WHAT IS THE MEANING OF PUBLIC POLICY



Individuals, organizations and the society at large are often faced with educational, socio-economic or political problems. In the face of such problems, decisions are taken to find solutions to the problems, so that they will not degenerate into uncontrollable stages which will make them difficult to solve. Public policies are made in order to solve a given problem affecting the masses in the society. A policy is, therefore, a decision as to what shall be done and how, where and when it shall be done.

A policy option made by an individual is known as private policy because it affects the individual alone and not other person. However, if a policy emanates from the public sector, such as from the institutions of the government and state created agencies, it is referred to as public policy. The
term policy is often confused with decisions and rules. However, the term policy has a different meaning. Policy making may involve decision-making, but a decision may not constitute a policy. Decision-making, on the other hand, is the selection of one alternative from two or more possible alternatives. The Webster’s Collegiate dictionary defines policy as a definite course of action selected from among alternatives and in the light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Policies are general directives or guiding principles issued by the legislature to direct a given course of action or the main line of action to be followed. A public policy is one formulated and implemented by the government for the use of the people.
                        
There is lack of consensus over the meaning of public policy. Thomas (1984:1) defines public policy as whatever the government chooses to do or not to do. On the other hand, Ikelegbe (1996:4) defined public policy as government actions or course of actions or proposed actions or course of proposed actions directed at achieving certain goals. Similarly, Leslie (1997) views public policy as a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a given problem or a set of inter-related problems. 

In any case, public policy refers to a proposed course of action, which the government intends to implement in response to a given problem or situation confronting it. This means that public policy can be regarded as general rules, regulations, guiding practices or actions in a particular activity or problem area. Public policies are usually formulated by the authorities in apolitical system such as the executives, the legislators, the judges and the administrators.

Generally speaking, public policy is defined as the authoritative decisions and actions of the government designed to solve a given problem or a chain of problems in a given society. The implication of this definition is that public policy is derived from constituted authority whose responsibility is to formulate policies through inputs of various policy actors.

Public policy making is a political activity which involves every active member of the political system. This is not to suggest that public policy-making is an affray for all-comers.  To streamline the actors in the policy-making process, James Anderson (1988) distinguished between official and unofficial policy-makers.  Those referred to as official policy-makers are those who possess legal authority to engage in the formulation of public policies. Public policy makers are authorized by the law to formulate, execute and evaluate public policies. In this category will include the legislators, executives, administrators, and judges. 

Unofficial policy-makers refer to those who do not usually possess legal authority to make binding policy decisions, though they participate in the policy-making process and play important roles. The unofficial participants in the policy process include political parties, interest groups, and individual citizens.

Public policy usually involves the interaction of the civil society such as professional bodies, non-governmental organizations, and socio-cultural organizations that respond to the impact of policies.

Public policy is widely implemented in a state bureaucracy. This distinguishes public policy from private sector policies. The civil and public servants are, by their employment, responsible for executing public policies. This role is enhanced by their technical knowledge and experience in the service.

In addition, public policy involves the use of coercive agencies to ensure compliance.  For instance, the government policy restricting the use of motorcycles on dual carriage roads within Abakaliki Metropolis is enforced by a task force. The task force was established mainly to achieve the policy objective. The role of such agencies is essential to avoid sabotage.

Allocation of adequate resources is essential for efficient implementation of public policies. This brings into focus the importance of budgetary allocations, which makes the implementation of public policies possible. Non-availability of resources can lead to ineffectiveness of public policies. As a matter of fact, any public policy that fails to receive adequate financial, material and personnel resources for its implementation can hardly be effective.
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