UGBS 105: Introduction to Public Administration Public policy making UGBS 105: Introduction to Public Administration

Outline Meaning of public policy Types of public policy Sources of public policy The process of making public policy Why some policies do not work Making public policies work Summary

What is public policy? Policy refers to a set of guidelines, or rules and regulations, which determine and underline the ways individuals or groups behave in a particular environment Public policies are proposed courses of action, directed towards accomplishing some purposes or goals within the context of public business

Key features of public policies Developed by governmental bodies (MDAs) Goal-oriented, problem-solving instead of random actions or chance behaviours Sometimes responsive to demands by private citizens or organized groups from within the public sector itself Mostly have winners or losers or both Based on the rule of law

Types of public policies Substantive policies: They directly distribute benefits or costs to citizens Procedural policies: How things get done Distributive policies: Allocation of resources/services to particular segments of larger society Regulatory policies: Impose restrictions on behaviours Self-regulatory policies Redistributive policies

Sources of public policies Official policy makers have legitimate authority to take certain decisions in the public interest Examples include – Legislators, CEOs, Judges, Administrators However, the environment of their actions determine what they do largely

Sources of public policies Constitutional and other legal demands Political party manifestoes Pressure groups International conventions

The policy making process Problem identification / Agenda setting Data collection Data analysis / diagnosis Option appraisal Implementation Monitoring Evaluation Feedback

Why some policies do not work Lack of political commitment Political considerations may dampen the zeal of implementation Resource constraints Effects of policy demands on citizens Intractability of many public problems Unanticipated problems

Why some policies do not work (cont’d) Lack of technical expertise Failure to consider the political nature of the policy process Inaccurate data Lack of broad participation/consultation Lack of proper monitoring, evaluation and feedback

Making public policies work Broad participation and consultation Human factors/skills (technical expertise) Resource availability The governance angle: Commitment from the policy actors to let it work

Summary It would be extremely difficult to govern a country without a public policy. They provide the beacons for governance Policies come in different types and with different intentions but the ultimate aim is about service to the people Public policies emerge from various sources and it is important to consider the importance and influence of each

Summary The process provides a guide to arrive at good pubic policies Different kinds of barriers work against the success of public policies Public policies are made to work if interest is shown right from the design stage to the feedback phase Policies must be made to work since they should not be assumed to work on their own

Trial questions Identify any public policy that has not succeeded and discuss why you think it failed. Why do you think it is very difficult to satisfy so many people through public policies?

Trial questions (cont’d) Public policies form the bases of governmental decisions that direct activities within a country. Discuss. Discuss the importance of the citizen’s understanding of the process of making public policies in a developing country like Ghana.