Public policy touches entirely facets of our lives from the stretch we get up in the morning to the stint we go to bed and we often overlook the profound impacts of public policy. Public policies emerged as a result of social needs or problem. Government bodies mostly attempted to sort out the problems that occur in the society and affect the citizens. Public policy endeavors to offer insight into mutually the policy making process and the different types (or arenas) of public policy in any formal. In a self-governing society, citizens are uniquely positioned to impact public policy making process, yet levels of citizen engagement in the process have got less knowledge on the meaning of the concept.
One of the biggest challenges in public sector reforms in developing countries is the poor implementation of well-intended policies. These often results in situations in which the implementation of policies do not yield their planned purposes and may often even result in the waste of organizational and public resources. Therefore from this back ground the discussion to follow will focus on the definition of public policy based on different approaches to the concept by dissimilar scholars and perspectives.
Although the concept of public policy is defined and described by various theorists in different ways, Thomas dye has a different understanding of the concept. Public policy is concerned with what government’s do, why they do it, and what difference it makes CITATION Tho17 \l 10249 (Dye, 2017). It is about political/ social science(s) and the ability of this discipline to describe, analyse, and explain public policy. In public policy process; problems are conceptualized and brought. To the government agenda, alternatives and selected solutions are formulated by public institutions and numerous actors, policy proposals are applied, evaluated and revised CITATION Pau07 \l 10249 (Sabatier, 2007). This definition means that the primary agent of public policy is a government initiative sanctioned by government. For example healthcare or education policy impacts the decisions of medical and education staff.
Public policy is an opinion on a proposed course of action of a person, group, or government within a given environment providing opportunities and obstacles which the policy was proposed to utilize and overcome in an effort to reach a goal, realize an objective or purpose CITATION Fre42 \l 10249 (Carl, 1942). From these definitions, it is clear that public policies are governmental decisions, and are actually the result of activities which the government undertakes in pursuance of certain goals and objectives. Thus public policy process does not only consist of a just single decision, it is also a sequence of decisions and actions CITATION Mic97 \l 10249 (Hill, 1997).
Public policy can also be understood as the authoritative allocation of values for the whole societyCITATION Dav \l 10249 (Easton, 1957). This entails that only the government can authoritatively act on the whole society and everything the government chooses to do or not do results on the allocation of values. Governments enjoys a special role in public policy-making due to their unique ability to make authoritative decisions on behalf of citizens, which are backed up by legislation, laws, rules and regulations as well as sanction for the offenders in the event of non-compliance. For example, an effort to control the sale of a product deemed to be harmful for public consumption may increase smuggling and shoot up its price and the people may operate illegally on the market.
Public policy can also be defined as a projected program of goals, values and practices CITATION Har \l 10249 (Harold, 1971). The then means that there is need to be a clear direction with clear objectives with both moral and economic attributes with clear action plan. In this regard we take an example of fertilizer subsidy as a well projected program of goals but lacking the clear objective and action plan as it does not benefit the intended populace rather only those who are royal the ruling party are the ones benefiting from the program.
Public policy can be understood as the distinction among various proposal, programs, decisions and effectsCITATION Cha \l 10249 (Charles, 1970). Whereby proposal be understood as the specified means for achieving goals, programs being authorized means for achieving goals, decisions being specified actions taken to implement programs and effects entails the measurable impact of the program. The problem here is to assume that decisions programs, goals and effects are linked. However in many case they are not linked.
The concept of Public policy can further be defined as a standing decision characterized by behaviour consistency and repetitiveness on the part of both those who make it and those who abide by itCITATION Hei \l 10249 (Heinz Eulau, 1973). From this understanding the question arises; can the government activities be characterised by consistency and repetitiveness? The answer can be positive or negative depending on how the policy can be implemented. If the policy has been successfully implemented not by the grace of God, the answer will be yes. But if the government fails to achieve the goals then obviously the response to the question will be negative.
Public policy again can be defined as determining which of various alternative public or governmental policies will most achieve a given set of goals in light of the relations between the policies and the goalsCITATION Stu \l 10249 (Negal, 1994). The definition brings out four key elements of policy which includes; goals, means, relations and conclusion. Goals include the normative constraints and relative weights for the goals to be achieved. Policies, programs, projects, decisions, options, means, or other alternatives that is available for achieving the intended goals. Thirdly, the relations between the policies and the goals, including relations that are established by intuition, authority, statistics, observation, deduction, guesses, or any other means. Lastly draw a conclusion as to which policy or combination of policies is best to adopt in light of the goals, policies, and relations.
