To
have a proper understanding of public policy, it is necessary to understand its
categories. A comprehensive understanding of the concept therefore, covers such
areas, among others, as policy demands, policy decision, policy statements,
policy outputs and policy outcome (Anderson,
1975).
Policy
demands
These
are demands or claims made upon public officials by other actors (private or
official) in the political system for action or inaction on some perceived problem.
Such demands may take the form of
insistence that government ought to “do something” to a proposal for specific
action on
the matter.
Policy
decisions
These
are decision made by public official that authorize or give direction and
content to public policy actions. Examples are decisions to enact statutes
issues executive orders or edicts, promulgate decrees, et cetetra.
Policy
statements
Policy
statements, according to Anderson
(1975) are the formal expressions or articulations of public policy. They
include legislative statue, decrees, presidential orders, administrative rules
and court opinions, as well as indicating the intentions and goal of
government, and how to realize tem, it is important to mention that policy statements are sometimes ambiguous
and conflicting, they are sometimes conflicting in the sense that different and
contradictory policy statements may be issued by different levels branches, or
units of government.
Policy
Output
Policy
statements, according to Anderson,
are tangible manifestation of policies that is the things actually done in
pursuance of policy decisions and statements. They are, therefore, what
government does as distinguished from what it says it will do. Examples are
health centers actually built, roads constructed, school built, industries
built, et cetera. It is worth to not that policy outputs may sometimes differ
from what policy statements indicate they should be.
Policy
Outcomes
These are the consequences for society (intended or
unintended) that result from action or inaction by government. For example, the
intended consequences of the current privatization policy currently being implemented in Nigeria are
efficiency and high profit of the privatized firms, removal of government
subsidies of public enterprises thereby saving billions of naira worth of
public funds spent on them over the years, et cetera. But the unintended
consequences are inflation and the consequent hardship for families due to low purchasing power of the naira. Again
the capitalization policy and the merging of banks being currently implemented
by the central bank of Nigeria
might achieve the intended consequences of strengthening the banks thereby
securing public funds, but, it has led to retrenchment of worker of banks which
did not meet the deadline for capitalization as fixed by the central bank of Nigeria. These
retrenched workers now join the mass of the unemployed in Nigeria.
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