1 Chapter 1: What is Public Policy?
PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT
Public policy is the result of governmental actions stemming from politics. In order to understand the concept of public policy, we must have a basic understanding of the purpose of government. Governments impact nearly every aspect of human life. They provide frameworks of laws and regulations that promote the common good and ensure citizen welfare. Governments maintain law and order, protect rights and freedoms and promote economic prosperity.
There are three levels of governments in the United States. These levels of government include the Federal, state, and local governments. State governments are patterned after the Federal government. The Federal and state governments, through federalism, share certain powers such as law enforcement and taxation. States, however, have their own constitutions. State governments grant local governments powers. Local governments include counties and municipalities such as cities and towns.
Each of these governments has three branches: the Executive Branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. Our primary concern is with the Executive and legislative branches. The legislative branches develop policies that the executive branch agencies would then implement. The executive branch implements policies produced by the legislative branches utilizing a system of agencies, departments and activities. The graphic below outlines the three levels and three branches of government and what they generally entail.
We interact with some governmental function every day whether we realize it or not. Each level of government serves citizens independently or jointly through formal and informal partnerships within an intergovernmental system. Local governments are typically directly responsible for services such as, but not limited to, parks and recreation, public transportation, community development, education and public works. State governments regulate industries, manage natural resources, and provide for public safety, education and healthcare. The federal government manages the national economy, provides for national defense, maintains the federal interstate system and provides a policy structure for several public goods and services.
Government is the system of political processes and institutions in which public policies are made (Kraft & Furlong, 2021). Ideally, the purpose of government is to serve the needs and interests of citizens and to promote a fair, just and equitable society for all. However, this is not to say that citizens are passive beneficiaries of governmental actions. Citizens can impact government by being active participants in the public policy process.
What is Public Policy?
Kraft and Furlong (2021) define public policy as “what public officials within government, and by extension the citizens they represent, choose to do or not to do about public problems” (pg. 5). Public policies are theoretical solutions to public broad societal or community problems. They are theoretical in the sense that we often have a limited understanding of the causes and consequences of public problems. Public policies are blueprints of governmental programs and activities designed to accomplish goals. Public policies can also be tools used to impose a particular will on society as a whole or on particular segments of the population.
Public policy is a set of intentional actions undertaken to resolve broad societal or community problems. Public policies are responses to issues that arise when something is wrong, or someone is wronged. These responses are typically approved by governments and thus stipulate a government’s actions or inactions to salient public issues, perceived or real. Policy includes any formal legislative actions taken to address societal or other identified problems. Policy encompasses a multitude of broad categories of issues or “policy domains.” It is generally formulated at the legislative level but is often times guided by the policy direction of the executive (i.e. presidents, governors, mayors). Public policy decisions are binding on both those who agree with them and those who do not as they often reflect what behaviors are or are not acceptable in society (Wheelan, 2011). Policies may include laws, regulations, ordinances, executive decisions or programs (Weible, 2018). Smith and Larimer (2017) contend there is no universally accepted or precise definition of public policy, but scholars typically agree that “public policy includes the process of making choices, the actions associated with operationalizing those choices, and the outputs and outcomes produced by those actions” (pg. 4). The authors further note that policy is public in the sense that these choices are supported by coercive powers held by governments.
Public policymaking involves crafting solutions to issues across policy domains. Table 1.1 shows examples of policy domains and corresponding issue areas.
Table 1.1 Example Policy Domains and Issue Areas
THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS
Policy is generated through a process. In a general, simplified sense, policy making is typically described as a cyclical set of stages. This approach treats policymaking as a structured, sequential and constant process. Policy makers identify a problem, formulate different solutions, adopt and implement a set of solutions, then evaluate policies to determine their effectiveness. Although there are notable and important criticism of the stages approach (see Weible and Sabatier (2018)), this approach provides a meaningful heuristic for examining the process for engagement purposes.
Each stage of the policy process is described as follows:
- Problem Identification: A problem is brought to the attention of policymakers. This problem can be actual or perceived. Examples of issues could include air pollution, increasing costs of housing, education affordability, etc.
- Agenda Setting: Policymakers decide to act on an issue or set of issues. The State of the Union Address is a good way to gain insights of what the President’s policy agenda includes. Leadership in legislative bodies (Congress, general assemblies, city councils) often determine the matters that it will take up. Not all matters make it to agendas because doing so may not be politically or practically feasible.
