PUBLIC POLICY

Introduction

A policy is defined as a planned action plan that guides decisions and leads to a sensible end(s). Policy can refer to administration, private institutions, organizations, and persons, examples include presidential edicts, organizational policies, and parliamentary statutes. Nevertheless, it is commonly described as public policies from the standpoint of policies produced by national governments. According to the traditional context of public policy, it is a way to proceed chosen and executed by the administration.[1] It establishes important rules for future decisions, primarily by government agencies. These rules (laws) explicitly attempt to achieve what is in the profits of the public in perhaps the most efficient way possible.[2]

The link between politics and governance has evolved and been interpreted in various ways. Based on actual practice, it has been concluded that there can't be a separation between politics and governance in terms of governmental operations, as represented in the policies proposed and executed. Political decision making and policy implementation are the new emphasis of government administration, policy disciplines, and development studies.

Policy framework and the involvement of Governmental Institutions

Developing public policy is a complicated and varied procedure that requires the opposing and cooperative efforts of many groups and individuals to persuade lawmakers to behave in a certain way[3]. Politics and socioeconomic variables are thought to play a significant effect in the final outcome of social policy. It hinges in significant part on well-crafted policies. It is difficult to detect or define what constitutes a well-crafted or "correct" policy in a specific industry or environment. Disputes, especially vehement ones, are normal in democratic systems and are both unavoidable and good.[4]

In reality, we all recognize that "power" has always been maintained by a group of people instead of being possessed by a single individual. We may deduce therefore that policy-making is a delicate procedure where these institutions, individuals, or organisations exercise power and authority over one another. Since we all understand, progressive policies could only be beneficial if they have been executed efficiently and have been able to achieve the goals for that they were created. To reduce the probability that a policy may have unforeseen or undesired consequences, the policy formation process often involves an effort to investigate plenty of sources of significant policy influence as feasible.

It is commonly acknowledged that drawing a conceptual boundary between policy design and policy execution is challenging and laborious. This is due to the fact that policy development occurs across the whole policy making process. What's required is a technique to combine the conceptual advantages of the 'stages' approach with the awareness of inter-stage interactions. It would have been more appropriate to use the terms 'policy-making' for the overall procedure, 'policy creation' for the first part of the process, and 'policy implementation' for the second half of the process.

Constituents of policy development and execution:

Perhaps the most important phase throughout the policy-making or policy-implementation process is determining if a policy change is necessary in the very first place. This seems to be, of course, a necessary stage and the first in a chain of rigorous processes. Once it is determined that a new rule must be advocated or a current one must be altered, a full process of evaluations and diagnostics begins. This is the procedure of narrowing down the strategy to its basic essence. The conceptualization stage adds additional information to the previous policy assessment. These elements include a characterization of the issue, the policy's purpose and goals, a strategy that defines initiatives to promote those goals, and a summary of the infrastructure necessary for this strategy. All of these parts must be meticulously drawn and studied in order to be successful.[5]

The subsequent phase is policy acceptance, which itself is frequently blended with the actual execution stage. Stakeholder engagement is limited at this phase since formal acceptance frequently necessitates a judicial and administrative necessity such as a census, a vote in parliament, a ministerial memorandum, or any other formal actions.[6] As a result, most engagement in making decisions is just exchange of information. Because operational processes are frequently quite complicated in terms of their nature, the goal or result in view, and the players engaged. It may well be beneficial to think of execution as a "mixing of activities." Two different sorts of policy implementation processes are frequently occurring concurrently or sequentially. These are policy formulation and policy implementation.[7]

After the policy formation process is completed, the policy is not totally developed. As previously said, formulation frequently occurs during the overall process. Policymakers may disperse the job openly or tacitly and delegate the responsibility of policy definition to other players. As a result, if the original policy design was not accomplished in such a way that executing actors could work with all of it, the policy development procedure might very well persist at the policy execution stage.[8]

Policies must be analysed and investigated once they are implemented. These are the last steps. There seem to be newer and advanced ways to execute these duties emerging, and foreign engagement in these domains is also growing in popularity. For instance, an external actor, such as the impacted public, may disclose the details to policy observers and assessors, or policy assessors may approach the wider populace to solicit their ideas, responses, and assessments.