Public policy can also be defined as a discursive construct rather than a self-defining phenomenonCITATION Fra03 \l 10249 (Fisher, 2007). We define public policy as a political agreement on a course of action (or inaction) designed to resolve or mitigate problems on the political agenda. This agreement is an intellectual construct rather than a self-defining phenomenon.
Discursively constructed there can be no inherently unique decision, institutions, or actors constituting public policy that are to be identified, uncovered, and explained. Public policy, as such, is an analytical category with a substantive content cannot be simply researched; more fundamentally, it has to be interpreted.
Lastly, public policy is clearly a matter of the authoritative allocation of valuesCITATION Ste \l 10249 (Ball, 1993). Policies are the operational statements of values, statements of prescriptive intentCITATION Kog75 \l 10249 (Kogan, 2008). But values do not float free of their social context. We need to ask whose values are validated in policy, and whose are not. Thus, the authoritative allocation of values draws our attention to the centrality of power and control in the concept of public policyCITATION Pru85 \l 10249 (Prunty, 1985). Polices project images of an ideal society (education policies project definitions of what counts as education).
In conclusion, many scholars have given different definitions to public policy. Surprisingly, a generally accepted definition of public policy has been elusive. Some texts define public policy as simply "what government does." Others say that it is the stated principles which guide the actions of government. Still others say that the discussion of a definition contributes little and moves quickly to illustrate a variety of case studies. Private business decisions, decisions by charitable organizations, interest groups and other social groups or individuals are not themselves public policies. A public policy, however, is an outcome of the political process, not a strictly private matter.
Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ball Stephen J. what is a policy [Journal]. - London : Routlegde, 1993.
Carl Fredrich J. Public Policy [Journal]. - Havard : Cambridge press, 1942. - 1 January 1942 : Vol. 111.
Charles Jones O. An Introduction to the Study of Public Policy [Book]. - Belmont, California : Wadsworth, 1970.
Dye Thomas R. Understanding Public Policy [Book]. - Florida : Pearson, 2017. - 15 : p. 3.
Easton David An Approach totheAnalysisofPolicy Streams”, World [Journal]. - Chicago : Cambridge University press, 1957. - 3 : Vol. 9.
Fisher Frank Hand Book of Public Policy analysis [Book]. - London New York : CRC Press, 2007. - Vol. 1.
Harold Lasswell A Pre-View of Policy Sciences [Book]. - New York : Elsevier, 1971.
Heinz Eulau Keneth Prewitt The Western Political Quarterly [Journal]. - Salt Lake City : University of Utah, 1973. - Vol. 26.
Hill Michael The Policy Process in morden state [Book]. - Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire : Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997. - Vol. 3rd edition.
Kogan Maurice Education Police Making [Book]. - Michigan : Linnet Books 1975, 2008.
Negal Stuart S. African Development and Public Policy [Book]. - Urbana : Palgrave Mac Millan UK, 1994.
Prunty John J. Sign posts for a Critical Education Policy Analysis [Journal]. - Australia : Chandler publishing, 1985. - 2 : Vol. 29.
Sabatier Paul A. The Theories of the Policy Process [Book]. - Colorado : West view press, 2007. - Vol. 2nd edition.
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ball Stephen J. what is a policy [Journal]. - London : Routlegde, 1993.
Carl Fredrich J. Public Policy [Journal]. - Havard : Cambridge press, 1942. - 1 January 1942 : Vol. 111.
Charles Jones O. An Introduction to the Study of Public Policy [Book]. - Belmont, California : Wadsworth, 1970.
Dye Thomas R. Understanding Public Policy [Book]. - Florida : Pearson, 2017. - 15 : p. 3.
Easton David An Approach totheAnalysisofPolicy Streams”, World [Journal]. - Chicago : Cambridge University press, 1957. - 3 : Vol. 9.
Fisher Frank Hand Book of Public Policy analysis [Book]. - London New York : CRC Press, 2007. - Vol. 1.
Harold Lasswell A Pre-View of Policy Sciences [Book]. - New York : Elsevier, 1971.
Heinz Eulau Keneth Prewitt The Western Political Quarterly [Journal]. - Salt Lake City : University of Utah, 1973. - Vol. 26.
Hill Michael The Policy Process in morden state [Book]. - Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire : Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997. - Vol. 3rd edition.
Kogan Maurice Education Police Making [Book]. - Michigan : Linnet Books 1975, 2008.
Negal Stuart S. African Development and Public Policy [Book]. - Urbana : Palgrave Mac Millan UK, 1994.
Prunty John J. Sign posts for a Critical Education Policy Analysis [Journal]. - Australia : Chandler publishing, 1985. - 2 : Vol. 29.
Sabatier Paul A. The Theories of the Policy Process [Book]. - Colorado : West view press, 2007. - Vol. 2nd edition.