uploaded by

Anwar Hosen Ontor
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 PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Public Policy

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Public Policy Definition

▪ Thomas Dye (1972):

“Anything a government chooses to do or not to do”

▪ William Jenkins (1978) : “a set of interrelated decision taken by a


political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals
and the means of achieving them within a specified situation
where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power
of those actors to achieve”.

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Types of Public Policies
Classification of Policies can Education, Health, transportation, safety, environment,
be base on functional area
(1) Distributive policies provide particular goods and services (e.g., the building
Alternatively, can be based on and maintenance of a system of streets and highways);
Objective of the Policy
(2) Redistributive policies explicitly transfer values from one group to another
group (e.g., a policy that provides subsidized housing to those with limited
financial resources);
(3) Regulatory policies limit actions (e.g., a policy that prohibits a woman from
having an abortion);
(4) Extractive policies take resources from some actors (e.g., a sales tax on
purchases); and
(5) Symbolic policies confer honor or disrepute on certain actors (e.g., a medal
awarded to a soldier for bravery).

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(James Danziger, 2016, pp. 234-235)
Public policy cycle

(James Danziger, 2016, p 237)

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Policy Cycle Framework (Howlett et al., 2009)

Stages in Policy Cycle Applied Problem-Solving

1 Agenda – Setting Problem Recognition

2 Policy Formulation Proposal Solution

3 Decision Makings Choice of Solution

4 Policy Implementation Putting Solution in to Effect

5 Policy Evaluation Monitoring Result.


Major Actors of Public Policy

1) Elected Officials/politicians
2) Public
3) Bureaucracy
4) Political Parties
5) Interest Group (Business Actors, Labour, NGOs/ Civil Society)
6) Research Organization/Think Tanks
7) Mass Media
8) International Actors.
i. Policy Universe: All possible Actors who may affect the policy.
ii. Policy Subsystem: actors with sufficient knowledge of a problem area, or a resource at stake to allow them
participate in the process of developing possible alternative course of actions to address the issues raised in the agenda
settings stage.
iii. Government Decision Makers: elected officials, judges or bureaucrats.

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States of public policy

(James Danziger, 2016, p 237-39)

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Stages of public policy

1.Problem identification – based on public demand, policy makers may


consider some issues or may drop some issues for further actions.

2. Problem definition- what seem to be the causes of the problem, and


to define desired outcomes. Public opinion shapes these definitions.

3. Specification of alternatives: at this state alternatives are identified


to addresses the problem.

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Stages of public policy

4.Policy Selection/Decision making- try to assess the possible cost and benefits
from the options and select the best suitable option. During this cost-benefit
analysis, citizens concerned contribute a significant role. For example- Coal mining.

5.Implementation- for many policies, people and their opinions are considered to
increase the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the policy.

6.Evaluation- as a main stakeholder of public policy, citizens’ feedback is always an


important defining factor.

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References

• Danziger, J. N., & Smith, C. A. (2016). Understanding the political world: A


comparative introduction to political science. Boston :Pearson, pp. 234-239.

• Howlett, M., Ramesh, M. and Pearl, A. (2009). Studying Public Policy: Policy
Cycles and Policy Subsystems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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