Policy (Public Administration)

The term refers to what public officials within government choose to do, or not do, about public problems. Public problems are generally what the public considers to be unacceptable conditions that demand some form of intervention. Such problems may concern workplace safety, the quality of education, the environment, the economy, or human rights. The term policy generally refers to a strategic course of action that an individual or group takes to consistently address specific issues. Policies can be thought of as a set of prescriptions through which societies self-regulate and attempt to influence human behavior in an appropriate direction. Policies can have many different purposes. They may be designed to regulate behavior, to inform or educate the public, to ration, or to determine the appropriate level of involvement of government agencies via contracting or privatization. These aims and intentions are demonstrated through a variety of legal expressions, such as laws, executive orders, regulations, [Page 386]and judicial rulings. These policy tools and legal expressions can define the intent of a policy at any given time. Public and private organizations are likely to operationalize policies as they manage policy inputs (the resources and administrative processes set up to achieve policy goals), policy outputs (the result of agency actions, such as the number of individuals served), and policy outcomes (the positive effects or benefits of policy actions for the public or in solving public problems). Policy tools and the mechanisms that initiate policies are instituted at the federal, state, and local levels. In some instances, policies may be implemented exclusively by a particular level of government. Medicare, for example, is implemented by the federal government. Medicaid is generally implemented by the states. Other policies may be implemented through coordination between the federal, state, and local levels of government. Education policy, while predominantly a local issue, is one such example of how the three levels of government relate with each other to provide access to quality education for all citizens. Governance, funding, and managing day-to-day operations of schools are generally the concern of local officials and administrators. States provide oversight of school district conditions and performance while providing school report cards to the public. Federal mandates require standardized testing in particular subject areas and grades, while providing technical assistance and funding to states to improve performance. More recent trends and government reforms also emphasize that policies can and should be implemented by nongovernmental organizations (whether faith-based or nonprofit organizations). The role of government, therefore, is to provide oversight in order to ensure that policies are implemented to its satis faction and ultimately to the satisfaction of the public. For more information, see Kraft and Furlong (2007) and Simon (2007).