Public Policy Lifecycle - Essay Example

The paper "Public Policy Lifecycle" is a worthy example of an essay on social science. The public policy making process entails a set of decisions taken by the government to do something or nothing (Dye, 2010). The stages of the lifecycle of the public policy involve identification of objectives, policy formation, adoption of best solutions, implementation, and evaluation. The Affordable Care Act represents a policy that has undergone through the stages of the public policy lifecycle. The policymakers identified that the objectives of the Affordable Care Act were to expand coverage, lower health care costs, and enhance the quality of care to every American during the first stage of the policy lifecycle. The policy gained attention and the Senate and House of Representatives adopted the best options and passed it in 2009 and 2010 respectively, after deliberating on an alternative solution in the second stage of the policy-making process (Emanuel, 2014). In the third stage, the policy identified lowering the uninsured rate, reducing health care for citizens, and providing subsidies as the best solutions to make health care affordable to all. The implementation stage has encountered challenges from the federal courts, state governments, labor unions, and conservative advocacy groups (Emanuel, 2014). Significant reforms such as minimum standards for insurance policies have happened in the evaluation stage.

It is important to develop a viable policy adoption in order to reduce the chances of failing or stalling public policy. Policy networks can facilitate or hinder the adoption and implementation of public policy (Emanuel, 2014). The policymakers should focus on the best implementation practices by explicitly providing parameters such as targets and restrictions in order to ensure the public understands the implication of the policy. It is imperative for policymakers to consider whether the adoption or amendment of the existing policy offers the best for all the citizens (Dye, 2010). In essence, the makers ought to look at the relative merits of adoption or amendment of policies. Read More