chapter 3

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November 9, 2016
Policy Making Process – Chapter 3
This chapter examines policy-making as a process. The chapter examines how the policies are made and how the processes overlap and intertwine. In this chapter, it is evident that the policy making process begins with problem identification then agenda setting. The policy making process then goes to the policy formulation, policy legitimization, policy implementation, then ends with policy evaluation. According to the author, these processes occur simultaneously, such that each process overlaps into the others. During these processes, the different political actors and institutions may be engaged in the different processes. During the problem identification stage, the actors decide what the policy needs to address. The author argues that the ability to decide what the policy needs to address is very crucial in the policy making process. The individuals and groups should be organized to define the problems and suggest possible solutions to the process. During the policy making process, the agenda setting can take the bottom-up approach that emphasizes the role of the public opinions. The policy making process can also take the top-down approach that emphasizes the role of the top leadership in decision making. The next stage of policy making process is the agenda-setting the stage. Here, the persons concerned decide the issues and the problems that need to be addressed by the government. According to the author, the media plays an important role in providing information needed by the majority of the population.

The media play an important role as the player and the referee in the political undertakings. During the policy formulation stage, the people concerned develop proposals to resolve the issues that were identified earlier. In addition, it involves the development of policy alternatives that deals with the policy problems. According to the author, the policy formulations occur in government bureaucracies, special interest groups, legislative committees and the think tanks. The major participants at this stage are the think tanks and the interest groups. The another stage of policy development is the policy legitimization stage. This stage involves the selection of proposals and developing a political support for the selected proposal. In addition, this stage entails deciding the constitutionality of the proposal and enacting it into law. The policy legitimization process is highly tied to the lawmaking process. For example, the Congress works through its highly institutionalized rules and procedures to support policy legitimization. According to the author, the policy legitimization process is also tied to the party influence and the presidential influence. On the same note, the policy making process also depends on the constituency influence and the contributor’s influence. The president can use the veto powers to ensure that their bills are sustained. The another process of policy formulation is the policy implementation stage. According to the author, the policy implementation stage involves organizing the departments and agencies to execute the policy. In addition, it involves all the activities designed to carry out policies that have been passed by the legislative arm of the government. According to this article, the final stage of policy making process is the policy evaluation stage. This stage involves receiving reports of the various policy measures that have been implemented. Therefore, this stage involves evaluation of the impact of the policies on the targeted and the non-targeted persons. Eventually, the policy makers can propose changes and reforms depending on the nature of the policy evaluations. According to the author, the policy-making process involves several interest groups that play an important role in policy formulation and policy legitimization. They are involved in developing policy proposals of their own. Therefore, the policy making is much concerned with how the policies are made, as opposed to the substance and content of the individual policies.