Public policy

This article is about government action. For use of the phrase in legal doctrine, see Public policy doctrine.
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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.[4] The implementation of public policy is known as public administration. Public policy can be considered the sum of a government's direct and indirect activities[5] and has been conceptualized in a variety of ways.

They are created and/or enacted on behalf of the public, typically by a government. Sometimes they are made by nonprofit organizations[6] or are made in co-production with communities or citizens,[7][8] which can include potential experts,[9][10][11] scientists, engineers and stakeholders or scientific data, or sometimes use[12][13] some of their results. They are typically made[how?] by policy-makers affiliated with (in democratic polities) currently elected politicians. 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."[14]

A popular way of understanding and engaging in public policy is through a series of stages known as "the policy cycle", which was first discussed by the political scientist Harold Laswell in his book The Decision Process: Seven Categories of Functional Analysis, published in 1956. The characterization of particular stages can vary, but a basic sequence is agenda setting, policy formulation, legitimation, implementation, and evaluation. "It divides the policy process into a series of stages, from a notional starting point at which policymakers begin to think about a policy problem to a notional end point at which a policy has been implemented, and policymakers think about how successful it has been before deciding what to do next."[15]

Officials considered policymakers bear the responsibility to advance the interests of various stakeholders. Policy design entails conscious and deliberate effort to define policy aims and map them instrumentally. Academics and other experts in policy studies have developed a range of tools and approaches to help in this task. Government action is the decisions, policies, and actions taken by governments, which can have a significant impact on individuals, organizations, and society at large. Regulations, subsidies, taxes, and spending plans are just a few of the various shapes it might take. Achieving certain social or economic objectives, such as fostering economic expansion, lowering inequality, or safeguarding the environment, is the aim of government action.

  1. ^ Martinez, Jessica. "What is Public Policy?". civiced.org. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  2. ^ "What is Public Policy? Why It's Important? | UoPeople". University of the People. 1 June 2021. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  3. ^ Lassance, Antonio (2020-11-10). "What Is a Policy and What Is a Government Program? A Simple Question With No Clear Answer, Until Now". Rochester, NY. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3727996. S2CID 234600314. SSRN 3727996. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Hoffman-Miller, Patricia, MPA. “Public Policy.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2022
  5. ^ Peters, B. Guy (2 August 2018). American Public Policy: Promise and Performance. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-5063-9957-7. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  6. ^ Rinfret, Sara; Scheberie, Denise; Pautz, Michelle (2018). "Chapter 2: The Policy Process and Policy Theories". Public Policy: A Concise Introduction. SAGE Publications. pp. 19–44. ISBN 978-1-5063-2971-0.
  7. ^ Bovaird, Tony; Loeffler, Elke. User and Community Co-production of Public Services and Public Policies through Collective Decision-making: the Role of Emerging Technologies. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  8. ^ Brandsen, Taco; Steen, Trui; Verschuere, Bram. "Co-Creation and Co-Production in Public Services: Urgent Issues in Practice and Research". Co-Production and Co-Creation (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  9. ^ Blomkamp, Emma (December 2018). "The Promise of Co-Design for Public Policy: The Promise of Co-Design for Public Policy". Australian Journal of Public Administration. 77 (4): 729–743. doi:10.1111/1467-8500.12310. hdl:11343/283557.
  10. ^ Deroubaix, J. F. (26 August 2008). "The co-production of a "relevant" expertise – administrative and scientific cooperation in the French water policies elaboration and implementation since the 1990s". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 12 (4): 1165–1174. Bibcode:2008HESS...12.1165D. doi:10.5194/hess-12-1165-2008. ISSN 1027-5606.
  11. ^ Morgan, M. Granger (20 May 2014). "Use (and abuse) of expert elicitation in support of decision making for public policy". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (20): 7176–7184. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.7176M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1319946111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4034232. PMID 24821779.
  12. ^ National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Committee on the Use of Social Science Knowledge in Public Policy (31 October 2012). Using Science as Evidence in Public Policy. National Academies Press. ISBN 978-0-309-26164-7. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Ritter, Alison (1 January 2009). "How do drug policy makers access research evidence?". International Journal of Drug Policy. 20 (1): 70–75. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2007.11.017. ISSN 0955-3959. PMID 18226519.
  14. ^ Hill, Michael (2021). The public policy process (8th ed.). Milton: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2022-12-21. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  15. ^ Cairney, Paul (2019). Understanding public policy: Theories and issues. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 26.