The public policy represents the actions and inactions of a government. All the intentions and decisions of the government are based on some problems and challenges faced by the citizens (Gerston, 2014). Government function for the betterment of society. Therefore, the government must deal with the public issues which are faced by the people in a country. At the federal level, public policies are supposed to regulate the different organizations, protect the citizen within and outside of the country, to provide assistance to the states and city governments, helping the vulnerable through social security programs and to boost the social goals. Policies are designed through a proper process. There are several stages which are followed to make policy. All the policies are established and processed by the government.
Same goes for the Criminal justice policies, which are highly influenced by the opinions of the general public, special interest groups, and elected officials. Moreover, resources are allocated to solve those issues. One of the main goals of government officials is to minimize the crime rates in a country. Therefore, different crime policies are designed to address those challenges and crime policies are never enough to eliminate the problem from society altogether. Some individuals think that law enforcement policies should be strict so that the crime rates in a country get decreased (Birkland, 2015). However, the policy formulation steps for each policy are the same. This research paper examines those steps in detail.
Policy Process Steps
There is a close link between a social problem and the policy process. The policy is based on a problem (Birkland, 2015). For instance, a crime cannot be controlled unless or until the factors of the criminal behavior of a person are unknown. Before a policy formulation, a problem gets the attention of the government. Likewise, the several steps of policy formation are below.
Step 1 Agenda Setting
A problem cannot be solved unless it is not identified. Therefore, problem identification is very important for policy making. However, in agenda setting, it is decided by the policymakers that which problem should be addressed (Peters Pierre, 2006). Once a problem is identified, the process aims to resolve it. Before taking any action a problem, there are several processes to consider. The problems which are needed to be solved are initially recognized by the legislation, and it should get the attention of most of the decision makers who see it as a significant problem. When the problem is identified correctly, it moves to the step of agenda setting. For instance, a new problem is detected at a higher level, then it is brought to the attention of, and it is made a primary concern in the lawmaking process. At this stage, problems are brought to the agenda and decision are made that which problem needs more attention. When a problem is highlighted, alternative solutions are also recommended. However, the agenda setting is fixed, and all the issues compete with each other on the agenda.
Step 02 Formulation and Adoption
Policy formulation is the step where the problem-solving processes are started. All the branches of government participate in policy formulation. It consists of policymakers who discuss and suggest approaches to resolve the problems which are raised on the agenda. Sometimes, it requires to choose among different options which seem more appropriate and effective. All the issues identified in the past are resolved through policies (Dror, 2017). Congress, the executive bodies, judiciary, and other interest groups participate in policy formulation. It is a tangible process and gives a noticeable outcome when successfully passed. Sometimes contradictions take place due to interest conflict. The policy is circulated in Congress and other regulatory institution which proposes rules. This process continues until the adoption of the policy. When legislation passes the policy, it becomes final, and then, the Supreme Court concentrates a decision in a case. While adopting an ultimate policy, two things are very important to resolve the issue. The first thing a policy should ensure that it is a valid method to solve the problem in the most feasible ways that are possible. The effective policy formulation analyses and identifies alternative options to solve the issue. Moreover, it is also important that the policy should be politically feasible. It can be accomplished by the majority building in a negotiating process. Therefore, the formulation process also involves an analysis of all the alternative policies and identify the most effective strategies in the presence of political authorization.
Policy formulation step plans ways to address the unresolved problems. One of the common method used is brainstorming, and it can offer more than one potential solutions. All the policies will strictly follow the rules and regulations. However, the conveyed policies are adopted by the appropriate institutions of government in order to make it effective. Likewise, adoption is also influenced by the same factors that affect the initial steps of the agenda setting. Policies which are designed to resolve a public problem are instantly adopted. However, sometimes the policies are influenced by the powerful interest groups who use their political power. At the same time, the media also plays a vital role in the adoption of a policy. If the report and comments of media are unbiased, it can provide a platform to debate over the various issues and the adoption of policies for those issues. The adoption of policies is done by the people who are in government. In addition, policies are also made at the state and local level.
