Implementing of Public Policy - Research Paper Example

 Public policy The society cannot operate without some form of organized systems, which defines what roles are played by different individuals and institutions in the society. For a society to thrive and maintain the rights and liberties of its individuals, while at the same time ensuring that the enjoyment of such rights and liberties does not constitute a violation of other people’s rights, there must be some guiding principles that operate within such a society. Thus, a society must establish institutions that oversee the harmonious exercise of individual rights and freedom, which is coupled by some responsibilities on the side of the individuals. In so doing, institutions such as the government have been established, to protect individuals from having their rights and freedoms violated, while at the same ensuring that all individuals enjoy equal opportunities, facilities and are guided and regulated by the same laws and regulations. The main functions of the government within any society, is to enact laws that regulate the behavior and responsibilities of people and institutions, formulate policies that guide the execution of certain key functionalities of the government in service of the people, and to allocate resources accordingly, for the benefit of all people in the society (Campbell, 2012). These laws, regulatory measures and courses of actions that are devised by the government to enhance the execution of its mandate to the people, constitute the public policy. Therefore, simply defined, public policy refers to a course of action that is adopted and pursued by the government (Levitt, 1980). However, a public policy is not merely formulated to guide generalized course of action, since different aspects of the society calls upon different policies that guide their implementation and execution. Other than the government, a society also comprises of different agencies that operates in collaboration with the government to ensure that the necessary courses of action, meant to benefit the general public, have been adopted and implemented (Chun & Webb, 2011). This widens the scope of public policy to entail that purposive and consistent course of action that is adopted, overseen and enforced by any public agency, as a response to a perceived problem of a given constituency (Castles, 1999). In line with this operational definition, it is suggested that public policy constitutes of well defined and pre-determined objectives and goals that are to be achieved by the public agencies, which are non-contradictory. It is also within the definition that the role of the government and other public agencies is defined, which is to respond to the issues that may be observed to be of importance and concern to the stakeholders within a society. Considering that public policy is determined through a specific political process, then, it has to be formulated through the inputs of the political representatives of the society, who presents the issues of concern to the public agencies, and holds an evaluation to ascertain which issues are legitimate and what are the appropriate ways of responding to such issues (John, 1998). The course of action must be specific, tailor-made to address a specified perceived problem and mandated to specific institutions, to oversee the implementation. Most significant of the nature of public policy is the fact that, certain actions must be adopted and implemented, and enforced by a public agency to ensure that he perceived problem of a certain constituency within the society is addressed. Thus, public policy is not merely the statement of objectives to be achieved and goals to be realized, but entails the performance and execution of the action to address the issues of concern. The Public Policy Process Considering that public policy process entails the performance of specific actions to address certain public concerns, the formulation of public policy has to undergo though several stages from the initial face of formulation, to the final stage where the issues of concern are amicably addressed, through the performance of certain actions. The process operates in a systematic manner, where the first stage precedes the second and the pattern follows until the last stage, where the desired action is fully implemented and thus the perceived problems in the society effectively addressed. The process also operates as a cycle, since one stage leads to the other, while certain changes might come in the process, prompting the process to repeat itself. For example, while conducting the final stage of the process, which entails the evaluation of the effectiveness of the course of action that has been implemented, another problem might be discovered, which will then prompt the whole process to be repeated, this time, in addressing the new problem that has been identified (Chun & Webb, 2011). The whole policy process is focused on the same objective, and thus entails the following: Identification of the problem The first stage in the formulation of public policy is the identification of problem. At this stage, the perceived problem is identified through the relevant stakeholders and the involved political players (Parsons, 1999). The issue is then analyzed and investigated deeply, to understand all the details of the problem, its causes, how it can be addressed and the various alternatives that are available to address the issues and have it resolved. At this stage, the level of awareness of the public on the issue is assessed, with a view to understanding the extent to which the problem is affecting the society. This is because, the higher the level of awareness of a certain issues to the public, the higher is the concern, and thus the dire is the issue to the constituency involved (Castles, 1999). The determination of the nature of the problem and how far it affects the society helps to identify the relevant public agency and the stakeholders that should be involved in fixing the problem, and what are the various ways through which the issue can be addressed. Through the identification of the problem, the agenda is set by the public, special interest groups or the government, and then the agenda is put into focus to ascertain its relevance and consequence to the issue of concern. A course of action is then devised to address the issue (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2008). Agenda setting This is the second process in the formulation of public policy, where the agenda is now set, after the details of the problem facing a certain constituency of the society has been identified and well understood. At this stage, the definition of the alternative courses of action and outcomes are well defined, with a view to arriving at the most practical, yet the most effective way of addressing the issue (Knoepfel, 2011). The alternatives are allowed to compete for the implementation space, depending on their viability, merits and