1 Policy study is a mature and highly developed discipline in the West.

Its field can be broadly defined as the study of the nature, causes and effects of alternative public policies for dealing with specific social problems. The unique core of policy studies is policy-making as a subject for study improvement . Understanding how policies evolve and improving policy making in general and specific policies in particular. Thus, policy studies are geared not only towards finding out how policies evolve, but also towards prescribing how policies can be improved. In India, till now, policy study as an academic discipline has not flourished. One can classify Indian works related to public policy into three broad groups: (1) those dealing with the content and nature of public policy: (2) those dealing with the formal structures involved in the formulation of public policy (3) those labeled as Policy Analysis. Even the last type does not strictly fit into the rubric under which it has been classed. This has resulted in the neglect of the prescriptive as well as the behavioral aspect of public policy. The present study seeks to chart out its course in this direction.

Modern governments face many complex problems. Some of these problems are of transitory nature, but some have long-term effects, if they are not solved, upon the destiny of the entire community, or upon an identifiable section of the community. The latter types of the problems demand decisions problem-solving decisions from the government. To arrive at such decisions the government employs many minds, it ponders over the pros and cons of the problem for a long period of time, considers it from various angles. On the basis of these exercises, the government arrives at specific decisions to solve the problems. Such clusters of decisions are classed as public policies. These are time related 3rd concepts. Their importance lasts till the circumstances that called for the solution of the problem last. E.S. Quade defines public policy as: . A decision made by a society for itself ( the election of the President, for instance), or for the society by its elected representatives or their appointees Governmental decisions that have material effects on members of the public other than those involved in making the decisions. 4 B. Guy Peter defines public policy as: the sum of the activities of governments,

2 whether acting directly or through agents, as it has in influence on the lives of citizens.5 The above discussion brings out some of the fundamental aspects of public policy. They are: this is a decision made by the government: it tries to solve the complex problems of the society or, problems which have long drawn implications: it has material effect upon the lives of the citizens and it is the sum total of the activities of the government which affects the life of the citizens. The last aspect, which B. Guy Peters definition emphasizes, raises one important question, which activities of the government affect the lives of the citizens? The answer is those activities which are directed to reach a decision, to solve the problems of the society, by allocating or reapportioning resources and values. Theorists, interested in studying such activities, have classified government activities into stages. The earliest attempt in this direction was made by John Dewey early in third century. Later, he was followed by Herbert Simon and others. They identified three such stages in all decision-making .They are: (1) recognizing a problem or a situation for decision: (2) searching for alternative courses of action or solution and: (3) choosing one out of them according to certain criteria or standards to solve the problem. Lasswells formulation is sharper and more refined. He identifies seven functional stages through which all decisions are processed. The stages comprise of, information ( problem identification and information ( provisional search ) : recommendation( formulation of alternatives) : invocation enforcement): application (specific implementation ): appraisal

( monitoring the review of the decisions and its effects): and termination (renewal, revision or repeal) .7However ,Robinson and others point out that this is a broad formulation and is of no analytic value.8 Recently, some political scientists have tried to group various activities according to their relationship with public policy. The result is a set of policy processes or identifiable pattern of activities. This set usually follows the following outline: identifying problems (Demands are expressed for government action): Formulating policy proposals (Agenda the set of problems, identified by the policy maker, as worthy of being attended to is set for public discussion. Development of program proposals to resolve problems): Legitimating policies (Selecting a proposal.

3 Building political support for enacting it as a law. To legitimatize policies, the policy makers try to show that while making the policy, they have considered what the public needs and have followed the established procedure. Thus, it includes both the substantive and the procedural aspects): Implementing Policies ( Organizing bureaucracies, providing payments or services, levying taxes for putting a piece of legislation into effect ): Evaluating policies (studying programs : Reporting Output of government programs: Evaluating impacts of programs on target and non target groups in society: suggesting changes and adjustment. In short, it is the assessment of the policy after it has been implemented).9 This formulation is better than that of Lasswells ,because it is meant specifically for understanding the evolution of public policy and besides taking all the stages mentioned by him, it has taken one more stage pertinent to public policy- the stage of legitimating policy. This recent formulation, that seeks to study the string of activities connected with public policy is called policy process . Its main emphasis is on answering the question as to how policies evolve. But, it does not allow the researcher to comment on the substance of public policy- who gets what and why10 Besides policy process, political scientists also make use of conceptual models, to understand public policy. These models are Institutionalism (Policy as institutional output): Group model (policy as a group equilibrium): Elite theory (policy as elite preference): Rationalism (policy as maximum social gain): Instrumentalism (policy as variation on the post): system theory (policy as system output). But, none of these above mentioned models provides the concepts necessary to understand the step-by step procedure through which an issue has to pass, before becoming a policy. Policy process alone provides the concepts for such a study, and it appears that these concepts are observable. Further, it is neither very simple and superficial nor very complex and unmanageable. Considering these factors, one can use policy process to study public policy process in India. However, one must be cautious, because policy process is based upon the assumptions of behavioral approach to understand politics. Hence, the criticisms labeled against the approach can also be labeled against policy process.

4 With this caveat in mind, the present study seeks to find out whether policy process holds good in the Indian, conditions: Whether policy-making process in India follows the activity cluster outlined by policy process.