Step 3 Policy Implementation
After the formulation and adoption of the policy, it is the time to implement the policy. It is the stage to convert the policy proposal into a practical form. It reflects the enacting of the solutions which are proposed in the initial step. One unique thing about policy implementation is that policies will be implemented by other institution, not the one which formulated and chose the policy (Anderson, 2014). For instance, the government decides to revise the punishments for the criminals in prisons and policy has been passed in the legislation. Now the law enforcement agencies will be responsible for implementation of those policies instead of the government itself. The successful implementation of a policy depends on the complexity of the policy and those organizations which are supposed to implement those policies. The responsibility of the policymakers stopped here, and now the policy implementers are ready to act. It is one of the crucial steps to make the policy successful. It is not necessary that the well-written policy may perform well after implementation. A poor implementation can cause failure to a policy. Same goes for the criminal justice policies. A strong policy only works when it is implemented properly. When policies are properly enacted, then there are possibilities that problem will be minimized from the society.
Going through the all initial policies, it can be seen that all of them are focusing on one question, i.e. what. However, this stage is focusing on making those policies work. In order to successfully implement the policy, there are three major criteria. The first thing is that the policy should be properly communicated to those organizations which are implementing those policies (Howlett, Ramesh Perl, 2009). For instance, the government formulates a policy that those who drink alcohol a lot are criminals and they should be imprisoned for at least one year. In this case, the law enforcement agency will be responsible for implementing those policies. In addition, the policy should be communicated properly, and it should be easy to interpret before its implementation for its feasibility. Vague and ambiguity at the implementation stage lead to involvement of the judiciary who will enforce the legislators to simplify the objectives of the policy for implementation. Likewise, the judiciary has the right to overrule a policy which it thinks as an ineffective policy. In addition, the resources used for the implementation of the policy must not create disruption and conflict. Sometimes, complications occur at the policy implementation stage due to the lack of direction. Therefore, the officials should properly direct to administer the policies.
Step 04 Evaluation and Termination
Evaluation is a process through which it is determined whether the policy is working according to the expectations or not. However, it is a very difficult task, and it needs a lot of energy and capital to evaluate the policies. For the proper evaluation, most of the internal and external individuals prefer to use cost-benefit analysis to find out the answers. In this method, the expenditure on policy implementation is compared with the outcomes or results after the execution (Howlett, Ramesh Perl, 2009). However, the benefits are monetized for effective evaluation. However, there are thousands of ways to evaluate the policies. For instance, if formal research is conducted by the officials, then it can give proper evidence for the effectiveness of the policy. There are other methods for evaluation like scientific research. It provides both the relative and arithmetical assessment to see the causal results of the policy implemented.
Moreover, there are different timings for the evaluation of the policies. Administrators aim to improve the functions by assessing the policies which are implemented. The other ways of evaluation are informal methods based on opinions and stories. Moreover, honesty matters a lot for the review and feedbacks from people who are influenced by the policies. All the policies which are implemented should be evaluated for their overall effectiveness. Despite all the methods of evaluation, some policies are not assessed. It is because the different ways of assessment are time-consuming and complicated to implement, and expensive. While the informal assessments are more about the feedback, so there are chances of biasness in these methods.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the public policy represents the actions and inactions of a government. Moreover, the government has to deal with the general issues which are faced by the people in a country. Policies are designed through a proper process, and these policies are explicitly targeting an issue that is confronted by the general public. There are several stages which are followed to make policy. A problem cannot be solved unless it is not identified. Therefore, problem identification is essential for policymaking. However, in agenda setting, it is decided by the policymakers that which problem should be addressed. Policy formulation step plans ways to address the unresolved issues. The successful implementation of a policy depends on the complexity of the policy and those organizations which are supposed to implement those policies. The responsibility of the policymakers stopped here and the policy implementers act. Evaluation is used to determine whether the policy is working according to the expectations or not. There are different formal and informal assessment ways which help to find out the strength of a policy after its implementation. However, without an assessment, it is impossible to identify whether policies have worked successfully or not.
References
Anderson, J. E. (2014). Public Policymaking. Cengage Learning.
Birkland, T. A. (2015). An introduction to the policy process Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making. Routledge.
Dror, Y. (2017). Public policy making reexamined. Routledge.
Gerston, L. N. (2014). Public policy making Process and principles. Routledge.
Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., Perl, A. (2009). Studying public policy Policy cycles and policy subsystems (Vol. 3). Oxford Oxford university press.
Peters, B. G., Pierre, J. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of public policy. Sage.
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