- Policy Formulation: Legislative bodies determine a course of policy action. They may seek insight from subject matter experts, administrators, citizens etc. in the form of testimony during legislative hearings. Once a course of action is determined, the House and Senate vote and if a bill passes both houses, it is sent to the Executive (president, governor, mayor) to be signed (or vetoed).
- Implementation: Once a bill becomes law, executive level agencies are usually tasked with implementing them. Executive level agencies develop implementation rules and determine how to design and put programs and activities into place to achieve policy goals. Some policy related activities may also be implemented by the nonprofit and private sectors.
- Evaluation: After a certain time period, the legislative body may require that policies and programs be evaluated to determine their effectiveness. This may be done as an oversight function of the legislature. Departments may also conduct evaluations, but oftentimes, non-partisan governmental offices or non-governmental organizations may conduct evaluations to maintain objectivity.
Concepts in Action: COVID-19 and the Policy Process
The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to examine governmental responses through the policy stages. Policy responses to COVID-19 were constrained as it was a new disease, its prevalence and impact was bound in uncertainty and the information learned about the diseases was constantly changing. Nonetheless, governments took various actions to slow COVID-19’s spread. While each level of government responded in several ways, the focus here is on the federal government’s initial response.
Problem Identification:
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China in November 2019. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 was problematic because of the number of deaths it caused and how quickly it spread around the world and in the United States. Toward the end of March 2020, there were more than 387,000 cases and over 16,000 deaths confirmed worldwide. The United States accounted for over 46,000 cases and nearly 600 deaths at that point (Pramuck & Dzhanova, 2020).
Agenda Setting
Both the President and Congress play an active and important role in establishing policy agendas. Some argue that federal policy responses to COVID-19 were constrained due to political rhetoric espoused by President Trump (Parker & Stern, 2022). After initially downplaying the severity, impacts and potential impacts of COVID-19, President Trump declared it a national emergency on March 13, 2020. The first open hearing was held early February 2020. Several policy responses, by way of executive actions and congressional legislation, were being formulated and debated.
Policy Formulation
The primary policy strategy was to rely on states (Kates, et al., 2020). Nonetheless, initial policy responses undertaken by the President were to establish the White House COVID-19 Task Force (Kates, et al., 2020) and to ban foreign nationals from the U.S. if they had been in China in the two weeks prior to the ban (Parker & Stern, 2022). The White House later provided federal social distancing guidelines and promoted and supported COVID-19 testing. The Trump administration also initiated Operation Warp Speed in an effort to promote the rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Congress considered several pieces of legislation designed to mitigate the health related and economic impacts of COVID-19. Congress ultimately passed, and President Trump signed, four substantive acts. These acts include the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act. (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2021)
Implementation
Several federal departments and agencies implemented aspects of COVID-19 policy strategies. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) played a critical role in the federal government’s COVID-19 response. It’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted research and provided guidance on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). Another HHS agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was responsible for approving coronavirus drugs, vaccines and test kits. HHS and The Department of Defense (DOD) partnered to implement Operation Warp Speed (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2021).
The Department of Defense also coordinated the provision of naval hospital ships to boost hospital capacity in cities such as Los Angeles and New York. National Guard members helped state and local healthcare workers distribute medical supplies. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted airport health screenings and enforced travel restriction. Officers with DHS’s Customs and Border Protection agency monitored COVID-19 symptoms at ports of entry. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated the federal response and provided personnel and health supplies (Maizland 2020).
Evaluation
Governments, or organizations outside of government such as academic institutions and think tanks, conduct evaluations to assess the effectiveness of policy strategies. In doing so, they can determine whether and how to modify policies so that the policies have greater impact. A study of the effects of local, regional and national policies finds that shutdown orders prevented nearly 60 million coronavirus infections in the U.S. (Hsiang, et al., 2020). In another study, researchers find that the U.S. ban of visitors from China slowed the COVID-19 outbreak by 16 days (Kang & Kim, 2020). Moghada, et al. (2021) conclude vaccinations could play a significant role in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths.
Concluding Thoughts
Many institutions, groups and individuals may influence policy decisions. These actors may include politicians, those implementing policies (administrators and bureaucrats), interest groups (both economic and public interests) and citizens. Thus, policy solutions represent the values, interests and beliefs of those exerting influence on the policy process.
Public policy is like a game in two ways. First, in any policy solution, there will be winners and losers. Thus, in an ideal and rational policy environment, we would maximize benefits of policy, while minimizing the risks and costs to policy losers. The reality is policy making does not always exist in an ideal and rational environment. Policy is “messy due to the actors involved or the roles that power and politics play” (Rinfret, Scheberle, & Pautz, 2019).
