Public Policy
A policy can be broadly defined as a proposed course of action of an individual, a group, an institution or government, to realize a specific objective or purpose, within a given environment. Policy formulation is necessary before every action in every form of organisation, private or public. It is a prerequisite for all management. It is the policy that lays down the framework within which the organisational goals are set to be accomplished. The objectives of an organisation which are often vague and general are concretised in the policy goals, which set the administrative wheels in motion. Policy formulation is one of the vital tasks of any government. In the words of Appleby, “the essence of public administration is policymaking”. The term ‘Policy’ has many definitions but in its chief sense it is defined as “a course of action adopted and pursued by the government”. An analysis of some of the definitions of public policy is useful in understanding the nature and scope of public policy. According to Thomas R. Dye, “Public Policy is whatever governments chose to do or, not to do”. Governments do many things; they regulate conflict within society; they organize society to carry on conflict with other societies; they distribute a great variety of symbolic records and material services to members of the society; and they extract money from society, most often in the form of taxes: Thus, public policies may be regulative, organisational, distributive, or extractive or all these things at once. David Easton has defined policy as “the authoritative allocation of values for the whole society”. Lasswell and Kaplan defined public policy as “a projected programme of goals, values and practices”.
Essentials Of Public Policy
David Easton’s definition i.e., “Public Policy is the authoritative allocation of values for the whole society” brings into light the following essential ingredients of public policy. The only public policy extends to all the people in society. The policies of other groups or organisations reach only a specified segment. Thus, public policies have a universal application. Legitimacy: Government policies are generally regarded as legal obligations which command the loyalty of citizens. People may regard the policies of other groups and associations in society professional organisations, religious organisations, etc., as important and even binding, But only government policies involve legal obligations. o Coercion: The Government monopolizes coercion in society. By this monopoly, it is the only agency that can authoritatively allocate the values and can legitimately impose sanctions on the violators of its policies. The sanctions that can be imposed by other groups or organisations in society are more limited. It is precisely this ability of the government to command the loyalty of all its citizens and to monopolize the legitimate use of force, that gives its decisions the status of a public policy.
Implications Of Public Policy
The following are the features of Public Policy:
- It is purposive and goal-oriented. Public policies in the modern political system are not chance happenings. They are purposive or result in oriented action rather than random behaviours.
- It is a course of the pattern of activity: Public policy refers to the action or decisional pattern by public administrators on a particular issue over a period rather than their separate decisions on that matter in an ad hoc fashion.
- It is what governments do: Policy is what governments do and will subsequently happen, rather than what they intend to do or say they are going to do. It can be either positive or negative: Public policy may be either positive or negative in form.
- Positively, it may involve some form of government action regarding any issue or problem; negatively, it may involve a decision by government officials not to take action on a matter on which governmental opinion, attitude or action is asked for.
- It is based on law: Public policy, at least in its positive form, is based on law and is authoritative. It has a legal sanction behind it that is potentially coercive and is binding on all citizens.
Why should one study public policy?
Public policy can be studied for various reasons. Some of the important reasons are:
- To gain an understanding of the cause and consequences of policy decisions: First of all, public policy can be studied for purely scientific reasons: “Gaining an understanding of the causes and consequences of policy decisions improves our knowledge about society”.
- Public Policy can be viewed as a ‘dependent variable, and we can ask what environmental forces and political system characteristics operate to shape the content of policy. or Public policy can be viewed as an independent variable and we can ask what impact public policy has on the environment and the political system.
- By asking such questions we can improve our understanding of the linkages between environmental forces, political processes and public policy. An understanding of these linkages contributes to the breadth, significance, reliability and theoretical development of social science.
- Facilitates application of social science knowledge to the solution of practical problems: An understanding of the causes and consequences of public policy permits us to apply social science knowledge to the solution of practical problems. Factual knowledge is a prerequisite to prescribing for the ills of society.
- If certain ends are desired, then the question of what policies would best implement these ends is a factual question requiring scientific study. In other words, policy studies can produce professional advice, in terms of “if….then….” statements, about how to achieve desired goals.
- To advance the level of political awareness and improve the quality of public policy: Finally, public policy can be studied for political purposes, 1, e., to ensure that the nation adopts the “right policies to achieve to achieve the “right” goals.
Here are the notes for Mixed Scanning Model And Systems Theory.