Two elements are absolutely important for the policymaking process: a "strategy" and a "plan of action". This is when the distinction in between strategy and a plan of action becomes apparent. A strategy may be written out in vague and general ideas, even at a greater extent; a plan of action is far more detailed. The latter must be exceedingly thorough and explicit regarding the actions that will be conducted, the personnel who will be in charge of each separate aspect of the plan, and then when the strategy will be implemented and the resources needed for each phase of the procedure.[9]

Role of legislation in policy execution:

In terms of policy execution, the government and judicial system enjoy a strong working partnership. The legislature not only enforces regulations, but it also monitors their execution. The policies formulated are mostly carried out by the stable administration.

Their actions are open to oversight by the judiciary, at the desire of just about any victim or anyone else in the interest of the public.[10]

Hindrances in policy execution:

In India, execution is mostly the responsibility of the "permanent executive". It is widely assumed in India that there have been flaws in policy development that cause delays in execution. However, there are political, administrative, and instructional ways for responding to the shortcomings and assuring policy implementation effectiveness.

Impacts of a policy:

It should be noted that policy impact encompasses both the conceptual and material effects of the policy. Individuals, institutions, and entire communities usually rate public policy based on good intents instead of real results. The broad acceptance and public evaluation of a project may be unconnected to its actual implications of targeted goals.[11]

The consequence is that successful programs may not have a strong positive influence. Government policies can reveal further about society's ambitions while also keeping the country in order. Politics today appears to revolve around "who feels what, when, and how". Comprehensive policy analysis focuses on "what governments do, why they do it, and how much difference it makes". The policy's influence must be measured by means of both concrete and subjective outcomes.[12]

Conclusion:

Public policy making may be defined as an interactive, complicated, and engaging system for identifying and resolving existing issues through the development of new policies or the revision of current policies.[13] Public issues can arise in an infinite number of ways, necessitating various policy solutions (such as rules, subsidies, trade restrictions, and legislation) at the regional, nationwide, and global levels. The public issues that shape government policy might be financial, cultural, or social in character.[14]

When required, the administration has a de facto monopoly for initiating or threatening physical action to accomplish its objectives. For example, at times of turmoil when swift decisions must be made.

Each institution is impacted by a unique set of public concerns and difficulties, and it has a distinct set of stakeholders; as a result, each demands a separate set of public policies.[15] Countless individuals, companies, non-profit organisations, and special interests’ groups compete and coordinate to persuade legislators to behave in a certain way.

Lawmakers, civil officials, domain specialists, and business or industry executives, among others, employ a number of methods and instruments to achieve their goals, involving public advocacy, seeking to enlighten supporters and detractors, and rallying supporters on a specific topic. Because societies have evolved during the last few decades, so has the mechanism for formulating public policy. its public policy is becoming more goal-oriented, striving for quantifiable outcomes and targets, focused on choices which must be made right away.[16]

References
[1] Henry, Nicholas, Public Administration and Public Affairs, Pearson Longman, U.S.A.
[2] Dror, Yehezkel, Public Policy making: Reexamined, Transaction Publishers, Rutgers, New Jersey, 1989, p. 5.
[3] Robert, "Definitions of Policy Analysis", Encyclopaedia of Public Administration, Orient Longman, U.S.A., 2001, p. 243.
[4] Thomas, An Introduction to Policy Process, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2001 p. 360 ; For a good analysis in the Indian context see, Agarwal, O.P. and T. V. Somanathan, Public Making in India: Issues and Remedies.
[5] Starling, G rover, 1988, Strategies for Policy.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Starling, G, 1979, The Politics and Economics of Public policy: an introductory analysis.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Dye, Thomas R. (1976). Policy Analysis. University of Alabama Press.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] John, Peter (1998). Analysing Public Policy. Continuum.
[14] Sharkansky, Ira; R. Hofferbert. "Dimensions of State Politics, Economics, and Public Policy". The American Political Science Review.
[15] Thei, Geurts (2010). "Public Policy Making: The 21st Century Perspective".
[16] Ibid.

~Authored by Tanvi Dawrani

can be reached at tanvi.dawrani21@nludelhi.ac.in