demerits, and then a final list of the alternatives is arrived at, which gives the order in which the alternatives are practical, effective and advantageous in addressing the issue. The agenda setting stage entails the passing of the problem identified through various levels of bureaucracy, which discusses the issue at hand and develops various alternatives regarding its implementation and suitability to address the issue. Finally, the best alternative is arrived at, and the course of action determined (Parsons, 1999). Policy formulation This is the stage at which the policy relevant to address the issue facing a certain constituency of the society is finally devised. This stage entails the discussion and debating between various stakeholders, such as the public representatives and the government, to arrive at a conclusive agreement on how the issue is to be tackled, who are the agencies and the stakeholders to be involved and what is the timeline attached to the implementation of the course of action (Campbell, 2012). Individual citizens and also different interest groups plays a major role in the execution of this stage, since it is the stage at which their inputs are validated and investigated, to give a clear guideline to the government and the relevant public agencies on how the affected constituency would like to have the issues addressed. The opinion and viewpoint of the citizens and the interest groups is evaluated based on the ability of the government and the other relevant stakeholders, and a final agreement is reached regarding how the course of action devised, is to be executed (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2008). It is at this stage that compromises between the parties involved are sought, and an agreement reached by all the stakeholders on the way forward. Budgeting and implementation The relevant government agencies are then involved in a budgeting process, where the necessary funds for the implementation of the course of action are agreed upon and their sources discussed. This allows the relevant budgeting and planning bodies to include the budget of the policy during the final annual financial budget, and thus avail the funds necessary for the implementation of the course of action that has been agreed upon (Chun & Webb, 2011). At this stage, clear communication and coordination between the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the course of action is vital, to ensure that the whole execution process is undertaken smoothly. It is during this stage that the agreed plans and actions are executed to the letter, to achieve the objectives and the goals for which the policy was formulated (Simon, 2010). Evaluation This is the last stage in the policy process, where the impacts, effectiveness and appropriateness of the actions implemented is evaluated, to determine whether the policy execution has aided the problem solving of the issue facing the society. The process of evaluation is undertaken by various actors, to assess whether the course of action has lived up to the expectation (Campbell, 2012). It is at this stage that the costs and benefits of the projects are evaluated, as well as the impacts that were not anticipated and how they have affected the constituency of the society in question. It is also at this stage that the changes deemed necessary on the policy are considered, the available financing evaluated and the necessary changes effected to ensure that the main specific objectives of the policy formulation are effectively achieved (Stewart, Hedge & Lester, 2008). Public policy of the United States This refers to all the actions that have been adopted by the federal government, to address the issue of interest and concern to the American people. The policies are developed from a collection of laws that are enacted by the legislature as well the executive decisions on certain issues (Woll, 1974). The executive arm of the government remains the organ mandated with the execution of the public policy, once it is developed by the relevant stakeholders and other public agencies. The policy categories of the United States include educational policy, agricultural policy, environmental, criminal, cultural, economic, health, social welfare and foreign affairs policies (Sapru, 2004). The Federal Reserve and the treasury are the main public agencies that are involved in the implementation of public policy in the US, once such policies are formulated, through availing the required funds to implement the adopted courses of action. However, the criminal, economic and health policies have featured most recently as the most prominent public policies in the US, which have elicited different concerns and reactions from different quarters of the USA population. The health bills and the gun control bills have featured as the top ranked items in the current USA public policy issues, which have proven to be controversial and are still in the course of being evaluated for execution. Public policy in the Middle East Public policy in the Middle East is adopted as a function of the executive arm of the government, although the formulation is undertaken on a much wider scale. Association for Middle Eastern Public Policy and Administration is f the main body that is involved in the formulation of public policy that are applicable to the Middle East, through undertaking forums and events where different stakeholders are involved in formulating policies that address issues affecting the region (American Society for Public Administration, 2012). One such International public policy event held by the body was in Morocco in November, 2012, where various issues affecting the Middle East were discussed and policies to address them formulated (American Society for Public Administration, 2012). The policies formulated by such international forums and events are them presented to the government for their eventual implementation and execution. References American Society for Public Administration. (2012). Association for Middle Eastern Public Policy and Administration Releases Call for Proposals. PA Times. http://patimes.org/association-middle-eastern-public-policy-administration-releases-call-proposals/ Campbell, A. (2011). Policy Feedbacks and the Impact of Policy Designs on Public Opinion. Journal Of Health Politics, Policy & Law, 36(6), 961-973. Castles, F. G. (1999). Comparative public policy: Patterns of post-war transformation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Chun, S. & Webb, N. (2011). Public policy and obstacles to the virtual agora: Insights from the deliberative e-rulemaking project. Information Polity: The International Journal Of Government & Democracy In The Information Age, 16(3), 197-214. John, P. (1998). Analysing public policy. London: Continuum. Knoepfel, P. (2011). Public policy analysis. Bristol: Policy Press. Levitt, R. (1980). Implementing public policy. London: Croom Helm. Parsons, W. (1999). 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