PUBLIC POLICY AND PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION: An Overview

Toche Vic B. Doce, RN, MAN, DPA, JD, FRIN, LLM (CAR)
Course Facilitator, PA 227
College of Management, Capiz State University – Roxas City Main Campus

What is Public Policy?

• Attempt by the government to address a public issue
• Principles & standards regarded by the legislature or by the courts as being of
fundamental concern to the State & the whole society
• Course of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a
particular issue or set of issues

Meaning of Public Policy

• System of courses of action, regulatory measures, laws, & funding priorities
concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its
representatives
• Commonly embodied in constitutions, legislative acts and judicial decisions;
may also be created by an executive order, bureaucratic regulation, or
provincial/city/municipal/barangay ordinance
• Also considered academic discipline as it is studied by professors & students at
public policy schools of major universities
• Basically the legal framework within which society operates
• Composite of decisions that government makes & programs it embarks upon
or implements to achieve goals
• Implies process of formulating & promulgating a program based on a set of
principles
• Rule of action, manifesting or clarifying specific organization goals, objectives,
values, or ideals & often prescribing the obligatory or most desirable ways &
means for their accomplishment

Aims of Public Policy

• Reconcile conflicting claims for scarce resources
• Encourage or foster cooperation that would probably not occur without
government influence or encouragement
• Prohibit morally unacceptable behavior
• Protect the rights of individuals
• Provide direct benefits to citizens

Nature & Scope of Public Policy

• “The authoritative allocation of values for a society.”
• “The process of deciding who gets what, when, where and how.”
• “What the government chooses to do or not to do about a specific problem.”
• Establish the boundaries of our freedoms & color the contours of our
interactions with other people in our political, social & economic systems

Public Policy and Program Administration: An Overview 1

PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
Three (3) Parts to Public Policy-Making
1. Problem – issue that needs to be addressed
2. Player – individual or group that is influential in forming a plan to address the
problem in question
3. Policy – finalized course of action decided upon by the government; widely open
to interpretation by NGO players & private sector including church & cultural
institutions

Shaping Public Policy

• Complex & multifaceted process
• Interplay of individuals & groups (interest) competing/collaborating to
influence policy makers
• Variety of tools/tactics used to advance aims
• Advocating positions publicly – educating supporters/opponents, mobilizing
allies

Advocacy
• Attempt to influence public policy thru education, lobbying or political pressure
• Educate general public/policy makers re: nature of problems, needed
legislation & funding required for services/research
• Regarded as unseemly but it can clearly influence public policy priorities

Guidance for Policy Makers (Core Principles)

• Politicians & public servants are accountable to the public
• Elites, in politics & private sector, do not have the right to pursue their interests
without constraints
• Government bureaucratic & decision processes must be open, accessible, &
transparent, as well as responsive to public
• Individuals & communities affected by projects have the right to information
regarding proposed developments; the right to challenge the need for, and the
design of, projects, and the right to be involved in planning and decision-
making processes.

Rational Model of Public Policy Making Process

• Agenda setting – agencies & government officials meet to discuss the

problem at hand
• Option-formulation – alternative solutions are considered & final decisions are
made regarding the best policy
• Implementation – the decided policy is enforced

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PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
 Stages in the Policy Process
(John W. Kingdom, 1984)

• Agenda setting
• Policy recognition
• Policy generation
• Political action
• Policy formulation
• Policy implementation

Agenda Setting
• Certain problems are viewed as needing action while others are postponed;
competing claims & prioritization gain or decline in prominence over time
• Many people contribute – president, members of congress, executive branch
officials, political parties, interest groups, media & the general public – in
shaping public opinion
• From many & competing claims, policy makers select issues to be given priority
• & those to be filtered out
• Confluence of 3 streams of events: policy recognition, policy generation, &
political action

Policy Recognition
• Certain topics emerge as significant issues that demand action due to many
influences such as indicators that come to public view, feedback on current
programs, or events that demand attention
• Policy entrepreneurs invest personal time, energy, & often money to pursue
policy changes by using publicity campaigns, direct contacts with decision
makers (letters, phone calls) petition drives, etc. Or involve themselves in
media, political parties, or interest groups, that provide access to decision
makers

Policy Generation
• May occur almost simultaneously with policy recognition; likely that many are
trying to generate solutions to the problem
• Ideas come from decision makers themselves, members of their staff, experts
in the bureaucracy, members of the scientific community, policy think tanks, or
from the general public
• Proposed solutions swirl around through speeches & articles, papers, &
conversations until a few ideas begin to gain special currency
• Ideas generated not only seem to correctly address the problem but seem also
to be politically acceptable.

