Introduction
Public policy can create the conditions under which people are able to fulfil their potential. A policy covers a bundle of decisions and reflects an intention to make future decisions in accordance with an overall objective. Public policy, then, is a process — a process of selecting strategies or means, and of making ethical choices about how a society should be governed. Much like an organization moving through several operational steps, it is a complex process involving several agencies or participants, each with varying degrees of roles, interests, and resources.
The Policy Process
1. Problem Identification — the stage at which government comes to recognize a problem, identifying that an existing issue requires attention.
2. Agenda Setting — the process by which government decides to formally consider the problem, placing it among the issues competing for official attention and action.
3. Formulating a Course of Action — assessing the possible options available for addressing the problem, and at this point, developing concrete proposals for how to respond.
4. Implementation — the stage at which the chosen policy is put into action.
5. Evaluation / Review — the appraising stage, in which the impacts and successes (or shortcomings) of the policy are assessed. This can lead to a continued revision process, a revised version of the policy, or its complete termination.
Conclusion
Taken together, these five stages — problem identification, agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and evaluation — form what is commonly known as the policy cycle. Public policy is therefore not a single decision but an ongoing, iterative process, in which each stage feeds into the next and evaluation can, in turn, restart the cycle by identifying new or persisting problems.
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