Policy Planning Module

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Chitepo School of Ideology wishes to acknowledge the following for their valued
contribution in the production of this syllabus;
 The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
 The Chitepo School of Ideology Panel

PREAMBLE
The Policy and Governance Module covers essential topics for Civil Servants. It provides
participants with concrete Knowledge base on the concept of Policy Formulation, Planning,
Implementation, Evaluation and Governance. The Module assists learners to appreciate
public policy theories necessary in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies
in the government and explains the governance process. It outlines the role of government
officials in the process of public policy planning and creates awareness in good governance.
To note is that the Module introduces civil servants to the concept of the supremacy of the
ruling Party over government as it directs Cabinet and Parliament to implement Election
promises as derived from the Party’s Election Manifestos and transcends into Public Policy
used by the government for a 5 year term. It is worthy to point out that, Zimbabwe follows a
Socialist Ideology path to economic development and this becomes the National Ideology of
Zimbabwe.

AIMS
The Course enables participants to:
 Foster and nurture political consciousness through policy and governance processes
 Acquire an understanding of Policy planning, formulation, implementation,
evaluation and governance.
 Appreciate the alignment and the influence of Socialist Ideology with Zimbabwean
characteristics to government policies

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

 Define the terms Policy, Governance, vision and mission
 Identify various types of Policies in the government and how they were enacted.
 Describe the history of Government social policies
 Analyze the theories of policy planning, formulation, implementation, evaluation and
governance.
 Align the theories of party policy planning and implementation to government
processes.
 Explain the difference between policy, vision and mission

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Methodology
The delivery of Socialist ideological content on policies and governance can be accomplished
through the use of the following approaches:
 Lectures
 Research
 Plenary sessions
 Group Discussions
 Case studies
 Educational tours
 Debates

Time Allocation
For the successful and effective coverage of this syllabus 12 hours should be allocated per
course
TOPICS
1. Introduction to policy and governance.
2. Governance
3. The State

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COURSE CONTENT
1.0 Introduction to policy and governance
1.1 The concept of policy and policy planning
 Importance of policy planning
 Policy planning for the government
 Relationship between Party and government in policy planning and
implementation.
1.2 Policy planning models/theories
 Steps in policy planning
 Role of policy planners
 Advantages and disadvantages of policy planning
 Policy consistency –advantages and disadvantages
 Indicators of a successful policy
1.3 Policy planning processes in the Government.
 Policy formation levels
 Policy adoption
 Policy assignment for implementation
1.4 Policy Implementation approach in Government
 Implementation process
 Monitoring process
1.5 Policy evaluation in Government
 The role of conferences in evaluation
 The role of Central Committee in evaluation
 The role of Congress
 The role of the Politburo

2.0 Governance
2.1 The concept of governance
2.2 Models of governance
2.3 Governance frameworks
 Sovereignty, state authority and legitimacy
 Constitution
 Global governance and networks
 Ethics of good governance
 Governance and sustainable development

3.0 The State

3.1 Arms of the State
3.2 Public agenda setting in Zimbabwe
3.3 Ruling party in state governance

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 3.4 E-governance –Advantages and Disadvantages
3.5 Law enforcement, Rule of law, confronting transitional threats
3.6 Territorial demarcations and defined population

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UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO POLICY AND GOVERNANCE

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 Define the concept of Policy and policy planning

 Discuss the importance of policy planning for the for the party and the government
 Outline the relationship between party and government in policy planning and
implementation

Defining Public Policy

 A policy is “a course or principle of action, adopted or proposed by a government,

party, business or individual” (Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary).
 What does the Government do or does not do-DYE
There are some central features common to a good policy:
 It identifies problems
 it states matters of principle
 it is focused on action, stating what is to be done and by whom.
 it is an authoritative statement, made by a person or body with power to do so.
 A good policy is a tool which makes administration easier, and allows people to get
on with the organization’s core business more efficiently

Planning
Planning is the fundamental management function, which involves deciding beforehand,

 What is to be done?
 When is it to be done?
 How it is to be done and who is going to do it?

Planning is nothing but thinking before the action takes place.