Public Policy and Program Administration: An Overview 3

PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
Political Action
• To reach the top of policy agenda, proposal must be consistent with
emerging political realities
–Consistent with prevailing political climate
–Favored by incumbent administration & legislative majority
–Support of interest groups

Policy Formulation
• Development of formal policy statements (legislation, executive orders,
administrative rules, etc.) that are viewed as legitimate
• Procedure in legislation: a bill is introduced & referred to a committee (&
perhaps a subcommittee), hearings are held, the committee reports to the
larger body, a vote is taken in both houses, a conference committee works out
differences in the 2 versions, & the bill is sent to the chief executive for his
signature
• President has formal & informal means of influencing legislation thru program
initiatives & budget proposals
• Other government officials interact with Congress on a regular basis & may
also affect policy outcomes
• Individual citizens & interest groups also seek access & influence
• Government agencies usually send program proposals to the legislature for its
consideration
• Agency personnel are often called upon to provide testimony regarding
particular proposals due to their expertise on public issues
• When relationship among interest groups, agency personnel, & members of
Congress become strong, frequent & intense, the resulting alliance is called
sub-governments or iron triangles that often exert great influence

Policy Implementation
• Legislation is general & lacks details
• Legislators cannot foresee questions that may come up during implementation
• Legislation leaves great deal of discretion to public managers in working out
details of particular program
• Managers develop administrative rules or policies to give detail to legislation or
fill in the gaps

Types of Policy

1. Regulatory policy – designed to limit the actions of persons or groups so as to

protect the general public or a substantial portion of the public
2. Distributive policy – most common form of government policy, uses tax
revenues to provide benefits to individuals or groups by means of grants or
subsidies

Public Policy and Program Administration: An Overview 4

PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
 3. Redistributive policy – take taxes from certain groups & give them to another
group
–Income stabilization – support to unemployed or retired
–Social welfare – providing direct payments to indigents
–Health care programs - Medicare
4. Constituent Policy – intended to benefit the public generally or to serve the
government
5. Foreign & defense policies
6. Policies affecting the structure & function of government agencies like
government reorganization, etc.

Steps in Making Public Policies

(Roy Sylvan)

• Identify problem that needs improvement or solution

• Develop alternative solutions that can improve or solve the problem
• Adopt an alternative or combination of alternatives
• Implement the adopted policy
• Evaluate the effect of the policy on the problem it addresses & on the people
affected

Public Policy and Program Administration: An Overview 5

PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
Steps in Passage of Bill in Philippine Legislature
• 1st reading – principal author may propose additional authors; contains title,
number & names of authors
• Bill referred to appropriate committee for study; if disapproved by committee,
dies
• 2nd reading – after favorable committee evaluation, bill forwarded to
Committee on Rules for calendar; read for 2nd time in entirety
• Debates – general debate & amendments proposed in accordance with rules
• Printing & distribution – after approval on 2nd reading, bill printed in final form
& distributed to members 3 days before passage
• 3rd reading – last reading where only title is read; no amendment allowed &
votes (yeas & nays) entered in journal; member may abstain; majority of
quorum can pass bill
• Bill referred to other house – same procedure
• Bill forwarded to President – if approved on 3rd reading by both houses, bill
printed in final form & transmitted to the President for appropriate action; no
action within 30 days means the bill becomes law; bills re-passed over veto
automatically becomes law.

Local Legislative Body (Sanggunian)

Critical Tasks
• Formulating & managing the legislative agenda
• Crafting ordinances & resolutions
• Enacting ordinances & codes of ordinances
• Evaluating the implementation of ordinances

Crafting Ordinances & Resolutions

• Identifying & analyzing a policy problem to be addressed by legislation
• Gathering research-based information
• Drafting the legislative proposal – requires knowledge of its parts or
elements, rules of construction such as grammar & usage, form & style; civil
society groups can influence this cycle by drafting proposals & giving them to
legislators

Enactment of Legislation
• Deliberation
• Consultation
• Codification
• Consideration

Legislative Oversight
• Evaluation of how the policy was carried out; that funds were not wasted

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PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management
Elements of Effective Local Legislation
• Efficient institution or organization
• Participatory legislation process
• Development perspective; addresses development objectives: poverty
reduction, environmental protection, gender equality, peace & unity,
accountability & transparency, citizen participation

Citizen Participation
• Awareness-raising on areas & mechanisms for participation
• Making existing legislative mechanisms for participation work
• Developing innovative tools to encourage & sustain participation in legislative
decision making

Mechanisms for Legislative Participation

• Committee meetings
• Committee hearings
• Legislative agenda formulation – public consultations & workshop
• Budget hearings
• Accreditation (research, writing, information)

Methods to Solicit Input /Comment from Public

• Public hearing
• Public consultation
• Focus group discussion
• Community needs assessment survey
• Consultation by individual legislators

Tools To Reach Out Public

• Legislative digest
• Sanggunian brochure
• Media tools
• Website
• Letters to constituents
• Barangay or purok hopping
• Study visits for students

Reference:

Public Policy & Program Administration Presentation by: Engr. Rogelio D. Mercado for
DPA 204, Lyceum-Northwestern University, Dagupan City, Philippines.

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PA 227; Capiz State University – Roxas City, College of Management