Meaning of Public Policy–Public policy can be generally defined as the course of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a particular issue or set of issues. Public policy manifests the commonsense and common conscience of the citizens as a whole that extends throughout the state and is applied to matters of public health, safety and welfare. It is general, well-settled public opinion relating to the duties of citizens to their fellow citizens. It imports somethings that fluctuates with the changing economic needs, social customs and moral aspirations of the people. Public policy enters into and influences, the enactment, execution, and interpretation of legislation. Public policy is also considered as an academic discipline, as it is studied by professors and students at public policy schools of major universities throughout the country. Public policy is very important as it attends to the purpose of the country, intending to create positive impacts. It is established in order to gain favourable advantages as well as to steer clear of negative consequences that the country may experience. A public policy is important as it serves different purposes; it may be created in order to distribute supplies and services to the people of the country.
The public policies are the decisions made by the existing government and they are made to set some goals and for their implementation for the welfare of the country on the whole. In order to formulate the policies as well panned pattern of activities are required in order to implement the policies for the best of the society and mankind.
In order to understand the nature of public policies the points stated as under will help develop the ideas better: (a) The public policies are the programme which are set out by the existing government for the betterment of the people on the whole. (b) These are the final result of the collective actions taken by the government. (c) These are the image of actions which the government intends to take. (d) These policies have a positive impact as it tells about the government’s efforts in seeking out results for the actions performed by the managers of the people.
Public policy is always of correcting market failures and providing goods and services that the market will not. In this sense, public policy formation, implementation, and evaluation is a non-market process of societal problem solving. But in democracies, the forms that public solutions to societal problems tend to take is difficult to predict and especially difficult to explain. The purpose of this course is three-fold:
To address some of the difficulties in explaining why public policies take particular forms;
To probe the extent to which political science theories can help understand different kinds of public policy; and
To identify problems in political science theories of policy-making and in the research on which they are based with an eye to improving the quality of theory in this area.
Policy and Goals: Policies and goals are very much interrelated. Finally, the policies are made to reach the desired goals and therefore, it is very important to understand the meaning of goals. A goal can be interpreted as the final aim where the government aspires to reach in order to fulfil the aspirations of the people. Goals can be either specific or concrete. Like the government had laid a goal of giving education to all and government has laid down various policies to fulfil this goal. Eradication of poverty is another goal and there are many more. The public policies are laid down to achieve such goals. There are some programmes which are designed to achieve these goals. There are some time period set and efforts done in order to get the desired results. Therefore, policy formation is must to get the best as desired.
It should be kept in mind that whatever goals are announced by the government for the welfare of the people does not become public policy. For example, if the government announces that their goal is to eradicate unemployment from the country, which does not becomes a public policy but can be referred to as the goal of the existing government. In the same way if they say they have the goal of providing homes to the homeless, will not be a public policy. In order to make it a public policy, the goals needs to be translated into action.Programmes needs to be designed for the action. They are committed to running the country in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. They set the goals for continuous improvement in the development, sourcing, manufacturing and transportation activities. As part of that commitment, they take a long-term and life cycle view, continually improving environmental performance, communicating openly and reporting regularly on their performance.
Policies and Decisions: Both the words seem to be same to many of us but they are very different in true form. Decisions are taken by every private organisation, at individual level, at group level or by the government organisation. But these decisions are not matters of policy. Decision can be described as a choice made out of the alternatives available. The decisions are for the welfare of the society on the whole. Decisions are made and further acted upon to get the desired results. The decisions are of two types i.e programmed or non-programmed.
Programmed Decisions: These programmes are of routine nature. They are repetitive in action. Programmed decisions are made in routine, repetitive, well-structured situations with predetermined decision rules. These may be based on habit, or established policies, rules and procedures and stem from prior experience or technical knowledge about what works or does not work in a given situation.
For example, organisations often have standardised routines for handling customer complaints or employee discipline. Decisions are programmed to the extent that they are repetitive and routine and that a definite approach has been worked out for handling them. Because the problem is well-structured, the manager does not have to go to the trouble and expense of working through an involved decision-making process.
Non-programmed Decisions: These are novice in nature. These are basically not structured and every time needs a beginning and instructions to be followed. Non-programmed decisions are unique decisions that require a ‘custom made’ solution. This is when a manager is confronted with an ill-structured or novel problem and there is no ‘cut and dried solution’. The creation of a marketing strategy for a new service represents an example of a non-programmed decision. For example, if there is a breakdown of any epidemic or flood, drought in the country then the training is required.
Public policies in the broader form are the directions which are laid down by the government to take decisions. The decisions are taken for the betterment of the downtrodden. A policy has a number of decisions in a series which correspond to each other. To an extent there exist some similarities in the way decisions are taken and policies made.
Stages in Public Policy Process–The first step in the public policy is the identification of a problem. This step involves not only recognising the existence of an issue, but also in-depth study of the problem and its history. This stage often involves determining who is affected, how aware the public is of the issue and whether it is a short or long-term concern. Another key question centers on whether altering public policy can effect change. Answers to such questions may give policy makers a gauge for which policy changes, if any, are needed to address the identified problem.
After identifying and studying the problem, a public policy solution is usually formulated and adopted. This step in the public policy process is usually marked by discussion between governmental officials, interest groups, and individual citizens over how best to address the issue. The general purpose of this step is to set clear goals and list the steps to achieve them. The formulation stage often also includes a discussion of alternative solutions, potential obstacles and how to measure the effects of the policy change.
A third stage in the public policy process is the implementation of policy changes. This step usually includes defining the agencies and organisations involved and distributing responsibilities to each. To be successful, this stage usually requires agency communication and co-operation, sufficient funds and staff, and overall compliance to the new approach.
