PUBLIC POLICY

FORMULATION
AND
IMPLEMENTATI
ON

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,
womens 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

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

THANK
S