 It helps us to take a peep into the future and decide in advance the way to deal
with the situations, which we are going to encounter in future.
 It involves logical thinking and rational decision making.

Policy planning for the Party and Government.

 Planning provides the base for other functions of the party leadership and
management, i.e. organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
 It focuses on defining the goals of the party or government by identifying alternative
courses of action and deciding the appropriate action plan, which is to be undertaken
to reach the goals.
 Plans are made for a specific term. Once that period is over, new plans are drawn,
considering party and government’s present and future requirements and conditions.

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  In the process of planning we take a sneak peek of future. It encompasses looking into
the future, to analyse and predict it, so that the Organisation or the government can
face the future challenges effectively
 Decisions are made regarding the choice of alternative courses of action that can be
undertaken to reach the party goals. The alternative chosen should be best among all,
with least number of negative and highest number of positive outcomes.
 Planning is concerned with setting objectives, targets, and formulating plan to
accomplish them.
 Planning is concerned with providing solutions to the problems

Importance of Policy Planning for the government.

 It helps to improve future performance, by establishing objectives and selecting a course

of action, for the benefit of both the party and the government.
 It minimises risk and uncertainty, by looking ahead into the future.
 It facilitates coordination of activities. Thus, reduces overlapping among activities and
eliminates unproductive work.
 It states in advance, what should be done in future, so it provides direction for action.
 It uncovers and identifies future opportunities and threats for the party. It provides
solutions.
 It sets out standards for controlling. It compares actual performance with the standard
performance and efforts are made to correct the same.
Steps involved in Planning Phases of applied problem solving Stages in policy cycle

1. Problem recognition 1. Agenda setting

2. Proposal of solution 2. Policy formulation
3. Choice of solution 3. Decision making
4. Putting solution into effect 4. Policy implementation
5. Monitoring results 5. Policy evaluation

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The, planning process, for the party and government does not only gets the insights of the
future, but it also helps to shape future and makes the government always relevant in the face
of changes. Effective planning involves simplicity of the plan, i.e. the plan should be clearly
stated and easy to understand, because if the plan is too much complicated it will create chaos
among the members of the organisation. Further, the plan should fulfil all the requirements of
the organisation.
Unit Summary

A policy states matters of principle indicating what is to be done, by who and how. Successful
goal realisation for the party or the government requires good planning of what is to be
done, when and where it’s done.

In this Unit, the author is encouraged to

(i) Show how a policy can practically be made. For example how the Manifesto of
Zanu PF comes about and how is it transformed into a GVT Policy
(ii) The role of the ordinary people in the process

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Unit 2 Policy Planning Models and Theories

Introduction

Various conception of public policy has emerged in literature over the years and most
definition generally locate source of public policy in Government. By virtue of this source,
public policies are legally binding, public ends-driven and universal in application hence they
apply to both the state and none-state sectors. The issues of sources as a defining
characteristic of public policy that distinguishes it from private policy is aptly captured by Pal
(1989) who observes that, “what makes a policy a public policy is not its impact, but its
source”.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 Outline steps in policy planning

 Describe role of policy planners
 Discuss advantages of policy consistency
 Discuss indicators of a successful policy

Introduction

This unit outline the different steps involved in policy planning as well as roles of policy
planners. It will also look at advantages of policy consistency as well as indicators of a
successful policy.

Steps in Policy Planning and Development

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Research and consultation are key step in the party policy planning and development process.
A sound policy is built upon good consultation with those who will be affected by the policy.
The following are steps that may be followed:

1 Identify and define the problem or issue that necessitates the development of a policy

The party needs to know and understand the purpose of policies and to recognise that the issue or problem can
be effectively dealt with by the creation or modification n of a policy.

2 Appoint a person or person(s) to co-ordinate the policy development process

The policy development process may take place over several months. The party appoints someone or perhaps a
committee who is "driving" the process. The appointment a person(s) or Committee to leaders such important
activities should be approved by the party leadership before they began the work. The appointment a person(s)
or Committee should be vetted to ascertain suitability of the task in relationship to part objectives.

3 Establish the policy development process

The process requires research, consultation and policy writing tasks. The co-ordinator should develop a plan of
what tasks need to be done, by whom and when.

