Public policy

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Public policy is a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorites to address a problem. Public policy is expressed in the body of laws, regulations, decisions and actions of government. Policy analysis may be used to formulate public policy and to evaluate its effectiveness.

1 Various definitions
2 History of public policy
3 See also
- 3.1 Types of public policy
4 External links

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Various definitions

According to William Jenkins in Policy Analysis: A Ppolitical and Organizational Perspective (1978), a Public Policy is ‘a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power of those actors to achieve’. Jenkins is more accurate than Dye while demonstrating many of the same subjects. Jenkins makes explicit ‘Public Policy-Making’ as a process (not just choice).

According to Thomas A. Birkland in An Introduction to the Policy Process (2001), there is a lack of a consensus on the definition of public policy. Birkland outlines a few definitions of public policy (Table 1.3 on p. 21):

Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "The term public policy always refers to the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions".
Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "Public policy is the outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what".
Thomas Dye: Public policy is "Whatever governments choose to do or not do".
Charles L. Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public policy consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals".
B. Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is the sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens".

Birkland indicates that the elements common to all definitions of public policy are as follows (p. 20):

The policy is made in the name of the "public".
Policy is generally made or initiated by government.
Policy is interpreted and implemented by public and private actors.
Policy is what the government intends to do.
Policy is what the government chooses not to do.

According to Encarta, in its definition of political science: "The field of public policy involves the study of specific policy problems and governmental responses to them. Political scientists involved in the study of public policy attempt to devise solutions for problems of public concern." [1]

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History of public policy

According to Birkland:

While the study of politics has a long history, the systematic study of public policy, on the other hand, can be said to be a twentieth century creation. It dates, according to Daniel McCool, to 1922, when political scientist Charles Merriam sought to connect the theory and practices of politics to understanding the actual activities of government, that is public policy." (p.4) (see McCool, Daniel C. Public Policy Theories, Models, and Concepts: An Anthology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1995.)

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