Second, public policy also requires strategy that involves creating networks, communicating and utilizing resources in ways that achieve goals. Being strategic is important because policies can be controversial given that we have different political perspectives, values and beliefs. Policies are also controversial because we often disagree on the causes and consequences of problems. When there are debates about the causes of problems, meaningful solutions are seldom implemented. This is a challenge of public policy and participating in its process.
Discussion Questions
- If a friend asked you to explain “public policy”, what would you tell them?
- What do you consider to be the challenging aspects of participating in the policy process? What do you consider to be the barriers to participation? What opportunities exist for participation?
- What policy issues do you consider to be important? Why? What do you think can be done about them?
Skill Development: Understanding the Policy Process
It is important that we understand the policy process and the roles of the branches in it. Understanding the process equips us with the foundational knowledge needed for effective participation. The process is complex and nuanced; however, it is not insurmountable.
- Identify and describe the federal policy process.
- Identify and describe the policy process of your state government.
- Identify and describe the policy process of your local government.
- In what ways are the processes similar? How do they differ?
Resources
United States Congress www.congress.gov
Federal Legislative Process https://www.congress.gov/legislative-process
State Legislature Websites https://www.congress.gov/state-legislature-websites
Library of Congress Guide to Law Online – U.S. States and Territories https://guides.loc.gov/us-states-territories
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network https://www.c-span.org/
Works Cited
Center for Health Security. (2020). COVID-19 congressional testimonies and briefings. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security. https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/covid-19-updates/ covid-19-congressional-testimonies-briefings
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, February 12). CDC’s Response. Retrieved February 2023, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cdcresponse/index.html
Hsiang, S., Allen, D., Annan-Phan, S., Bell, K., Bolliger, I., Chong, T., . . . Wu, T. (2020, June). The Effect of Large-Scale Anti-Contagion Policies on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nature, 584, 262-267.
Kang, N., & Kim, B. (2020). The Effects of Border Shutdowns on the Spread of COVID-19. Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, 53(5), 293-301.
Kates, J., Michaud, J., Levitt, L., Pollitz, K., Neuman, T., Long, M., . . . Cubanski, J. (2020, September 11). Comparing Trump and Biden on COVID-19. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from Kaufmann Family Foundation: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/comparing-trump-and-biden-on-covid-19/
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2021). Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives (Vol. 7th Edition). Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press.
Maizland, L. (2020, April 7). U.S. coronavirus response: Who’s in charge of what? Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/article/us-trump-coronavirus-response-covid19-agencies-in-charge#chapter-title-0-2
Moghada, S. M., Vilches, T. N., Zhang, K., Wells, C. R., Shoukat, A., Singer, B. H., . . . Galvani, A. P.(2021). The Impact of Vaccination on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreaks in the United States. Clinical Infections Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 73(12), 2257-2264.
Parker, C. F., & Stern, E. K. (2022, March). The Trump Administation and the COVID-19 Crisis: Exploring the Warning-Response Problems and Missed Opportunities of a Public Health Emergency. Public Administration, 100(3), 616-632.
Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (2021, March 21). Here’s Everything the Federal Government Has Done To Respon to the Coronavirus So Far. Retrieved from Peter G. Peterson Foundation: https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/heres-everything-congress-has-done-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-so-far
Pramuck, J., & Dzhanova, Y. (2020, March 24). CNBC. Retrieved February 2023, from Here’s What’s in the Developing Coronavirus Stimulus Bill: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/24/coronavirus-stimulus-update-heres-whats-in-the-senate-bill.html
Rinfret, S. R., Scheberle, D., & Pautz, M. C. (2019). Public Policy: A Concise Introduction. Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press.
Smith, K. B., & Larimer, C. W. (2017). The Public Policy Theory Primer (Third ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2021, February 11). Operation Warp Speed: Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Development Status and Efforts to Address Manufacturing Challenges. Retrieved February 2023, from U.S. Government Accountability Office: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-319
Weible, C. M. (2018). Introduction: The Scope and Focus of Policy Process Research and Theory. In C. M. Weible, P. A. Sabatier, C. M. Weible, & P. A. Sabatier (Eds.), Theories of the Policy Process (Fourth ed.). New York, New York: Westview Press.
Weible, C. M., & Sabatier, P. A. (2018). Theories of the Policy Process (Fourth ed.). (C. M. Weible, & P. A. Sabatier, Eds.) New York, New York: Westview Press.
Wheelan, C. (2011). Introduction to Public Policy (1st Edition). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