4 Conduct research

 Read policy documents created by other organisations on the same topic

 Research legislation that may have impact on policy development or the intended outcome
 Conduct a meeting with staff and other people with experience
 Seek legal advice from the party legal department and other independent legal advisors
 Engage experts to assist on technical advise

5 Prepare a discussion paper

The purpose of the discussion paper is to explain the nature of the problem or issue, to summarise information
yielded by research and to suggest a number of policy options. The discussion paper will be an important tool in
the process of consultation.

6 Consultation - Stage 1

Circulating the discussion paper to all stakeholders (interested parties) is a first step in the consultation process.
It is then important to gain as much feedback from stakeholders as possible. This may be effected through
workshops, open meetings, breakfast meetings, radio and TV programmes, your web site and by meetings with
individuals. There is also need to engage party members in all the GOVERNMENT structures. Several months
may be required to ensure that this stage of consultation is thorough.

7 Prepare a draft policy

When there has been sufficient time for consultation processes to be completed the next step is to prepare a draft
policy.

8 Consultation - Stage 2

When the draft policy is completed it should be subjected to further scrutiny by key stakeholders and this is
d0ne through discussions by party members in all structures, public discussions and also technical and legal
scrutiny of the draft policy. At this stage it is necessary to seek help from stakeholders to fine tune the wording,
clarify meaning and make adjustments to the policy before it is finalised.

9 Adoption

When the co-ordinator of the policy development process is reasonably satisfied that all issues and concerns
about the policy have been aired and dealt with, it is time to finalise the policy. The final policy document needs
to be formally adopted by the party structures and party leadership. The party uses the voting system for
adoption. However, members should be given time to read through before adoption. The draft will also need to
be circulated and discussed so that party members will be able to provide informed decision when adopting.

10 Communication

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 Following formal adoption of the policy it should be communicated far and wide throughout the party structures
and party members as well as its stakeholders. Training sessions may need to be conducted to ensure that party
members are fully informed and able to implement the policy. If the policy is not well communicated it may fail.
When the policy is adopted, the party should then find ways to make the policy be part of the government
policies if there is need to adopt it for government. Public policy should be adopted by government institutions.

11 Review and evaluate

The implementation of the policy should be monitored. The policy may still require further adjustments and
furthermore the reasons for the policies existence may change. A general practise is to set a date for the policy to
be reviewed. Again, a technical team will need to be set to do the monitoring and evaluation of the policy
implementation.

The Role of Policy Planners

 Prepare all the documents that will be used.

 They monitor policy implementation and give feed back
 They carry out public consultations
 Secure resources for policy planning and development through the party
administration offices
 Call for meetings with leadership and party structures
 Report to the party on progress

Advantages of planning in policy development processes

 Planning leads to more effective and faster achievements in any organization.

 Since planning foresees the future and also makes a provision for it, it gives an added
strength to the party for its growth and continuous domination in the political
battlefield.
 It secure unity of purpose, direction and effort by focusing attention on the objectives
of the party. Hence, unnecessary duplication, overlapping and cross-purpose workings
are eliminated.
 It has the effect of minimizing the cost of operations within the party structures.
 It enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of party and party leadership operations
from cell to national levels.
 It provides an effective basis for control in the party from party cell to national organs
that governs the party.
 It facilitates the process of decision-making by leaders and part members in general.
 It enables the leadership to implement future programmes in a systematic way so that
the party may get the maximum benefit out of the party programmes framed.
 It enables all the activities to be conducted in an orderly and coordinated manner in
order to achieve the common goals of the party.
 By avoiding waste of resources
 Planning encourages the sense of involvement and team spirit by party cadres.
 Planned targets provide a basis upon which good performances can be rewarded and
poor performances can be improved.
 It orients people, it gives them a sense of direction and the stimulating feeling that
their efforts are being put to useful purpose, rather than being wasted. They begin to
feel that they are worthy cadres of the party.

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Planning is the essence of all good leadership activities in Government. Once it is done well,
other activities automatically follow.

Disadvantages or Limitations of Planning in policy processes.

