Day 1 of Lessons back in University. Two of the classes I’m taking this semester are about policy making and policy analysis.
Definition of Public Policy
- Public Policy is generally thought up and produced by governments.
- Public Policy is interpreted and implemented by government as well as other actors
- Public Policy is intentionally done or not done by the government
- Public Policies are made in the interest of the public
Government action can be sometimes confusing or misleading to outsider.
This is how to know whether a government is efficient and has good public policy.
- Predictability
Is there consistent services like public transport ? Running Water? Well Maintained Infrastructure.
The job of the government is to ensure that they provide the basis of a functioning nation. Allowing the lives of citizens to be constant and predictable. Predictability provides stability and assurance to all members of society. - Protection
Does the government provide access to Police, Fire, Healthcare, Justice system services? Are the regulations within your country well made and enforced in order to protect the public. Regulations like food standards, pollution limits etc. - Development
Is there some amount of observable progress? Are the lives of people getting better in the long run? Is the policies set out making significant changes in making the lives of the people better?
From observation from my lectures today. This is how I understand to government behavior when executing public policy.
- What I must do?
In order for the country to continue status quo, this policy must be done. - Can I do it ?
Does the government have capacity to carry out the policy? - What should I do?
What should the government do inorder to maintain power or solve a crisis or intervene in market failure.
Why Public Policy is hard
Lack of Information.
I read a policy Impact Assessment made by the UK government. These documents are public domain.
Impact Assessments are tools used to evaluate the potential positive and negative effects of a proposed project or development. It’s a planning and decision-making tool that considers a variety of factors and suggests ways to reduce negative impacts.
Even with the hundreds of sources cited to back up the claims of this policy, there are still some key aspects missing.
Policy makers are also human, someone is bound to miss something.
Cannot predict the future
The results from some public policies, the results cannot be predicted. Government policies have an element of “hope it works”.
Especially when it comes to unknowns.
Covid 19 was a fantastic example of how the public policy machine of each country worked and whether their policies had any tangible outcomes.
From Sweden’s lack of response to China’s full province wide lockdowns.
Sometimes the politicians don’t like the idea
After all the hardwork, the decision of whether a policy is enacted comes down to the elected government. For them their priorities may be different. Policy Makers are just there to provide options and decision analysis for the government.
A Mistake = Public Shame
A few years ago, there was this anti gambling ad in Singapore during the 2016 World Cup. The ad showed of a boy being sad that is father bidded all of his savings on Germany. Funny thing is, Germany won that year.
Memes popped up on local social media, making fun of the ad. Oh how lucky the boy was. Now they are rich.
There are always problems, and its the job of the government to provide structure to the nation inorder to bring order and function to their country. Policy making is hard, do not make it harder for these folks. If you see a government survey, do it. The more data they have, the better their policy outcomes.
