Domestic policy covers a wide range of areas, including business, education, energy, healthcare, law enforcement, money and taxes, natural resources, social welfare, and personal rights and freedoms.
In a democracy, the formal design of domestic policy is chiefly the responsibility of elected leaders, lawmaking bodies, and specialized government agencies.
The effectiveness of domestic policy depends on the government bureaucracy (system of agencies) that puts laws and programs into action.
In many countries, courts have the power of judicial review, which allows its judges to strike down any legislative or executive action that they find in violation of the policy's constitution.
A state's cultural policy is used to "channel both aesthetic creativity and collective ways of life" through a bureaucratic process.