Public Policy for Public Management

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 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

• 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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• 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 with in units (Harold Koontz)
• 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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• 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
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 istinguishing features of this definition?
Students.
• 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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• 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.

• 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 public policy
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
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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 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.

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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 The importance of public policy
• The study on Public Policy is important as it avails learners to
what Public Policies are, How they are made, the politics
involved in formulating them, the theoretical models for
analyzing policies and the impact they have on the citizens

• Generally , public policy plays a vital role in society as its helps

to know the intentions of the government for a particular sector,
depart.Through public policy, the public can measure the
achievements made by the government
• Helps to respond to the needs of the society
• For scientific understanding of the course and effect
relationship

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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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 The relationship between politics and public policies

• A policy is a plan of action for tackling political issues. It is

often initiated by a political party in government, which
undergoes reforms and changes by interested actors (for
example, opposition parties and lobby groups
• Policy making process is a part of politics and political
action. According to Gabriel Almond, political system is a set
of interactions having structures, each of which performs its
functions in order to keep it like an on-going concern, it is a
set of processes that routinely converts inputs into outputs.

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