Meaning of Public Policy–Public policy can be generally defined as the course of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a particular issue or set of issues. Public policy manifests the commonsense and common conscience of the citizens as a whole that extends throughout the state and is applied to matters of public health, safety and welfare. It is general, well-settled public opinion relating to the duties of citizens to their fellow citizens. It imports somethings that fluctuates with the changing economic needs, social customs and moral aspirations of the people. Public policy enters into and influences, the enactment, execution, and interpretation of legislation. Public policy is also considered as an academic discipline, as it is studied by professors and students at public policy schools of major universities throughout the country. Public policy is very important as it attends to the purpose of the country, intending to create positive impacts. It is established in order to gain favourable advantages as well as to steer clear of negative consequences that the country may experience. A public policy is important as it serves different purposes; it may be created in order to distribute supplies and services to the people of the country.
The public policies are the decisions made by the existing government and they are made to set some goals and for their implementation for the welfare of the country on the whole. In order to formulate the policies as well panned pattern of activities are required in order to implement the policies for the best of the society and mankind.
In order to understand the nature of public policies the points stated as under will help develop the ideas better:
(a) The public policies are the programme which are set out by the existing government for the betterment of the people on the whole.
(b) These are the final result of the collective actions taken by the government.
(c) These are the image of actions which the government intends to take.
(d) These policies have a positive impact as it tells about the government’s efforts in seeking out results for the actions performed by the managers of the people.
Public policy is always of correcting market failures and providing goods and services that the market will not. In this sense, public policy formation, implementation, and evaluation is a non-market process of societal problem solving. But in democracies, the forms that public solutions to societal problems tend to take is difficult to predict and especially difficult to explain. The purpose of this course is three-fold:
Policy and Goals: Policies and goals are very much interrelated. Finally, the policies are made to reach the desired goals and therefore, it is very important to understand the meaning of goals. A goal can be interpreted as the final aim where the government aspires to reach in order to fulfil the aspirations of the people. Goals can be either specific or concrete. Like the government had laid a goal of giving education to all and government has laid down various policies to fulfil this goal. Eradication of poverty is another goal and there are many more. The public policies are laid down to achieve such goals. There are some programmes which are designed to achieve these goals. There are some time period set and efforts done in order to get the desired results. Therefore, policy formation is must to get the best as desired.
It should be kept in mind that whatever goals are announced by the government for the welfare of the people does not become public policy. For example, if the government announces that their goal is to eradicate unemployment from the country, which does not becomes a public policy but can be referred to as the goal of the existing government. In the same way if they say they have the goal of providing homes to the homeless, will not be a public policy. In order to make it a public policy, the goals needs to be translated into action.Programmes needs to be designed for the action. They are committed to running the country in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. They set the goals for continuous improvement in the development, sourcing, manufacturing and transportation activities. As part of that commitment, they take a long-term and life cycle view, continually improving environmental performance, communicating openly and reporting regularly on their performance.
Policies and Decisions: Both the words seem to be same to many of us but they are very different in true form. Decisions are taken by every private organisation, at individual level, at group level or by the government organisation. But these decisions are not matters of policy. Decision can be described as a choice made out of the alternatives available. The decisions are for the welfare of the society on the whole. Decisions are made and further acted upon to get the desired results. The decisions are of two types i.e programmed or non-programmed.
Programmed Decisions: These programmes are of routine nature. They are repetitive in action. Programmed decisions are made in routine, repetitive, well-structured situations with predetermined decision rules. These may be based on habit, or established policies, rules and procedures and stem from prior experience or technical knowledge about what works or does not work in a given situation.
For example, organisations often have standardised routines for handling customer complaints or employee discipline. Decisions are programmed to the extent that they are repetitive and routine and that a definite approach has been worked out for handling them. Because the problem is well-structured, the manager does not have to go to the trouble and expense of working through an involved decision-making process.
Non-programmed Decisions: These are novice in nature. These are basically not structured and every time needs a beginning and instructions to be followed. Non-programmed decisions are unique decisions that require a ‘custom made’ solution. This is when a manager is confronted with an ill-structured or novel problem and there is no ‘cut and dried solution’. The creation of a marketing strategy for a new service represents an example of a non-programmed decision. For example, if there is a breakdown of any epidemic or flood, drought in the country then the training is required.
Public policies in the broader form are the directions which are laid down by the government to take decisions. The decisions are taken for the betterment of the downtrodden. A policy has a number of decisions in a series which correspond to each other. To an extent there exist some similarities in the way decisions are taken and policies made.
Stages in Public Policy Process–The first step in the public policy is the identification of a problem. This step involves not only recognising the existence of an issue, but also in-depth study of the problem and its history. This stage often involves determining who is affected, how aware the public is of the issue and whether it is a short or long-term concern. Another key question centers on whether altering public policy can effect change. Answers to such questions may give policy makers a gauge for which policy changes, if any, are needed to address the identified problem.
After identifying and studying the problem, a public policy solution is usually formulated and adopted. This step in the public policy process is usually marked by discussion between governmental officials, interest groups, and individual citizens over how best to address the issue. The general purpose of this step is to set clear goals and list the steps to achieve them. The formulation stage often also includes a discussion of alternative solutions, potential obstacles and how to measure the effects of the policy change.
A third stage in the public policy process is the implementation of policy changes. This step usually includes defining the agencies and organisations involved and distributing responsibilities to each. To be successful, this stage usually requires agency communication and co-operation, sufficient funds and staff, and overall compliance to the new approach.