Public Policy PDF

# What is Public Policy? - Laws and regulations which are made by legislative statesmen and implemented by public administration personnel. *Woodrow Wilson* - The outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what. *Clarke E. Cochran et al.* - Political decisions for implementing programmes t...

# What is Public Policy? - Laws and regulations which are made by legislative statesmen and implemented by public administration personnel. *Woodrow Wilson* - The outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what. *Clarke E. Cochran et al.* - Political decisions for implementing programmes to achieve societal goals. *Cochrane and Malone* - The sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents to influence the lives of citizens. *Guy Peters* - Public policy is anything government chooses to do. *Anderson* - What governments choose to do or do not do. *Thomas Dye* Public policy is what the government chooses to do, or not to do. It is a decision made by government to either act, or not act in order to resolve public problems. # Why Public Policy? - It is a response to domestic public problems. - Poor infrastructure - Poor health care and health care systems - Corrupt police force - Corrupt and incompetent government officials - Speeding on the public thoroughfares - Unemployment - Brain drain - Influx of migrants - Poor water supply - Inflation - Discrimination - Crimes - Drug abuse - **Market failure:** Inefficient distribution of public goods and services. - **Government failure:** Where government's intervention in the market to resolve an issue thereby making the situation worse. # How do we recognise a public problem? Public problem consist of three elements. - **They involve facts and values**: - The problem must be evidential. - Liberty - Equality - Community/Social Order - Prosperity When people argue about how best to solve a public problem, they are likely to align the facts that support their values. **Problem:** Speeding on the roadways **Facts:** Speeding has been the root cause for 80% of road accidents. Speeding accounts for 60% of road fatalities. **Values:** Existential # Elements of a Public Problems? - Public problems affect people as public citizens rather than as private individuals; and >> Deciding whether to sell your car is a private problem because it affects you as a private individual. Deciding what the speed limit should be on a street or a highway is a public problem because how fast a person drives can affect the safety of other citizens. - Public problems occur in public settings, such as communities, rather than in private settings. >> Allowing your dog to roam in your house is a private matter, but allowing your dog to roam in your neighborhood is a public matter. # Definition Contextual Expansion - What governments choose to do or do not do. *Thomas Dye* How can we add: Preservation of political life, domestic sphere and relief to their constituents? **What governments choose to do or do not do within the domestic sphere primarily to preserve their political lives and to bring relief to the masses, particularly their constituents.** # Contexts of Public Policy - **Government context:** If a policy looks unsuitable to government, it will either be dropped or forced to go through changes. - **Political context:** Policies are influenced by the views of political parties. - **Economic context:** Response to an economic crisis. # Contexts of Public Policy cont'd - **Cultural context:** This entire element is connected to how citizens think and show support for policies. - **Social context:** Responses to the current social conditions. E.g. crimes, unemployment etc # Typologies of Public Policies Theodore Lowi (1964) divided these typologies into three categories: - **Distributive policy:** Government funding into public goods or services. - **Redistributive policy:** Manipulates the allocation of wealth and other valued items. (Taxes, welfare distribution programmes) - **Regulatory policy:** Meant to govern the conduct of businesses to keep the market efficient. (Minimum wage)