Public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions[1][2] to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception[3] and often implemented by programs.
These policies govern and include various aspects of life such as education, health care, employment, finance, economics, transportation, and all over elements of society.
Therefore, the "policy process is a complex political process in which there are many actors: elected politicians, political party leaders, pressure groups, civil servants, publicly employed professionals, judges, non-governmental organizations, international agencies, academic experts, journalists and even sometimes citizens who see themselves as the passive recipients of policy.
The characterization of particular stages can vary, but a basic sequence is agenda setting, policy formulation, legitimation, implementation, and evaluation.
One dividing line in conceptions of public policy is between those that see it primarily in terms of ideas (principles and plans of action) and those that see it as a collection of empirical phenomena (the things that are done, and their outcomes).
The first of these conceptualizations is suitable when the matter of concern is relatively simple and unambiguous, and the means of enactment are expected to be highly disciplined.
[17] Other definitions of public policy in terms of a broad range of empirical phenomena include that of Paul Cairney: "the sum total of government action from signals of intent to the final outcomes".
[18] An example of conceiving public policy as ideas is a definition by Richard Titmuss: "the principles that govern action directed towards given ends".
"[26] Other scholars define public policy as a system of "courses of action, regulatory measures, laws, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives".
[28] Transformative constitutions of Global South considers judicial actions for Public policy as paramount, since the political forces that facilitate legislative decisions may run counter to the will of the people.
[33] Proposed by Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones, this theory explains periods of policy stability punctuated by sudden, significant changes.
Their framework highlights the feedback loops that policies create, shaping subsequent political action and societal responses.
[35] Introduced by Paul Sabatier, this framework explores how coalitions of actors with shared beliefs influence policy processes over extended periods.
[37] Public problems can originate in endless ways and require different policy responses (such as regulations, subsidies, import quotas, and laws) on the local, national, or international level.
[39] A topology model can be used to demonstrate the types of and implementation of public policy: Direct government action involving the use of money can be classified into 2 subsections.
As societies and communities evolve over time, the nature in which norms, customs and morals are proven acceptable, unacceptable, desirable or undesirable changes as well.
[51] This gap arises when the goals, objectives, or provisions of a policy fail to be fully realized in practice, often due to challenges, inefficiencies, or unforeseen obstacles in the implementation process.
[54] Likewise, although its heuristic model is straightforward and easy to understand, the cycle is not totally applicable in all situations of policymaking due to it being far too simple as there are more crucial steps that should go into more complex real life scenarios.
[57] In public policy making, numerous individuals, corporations, non-profit organizations and interest groups compete and collaborate to influence policymakers to act in a particular way.
The large set of actors in the public policy process, such as politicians, civil servants, lobbyists, domain experts, and industry or sector representatives, use a variety of tactics and tools to advance their aims, including advocating their positions publicly, attempting to educate supporters and opponents, and mobilizing allies on a particular issue.
Following the 2008/2009 financial crisis, David Cameron's Conservative party looked to implement a policy of austerity in 2010 after winning the general election that year, to shore up the economy and diminish the UK's national debt.
In the 2010s, public policy making is increasingly goal-oriented, aiming for measurable results and goals, and decision-centric, focusing on decisions that must be taken immediately.
[57] Furthermore, mass communications and technological changes such as the widespread availability of the Internet have caused the public policy system to become more complex and interconnected.
[68] The changes pose new challenges to the current public policy systems and pressures leaders to evolve to remain effective and efficient.
[74] With new technologies implemented in government administration, a more complete visualization of current problems will emerge, allowing for more precision in targeted policy-making.
[77] Forecasting and creating data models to prevent the propagation of the virus has become a vital approach for policy makers in governments around the world.
[85] At the same time, the study of public policy is distinct from political science or economics, in its focus on the application of theory to practice.
[88] Therefore, since "Economics studies the consequences of decisions that are made about the use of land, labour, capital and other resources that go into producing the volume of output which determines a country's standard of living";[89] this means that artificially tampering with the allocation of scarce resources such as implementing certain public policies such as price controls will cause inefficiency in the economy and decline in the standard of living within society.
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an organisation that lobbies United States lawmakers to oppose stricter gun laws.
Another controversy surrounding public policy is that much like anyone, policymakers can sometimes hold bias and end up looking for facts that can prove their preconceptions to be true.
