Welcome To

The Presentation

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 TOPIC: PUBLIC POLICY

Presented By:
Waliur Rahman
ID No.: 51954011
Batch : 5th

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 Learning objectives
 By the end of this lecture learners should be
able to :
 Define public policy and other related terms
 Analyze the importance of public policy
 Describe the nature and characteristics of
public policy
 Examine what policies do
 Examine the rationale for public policy

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 Definition of terms :
 A policy
 A line of argument rationalizing the course of
action of a government; "they debated the
policy on the proposed legislation"
 A plan of action adopted by an individual or
social group.
 A written contract or certificate of insurance;
"you should have read the small print on your
policy

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 A policy
 A plan or course of action, as of a government,
political party, or business, intended to
influence and determine decisions, actions, and
other matters
 Policies are general statements or understandings
which guide or channel of thinking and action in
decision-making

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 A Policy
 Policy is a process as well as a product. It is
used to refer to a process of decision-making
and also the product of that process.
Policy as an output ; Here policy is seen as what
government actual delivers e.g. Delivery of
goods and services or enforcement. E.g
education, health, agriculture ,e.tc

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 A policy
 They are predetermined decision rules applicable
for a range of managerial decisions and actions.
 Policies can be understood as political,
management, financial, and administrative
mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals
 Policy is a means of encouraging discretion and
initiative but within units (Harold Koontz )

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 So………A policy means ?
 Purposive course of action that an individual
or group consistently follows in dealing with a
problem. It has the following
ELEMENTS
 Intentions: purposes of government action

 Goals: stated ends to be achieved

 Plans or proposals: means for achieving goals
 Programs: authorized means for pursuing
goals

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 Elements of a policy (ctd)
 Decisions or choices: specific actions that are
taken to set goals, develop plans, and
implement and evaluate programs
 Effects: the effects that programs have on
society, whether intended or unintended

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 What policies do? (Under son)
 They emerge in response to policy demands
 They involve what governments actually do,
not just what they say they are going to do
 Policies may be either positive or negative
 In their positive form, policies are based on law
and are authoritative

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 A goal
 Goals are what policies aim at or hope to
achieve. A goal is a desired state of affairs that
a society or an organization attempts to realize.
 Goal can be understood in a variety of
perspectives. These can be thought of as
abstract values that a society would like to
acquire. There are also goals that are specific
and concrete. Removal of poverty is a goal that
the government wants to pursue.

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Policy output and policy outcomes

 Policy outputs: the formal actions that

government takes to pursue its goals
 Here policy is seen as what government
actually delivers e.g. Delivery of goods and
services or enforcement. E.g. education, health,
agriculture, etc
 Policy outcomes: the effects such actions have
on society
.
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 Meaning of public policy
 Public policy is a purposive course of actions or
inactions undertaken by an actor or set of
actors in dealing with a particular problem or
matter of concern (James Under son, 1995,5).
What are the distinguishing features of this
definition? Students.

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 Meaning of public policy
 Robert EyeStone terms public policy as "the
relationship of government unit to its
environment
 Thomas R. Dye says that "public policy is
whatever government chooses to do or not to
do"
 Richard Rose says that "public policy is not a
decision, it is a course or pattern of activity.

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 Meaning (ctd)
 In Carl J. Friedrich's opinion public policy is 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 or realize
an objective or purpose.

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 Meaning of Public policy

 Public policy is a course of government action

or inaction in response to public problems. It is
associated with formally approved policy goals
and means, as well as the regulations and
practices of agencies that implement programs

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 The nature of public policy
 In this lecture we would like to argue 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 the following points will make the nature
of public policy more clear in your minds

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 The nature of PP(ctd)
 1) Public Policies are goal oriented. This means
that Public policies are formulated and
implemented in order to attain the objectives
which the government has in view for the
betterment of the public

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 Nature of public policy (ctd)
2) Public policy is the outcome of the
government's collective actions.
 It means that it is a pattern or course of activity
or' the governmental officials and actors in a
collective sense than being termed as their
discrete and segregated decisions

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 The nature of PP(ctd)
3) Public policy is what the government actually
decides or chooses to do. It is the relationship
of the government units to the specific field of
political environment in a given administrative
system. It can take a variety of forms like law,
ordinances, court decisions, executive orders,
decisions etc.

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 The nature of PP (ctd)
4) Public policy may be positive or negative.
 It is positive in the sense that it depicts the
concern of the government and involves its
action to a particular problem on which the
policy is made.
 Negatively, it involves a decisions by the
governmental officials regarding not taking
any action on a particular issue

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 Characteristics of public policy
 It is purposive and goal oriented
 Public policies are made up by public
authorities
 Public policy consists of set of pattern of action
taken over time
 Public policy is a product of demand
 Government directed course of actions
 It can be positive or negative

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 Some public policy areas
 Education policy
 Social welfare policy
 Health care policy
 Criminal justice policy
 Social policy
 Economic policy
 Environmental policy
 Energy policy

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THANKS

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