E-Content Study Material

Dr. George T. Haokip

Public Policy – Meaning, Definitions and Characteristics

4th Semester,
Unit I: Paper 401: Public Policy and Development in India
MA Political Science & Human Rights,
Indira Gandhi National Tribal University

This material/paper covers public policy, meaning and nature of public policy,
Characteristics of Public Policy, relevance and importance and finally different types of
public policy.

What is Public Policy?

As you know Public policies are as old as governments. So, whatever be the form,
oligarchy, monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, democracy etc., - whenever and wherever
governments have existed, public policies have been formulated and implemented. To
cope with the different problems and demands of the people, the government has to
make many policies; these policies are called public policies. Generally speaking public
policy is what the government chooses to do, or not to do. It is a decision made by
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 i.e deeply involved and
long-term problems. Public policy provides guidance to governments and
accountability links to citizens.

Public policy is the process by which groups act collectively--everything from

declaring war to installing stoplights. We study public policy in the hopes that we can
do better. It is an audacious task. What activities are best handled by the market? How
can we act in the face of scientific uncertainty? How can we make sense of the opinions
of hundreds of millions of people? How can we evaluate trade-offs--economic growth
versus environmental protection, for example? How can we even measure our
success?

There are various studies about public policy and many scholars have attempted to
define public policy from different angles. Let’s look at how four scholars have defined

1. Firstly Robert Eyestone terms public policy as "the relationship of government unit
to its environment.”

2. Thomas R. Dye says that "public policy is whatever government chooses to do or not
to do"

3. Richard Rose says that "public policy is not a decision; it is a course or pattern of
activity”.
 4. According to Carl J. Friedrich's opinion public policy is a proposed course of action
of a person, group or government within a given environment providing opportunities
and obstacles which the policy was proposed to utilise and overcome in an effort to reach
a goal realise an objective or purpose.

Public policies are governmental decisions, and are actually the result of activities
which the government undertakes in pursuance of certain goals and objectives. It can
also be said that public policy formulation and implementation involves a well-
planned pattern or course of activity. It requires a thoroughly close knit relation and
interaction between the important governmental agencies viz., the political executive,
legislature, bureaucracy and judiciary.

With the following four points student will be more clearer with the meaning of public
policy. They are:

First, Public Policies are goal oriented, meaning that public policies are formulated
and implemented in order to attain the objectives which the government has in view
for the ultimate benefit of the masses in general. These policies clearly spell out the
programmes of government.

Second, Public policy is the outcome of the government's collective actions. It means
that it is a pattern or course of activity or' the governmental officials and actors in a
collective sense than being termed as their discrete and segregated decisions.
Third, Public policy is what the government actually decides or chooses to do. It is the
relationship of the government units to the specific field of political environment in a
given administrative system. It can take a variety of forms like law, ordinances, court
decisions, executive orders, decisions etc.

Fourth, Public policy is positive in the sense that it depicts the concern of the
government 'and involves its action to a particular problem on which the policy is
made. It has the sanction of law and authority behind it. Negatively, it involves a
decision by the governmental official regarding not taking any action on a particular
issue.

What are the characteristic of Public Policy?

Here let’s point out Sambo (1999) and Anderson (1975) how they differentiate public
policy from private policies. Also the other forms of policies.
1. Public policy is a purposive course of action or goal-oriented action rather than
a random or chance behaviour.
2. Public policy consists of courses or patterns of action by government officials.
3. Public policy is what governments actually do, not what they intend to do or
say they are going to do. However, this is still a subject of debate since future
plans of governments over certain matters of concern can be seen as a
commitment to resolving such issues within the set time.
4. Public policy involves some forms of overt government action to affect a
particular problem; it involves a decision by government officials not to take
action, to do nothing on some matter on which governmental involvement is
sought.
 5. Public policy is based on law and is authoritative. In other words, public policy
has an authoritative, potentially legally-coercive quality that the policies of
private organisations do not have.
6. Public policy is sometimes an outcome of bargaining and compromise among
political/policy actors and various interest groups in the policy process.

Relevance of Public Policy

1. It is a mirror that guides government in its actions. This is because a
government without a definite plan of actions is like a traveller without a
destination. He may cover many kilometres and yet not be able to say where he
is going or how far he has gone. Public policy thus helps government to
reconcile the numerous public demands and scarce resources based on priority.

2. It arouses in citizens public consciousness and critical minds to take up the

challenge of assessing government-planned activities and performance over
time.

3. It provides the platforms to question the why of government, i.e. why do

governments do what they do? It seeks an understanding of the causes or
determinants of political/policy actions.

4. It provides the opportunity for various interest groups and the general public to
know government's responses and reactions to their demands. Such reactions
show the pattern of action government adopts or intends to adopt.

5. It promotes professionalism in the art and science of policy-making. Applying

the knowledge of social science to solve practical societal problems makes it
compelling that expertise contributions of political scientists or
public/development administrators, economists, sociologists, lawyers,
industrial relations experts, among others, are sought in analysing the viability
and feasibility of proposed policies that have direct consequences on the general
populace, the economy and government itself.

Public Policy has different types. It is important to know them because they are
important to critically understand the contents and the purposes for which they are
formulated.

1. Foreign policy and domestic policy. Foreign policies are those that shape the
orientation and mode of interaction that takes place between a particular
country and other countries of the world. It is a potent tool for achieving the
national interests and/or objectives of a country.

2. Distributive Policy: This type of policy is formulated by government to allocate

resources to the general public. It promotes equal access to resources because
benefits are distributed not at the expense of some other people. It is a win-win
approach since every individual, irrespective of status, is a beneficiary. The
policy aims at achieving egalitarianism (i.e. equality in status) among members
 of a political community. Examples of distributive policies in India NHM,
MGNRUGS, etc.

3. Re-Distributive Policy: policy is usually referred to as “social inter-transfer of

material resources”. The policy involves the allocation of resources by
transferring such resources from one section of the society to another. The policy
aims at achieving equilibrium, that is, a balance share of state resources or
access to them.

4. Regulatory Policy: This type of policy is formulated as a control measures in the

conduct of human and societal affairs. It involves setting of standards and rules
to limit or restrict certain behaviour or activities with undesirable consequences
in the society. It entails the making of rules based on accepted terms,
enforcement and adjudication in cases of any breach. Regulatory policies could
be competitive or protective.

5. Constituent Policy: This type of policy has a national orientation as it goes

beyond serving individuals, organisations or sections of the society. The policy
serves the nation as a whole by protecting and promoting certain activities that
are vital to national security and survival.