Public Policy Formulation And

PUBLIC POLICY FORMULATION

AND IMPLEMENTATION

PUBLIC POLICY

• The combination of basic decisions, commitments and actions made by those who hold or influence govt positions of authority

• Is a course of govt action ( or inaction ) taken in response to social problems.

COMPONENTS OF PP PROCESS

• Issues : On public agenda• Actors : Present, interpret, respond to issues• Resources : • Institutions : • Levels of Govt :

PP DEVELOPMENT

• Horizontally : Several agencies coordinating efforts at national, provincial, local levels

• Vertically : Decisions made at one level i.e., national carried out at provincial, local levels for execution

PP ISSUES

Two broad categories :Substantive : Controversy having a major impact

on society : Regulation of economy, healthcare, civil rights, legislation, environment

Symbolic issues : Irritating public problems,Responses to these provide more psychological

relief

PP ACTORS

• :Outside voice • People in govt : advocates , policy makers• Resources : Availability, commit resouces

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

• Executive : President, Governors, Mayors, bureaucracy administers policy

• Legislative :• Judiciary :• Regulatory agencies important

BROAD AREAS OF PP

• Social issues : Social security, capital punishment, arms control, govt funding for private schools, healthcare

• Economic issues : widening tax net, income redistribution through taxation

• Domestic / international economic issues such as inflation, recession, employment

• Technological issues : Automation, global warming, cloning

TRIGGERING MECHANISMS

• Catalyst for pp• TM is a critical event that converts a routine

problem into a widely shared negative public experience .

• Development / action attracting considerable public attention and widespread demand for change is T M .

TM ELEMENTS

• Scope : no of people affected• Intensity : event captures concern, fear, anger• Time : length in which an event unfolds• Resources : cost of solving problems

CATEGORIES T.M.

• Internal :• 1. Natural catastrophies i.e., floods, hurricanes• 2. Economic calamities ,• 3. Technological breakthroughs ; television,

computers, I T, genetic engineering • 4. Ecological shifts• 5. Social evolution : Human rights, women’s

rights, constitutional equality

EXTERNAL T.M.

• 1.War• 2.Indirect conflicts• 3. Economic confrontation• 4. Growth of weaponry

PUBLIC AGENDA

• A changing collection of issues, often unpredictable and volatile, awaiting action by policy makers

• Several perspectives :• 1. Sources of agenda building are elected officials• 2. Explore symbolic and substantive issues:• Symbolic issues evolve decisions on political values• Substantive issues deal with allocation of govt

resources

Contd

• 3. Difficulties of organizing/ reorganizing p. agenda : As values of p.policy makers change so do the issues on public agenda but some issues have a perennial quality

• Deciding the problem is even more important than the solution

P.AGENDA SOURCES

• 1. Public officials : President, Congress, courts, regulators

• Bureaucracy : Policy initiation capabilities give it a vested interest in agenda setting, longevity in job, acquired expertise

• 2. Mass media• 3. Interest Groups

SUBSTANTIVE AGENDA

• Allocation of public resources at stake• Generates a lot of attention from citizenry• Potential for great change• Economic issues generally fall in this category

SYMBOLIC AGENDA

• Focus more on values than resources• 1. Specific issues must be subject of wide

spread attention• 2. Sizeable proportion of public must demand

action• 3. issues must be concern of an appropriate

govt unit

HIDDEN AGENDA

• Important matters but rarely addressed in pp• Major policies blocked to manipulate

resources• Keep influentials to design agenda• Collaboration of power brokers to control

agenda• Vital political questions excluded by those

who privately control

POLICY MAKERS ROLES

• Parliament makes laws, PM proposes policies and executes laws

• Supreme Court restricts implementation based on interpretation of law

• Parliament, PM, judiciary are policy makers• Bureaucracies make and implement p.p, whether

their powers are modest or substantial, harmful or beneficial, skillfully utilized or politically exploited bureaucracies are indisputable policy making actors

PP IMPLEMENTATION

• Refers to conscious conversion of policy plans into reality

• Reveals strengths and weaknesses of decision making process

• Primary connecting elements, Triggering Mechanism, Public Agenda, attempted resolution of emergent issues

Contd

• Linked to decision makers who take into account various policy alternatives

• Policy decisions linked to various agencies/ officials who execute policies

• Implementation faces a range of policy outcomes that include intentional obstruction, inefficiency, neglect and synchronized cooperation

Contd

• For implementation to occur :• There must be an entity with sufficient

resources• Implementing agency must translate goals

into operational framework• Agency must deliver on its assignment , be

accountable for actions

BUREAUCRACY

• Designed as implementing agency, assumes policy making role

• Difference between policy making and administration clearer in theory than practice

• Asked to elaborate alternative approaches, in addition to translating a policy into concrete programs

• Such enhancements give them more discretionary powers than anticipated

CATEGORIES OF PP

• 1. Distributive: Ensure decisions benefit specific clientele, major sectors- labor, business, agriculture

• 2. Regulatory• 3. Redistributive policies: To change these can

be extremely contentious, example social security

VERTICAL VS HORIZONTAL IMPLEMENTATION

• May move between / within levels of govt• Most pp have to be implemented by a series

of institutions or levels of govt

CONDITIONS THAT OBSTRUCT

• Clear, specific, well-directed policies essential prerequisites

• Some of pitfalls :• Bargaining: May make life easier, diminish value

of policy• Lack of funding :• Change in priorities : Policy replaced,

commitment dropped without replacement, bringing implementation to a halt

Contd

• Multiple Goals: Objectives of policy makers and recipient agencies may be divergent that policy implementation may fall short of either group goals

• Policy makers have to be precise while bureaucratic discretionary authority must be constrained

PP

•THANKS