 Time, money and effort are required in the collection and analysis of data and in the
formulation and revision of plans (expensive process).
 Planning takes time i.e., adequate time. Sometimes, it may cause delay in taking
decisions. Leaders may be bogged down by procedures, rules, etc., when quick
decision is essential.
 Planning may create a false opinion that all problems will be solved if the plans are
implemented.
 The effectiveness of planning may be greatly influenced by external forces, the
controllability of which is not in the hands of planners. Government control, natural
calamities, etc., may create hurdles in the implementation of plans.
 It makes the entire organizational set up extremely rigid.
 It leads to probable results and not assured goals.
 Tendency towards inflexibility or reluctance to change, is another drawback of
planning.
 It encourages a false sense of security against risk of uncertainty.

In spite of the serious limitations, planning is still recognized as the foremost function of
leadership in the party. It is no doubt that unplanned operations shall produce chaos and
disorder everywhere without exception.

How to avoid the failure of planning in policy processes?

In order to avoid the failure of planning, the following suggestions should be kept in mind:

 Avoid serial planning if possible,

 Do not wait to start the second stage of planning until the first stage is finished,
 Try to have parallel planning with lots of cross-checking, and
 See that all plans move in the forward direction at the same time.
 Consult all the key stakeholders (You don’t know it all).

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Unit 3: Governance
Objectives
 Define governance
 Describe features and ethics of good governance
 Explain sovereignty, state authority and legitimacy
 Describe how does the state operate?

Introduction

Governance is commonly defined as the exercise of power or authority by political leaders

for the well-being of their country’s citizens or subjects. The power exercised by the
participating sectors of the society is always for the common good, as it is essential for
demanding respect and cooperation from the citizens and the state. As such, a great deal
about governance is the proper and effective utilization of resources.

Governance and Government

Many authors also distinguish the two by associating government with “control and
domination,” and governance with “decentralization and relational management.” On the one
hand, government refers to a central institution, which wields power over its subjects. It is the
instrument patterned after the model of “command and control,” the government being in
command over the affairs of the people. On the other hand, governance is closely associated
with the concept of decentralization of power and the need for inter-sectorial management.
Governance is based on the realization that the government cannot do everything for the
people, so that in order to survive the state should not only rely on government but also on
the other sectors of the society.

Indicators of Good Governance

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Good governance is understood through its eight indicators or characteristics:

Participatory: Good governance essentially requires participation of different sectors of the

society. Participation means active involvement of all affected and interested parties in the
decision-making process. It requires an enabling environment wherein pertinent information
is effectively disseminated and people could respond in an unconstrained and truthful
manner. It also means gender equality, recognizing the vital roles of both men and women in
decision-making.

Rule of Law: Democracy is essentially the rule of law. It is through the law that people
express their will and exercise their sovereignty. That the government is of law and not of
men is an underlying democratic principle, which puts no one, however rich and powerful,
above the law. Not even the government can arbitrarily act in contravention of the law. Thus,
good democratic governance is fundamentally adherence to the rule of law. The law seeks to
promote is justice
Effective and Efficient: Good governance requires that the institutions, processes, and actors
could deliver and meet the necessities of the society in a way that available resources are
utilized well. That the valuable resources are utilized, without wasting or underutilizing any
of them, means that there is efficient governance. Effectiveness (meeting the needs) and
efficiency (proper utilization of resources) must necessarily go together to ensure the best
possible results for the community. This also calls for integrity by party cadres and structures.
Transparent: Transparency, as an indicator of good governance, means that people are open
to information regarding decision-making process and the implementation of the same. In
legal terms, it means that information on matters of public concern are made available to the
citizens or those who will be directly affected. It also means that transactions involving
public interests must be fully disclosed and made accessible to the people. It is anchored on
the democratic right to information and right to access of the same. When there is
transparency, people are placed in a better position to know and protect their rights as well as
denounce corrupt or fraudulent practices in the party and government.

Responsive: Responsiveness means that institutions and processes serve all stakeholders in
a timely and appropriate manner. It also means that actors and structures of governance
easily give genuine expression to the will or desire of the people. In other words, the interests
of all citizens must be well protected in a prompt and appropriate manner so that each of
them can appreciate and take part in the process of governance. The party should thus be
responsive to governance issues, which include issues such as gender.

