Public Policy is a formally documented statement of intentions and sets of actions of a government to either remove certain deficiencies or improve the conditions in any particular area of concern/interest.
Thomas Dye defines it as "Whatever governments choose to do or not to do" (1987) while according to Anderson it is a "Purposive course of action or inaction undertaken by an actor or a set of actors in dealing with a problem or matter of concern" (1994). Dean G. Kilpatrick goes a bit further and defines it as a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives.
Policy formulation and implementation is not a random act, rather it is a deliberate action taken by a competent authority that initiated the action and is approved by the public representatives, usually the minister in charge of a ministry or the cabinet. Although it is not a piece of legislation approved by the parliament in the form of an act of parliament, it has the sanctity of its own and can be used as a reference for dispute resolution in the court of law.
Importance of Public Policy Formulation
Throughout history every state has one overriding objective-improving the quality of life of its citizens. This in turn, has three interrelated and inter dependent components
- Standard of Living: Increasing the quantity, quality and access of economic goods and services-food, shelter, clothing, health, education etc.
- Good Governance: Increasing the quantity, quality and access of political goods and services-protection from external aggression, internal law and order, access to justice, political empowerment etc.
- Social Development: Increasing the quantity, quality and access of social goods and services- classless society, equality of opportunity, cultural enhancement, absence of discrimination on the basis of race, religion and gender etc.
To achieve this objective, the government formulates a set of interrelated and inter-dependent national policies relating to social, economic and political fields along with suitable strategies to implement them. Activities carried out under any public policy within an overall umbrella of national policy is an extremely crucial component to achieve the ultimate objective of the state mentioned above-improving the quality of life of the citizens.
There are three main reasons for the formulation of clear cut policy on any issue
1. Awareness Creation: Firstly, to create awareness among the public in general and the stakeholders in particular about the resolve of the government to address the pressing issue for which a policy is being formulated. By creating such awareness among various sections of the society about its sincerity and seriousness to effectively address the problem, it hopes to get the tax and non-tax support of the people. At the same time, it can avoid bad publicity in the media and anger of the civil society
2. Big Picture: Secondly, policies are always part and parcel of the big picture which is in the mind of the governing elite of a country. By formulating a holistic policy in the broader perspectives of its overall aims and objectives, the government intends to give clear guidelines to those implementing these policies regarding the best way to solve a problem. There should not be any ambiguity about the respective domains of different policies which should have in fact a synergic, not divisive effect for the achievement of national interest.
3. Transparency: Thirdly, clear cut policies are needed to ensure transparency about the government's intentions, actions and priorities. People should know who is getting what and raise their objections if there is some serious equity issues in the allocation of resources. Homeless people have the right to object to housing policy that allocates too many resources on the carpeting of roads of posh areas while setting aside peanuts for slums and low-income housing societies. Building motorways for cars at the expense of village to market roads are sheer inequitable use of resources in a developing country
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