THE ROLE OF POLITICIANS AND/OR CITIZENS IN

POLICY MAKING
Public policy

 Public policy is a set of laws, guidelines, and actions decided and taken
by governments in order to work in favour of the public.
 Public policy can dictate things such as: which laws are passed, where
funding goes, and which topics concern the general public.
 Public policy is there to influence how other important decisions are
made, and it’s usually formed as a response to a specific issue that is of
interest to the public. It is supposed to offer some sort of solution to
problem.
 Public policy plays a crucial role in forming the guidelines and
principles of a society, so they’re a necessary part of governing and
politics.
 Politian’s and Public Policy

 Politics & Public Policy is a broad category that encapsulates

everything from social justice advocacy to law to political
campaigns and community organizing. It is the critical way in
which communities can engage with their government and their
fellow constituents.
 Through participating in politics and political discourse, as well as
by helping shape and formulate public policy, individuals can help
set and carry out agendas on a local, state, and national level.
 In this way, Politics & Public Policy describes a powerful method of
facilitating change and progress across a variety of issue areas; this
category can encompass engagement in the form of advocacy,
awareness, education, internships, projects, employment, public
service, and more.
 Citizens and Public Policy

 With the increasing recognition of the value of citizen engagement,

public agencies are tasked with boosting this metric. Citizen
engagement allows members of the public to keep their government
programs, policies, and administrators accountable, enabling them to
ensure that the decisions that affect their lives are in the best interest
of the greater community. By providing citizens with opportunities to
have their voices heard, public administrators are able to steer
programs and policies in the right direction.
 WHY STRENGTHEN GOVERNMENT-CITIZEN RELATIONS?
 Improve the quality of policy, by allowing governments to tap wider sources
of information and potential solutions in order to meet the challenges of
policy-making under conditions of increasing complexity, policy
interdependence and time pressures.

 Meet the challenges of the emerging information society to prepare for

greater and faster interactions with citizens and ensure better knowledge
management

 Integrate pubic public input into the policy-making process, in order to

respond to citizens’ expectations that their voices be heard, and their views
be considered, in decision making by government.

 Respond to calls for greater government transparency and accountability, as

public and media scrutiny of government actions increases, standards in
public life are codified and raised.
 Strengthen public trust in government and reverse the
steady erosion of voter turn-out in elections, falling
membership in political parties and surveys showing
declining confidence in key public institutions

 Effective participation of citizens in policy making is at the

heart of open government reforms and has the potential to
renew the relationship between policy makers and citizens.
In times of declining rates of voter turnout, and low levels
of trust in public institutions and membership in political
parties, governments acknowledge the need to move from
the role of simple provider of services towards the
development of closer partnerships with all relevant
stakeholders
THE END