Equitable and Inclusive: Equity and inclusiveness means that all the members of the
society, especially the most vulnerable ones or the grassroots level, must be taken into
consideration in policy-making. Everyone has a stake in the society and no one should feel
alienated from it. Particularly, those who belong to the grassroots level must not only be the
subject of legislation but they must be given the opportunity to participate in decision or
policy making.

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Consensus Oriented: Governance is consensus oriented when decisions are made after
taking into consideration the different viewpoints of the actors of the society. Mechanisms for
conflict resolution must be in place because inevitably conflict that will arise from competing
interests of the actors. To meet the consensus, a strong, impartial, and flexible mediation
structure must be established. Without such, compromises and a broad consensus cannot be
reached that serves that best interest of the whole community.

Accountability: Accountability means answerability or responsibility for one’s action. It is

based on the principle that every person or group is responsible for their actions most
especially when their acts affect public interest. The actors have an obligation to explain and
be answerable for the consequences of decisions and actions they have made on behalf of the
community it serves. Political accountability refers to the accountability of public officials to
the people they represent.

These indicators are inextricably related to each other. For instance, without active
participation among the various actors in governance, there would be a concomitant lack of
responsiveness. Likewise, if decision-making is not transparent, then inevitably there would
be no participation, accountability, and decisions are not consensus oriented. These indicators
should, however, be understood in the context of good “democratic” governance.

It must also be emphasized that good governance and development should not be based
exclusively on economic growth. Through global persuasion, good governance and
development signify a broader spectrum of things, such as:

 protection of human rights

 equitable distribution of wealth
 enhancement of individual capabilities
 creation of an enabling environment to foster participation and growth of human
potentials.
Sovereignty, state authority and legitimacy

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the foundation of legitimacy in some essence. Sovereignty is when the country
has full rights to itself, and can act domestically however they wish without interference of
foreign powers.

Sovereignty and legitimacy share the causation = correlation. If the Sovereignty of a country
is violated by another foreign power, then the legitimacy of said government is lowered due
to the people losing faith in the government to shield their rights and uphold their national
pride.

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State Authority

Authority is the ability to exercise power. The power which is respected by both legitimacy
and Sovereignty. To have recognised authority you need both Sovereignty and legitimacy.

Constitution

It is the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the
powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the citizens.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe is officially the supreme law of Zimbabwe.

Unit 4: Party Policies

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 Describe party polices

Key Words
Economic policy: Government has pursued clear and consistent policies on indigenisation
and economic empowerment. The party will uphold the Land Reform Agenda to empower
the people of Zimbabwe.
Education Policy: The party values education as a form of empowerment. Thus the party is
committed to supporting investment in skills development. No children from disadvantaged
family should be deprived of an opportunity to attend at whatever level. Further, education
and skills development are meant to drive a knowledge-based economy. Thus the
Government will continue to map out strategies in the education sector in order to have an
education system that is responsive to the country’s development needs.
Health Policy: Access to affordable and quality healthcare remains a priority policy for the
party. An overarching goal for the people is the improvement of health delivery system to
attain health for all.
Foreign Policy: The party has opened Zimbabwe for global business (re-engagement under
the mantra “Zimbabwe Is Open For Business”) and protect and preserve the National interest
and security.

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Youth Empowerment Policy: Youths are the future of Zimbabwe and the Government will
create an environment that will help the youth to fully participate in the country’s
development. The party will ensure that the youth empowerment programmes and policies
are advanced and implemented.
Gender Policy: Government upholds the principle of gender equality which seeks to end all
forms of discrimination against women and girls. The party has also taken strong stance
against child and forced marriages.

The author may need to look at

1. List of Government Policies since 1980 such those that relate to;
(a) Health
(b) Education
(c) Agriculture
(d) Mining
(e) Industry
(f) Environment
2. Indigenization and Economic Empowerment
3. ZIM ASSET
4. The New Dispensation and Its Policies such TSP, NDS1 and NDS 2
5. Vision 2030

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