Public Policy and the Role of Government

Public Policy and the Role of Government                                                        2

Summary

After the Aquino Administration there were some public policy issues that have been left unresolved. Issues regarding on the U.S. military bases, foreign debt, the Bataan nuclear plant and to ban logging. We have expectations and questions are pondering on our mind on how the next administration will solve all these problems.

One important policy issue is how to sustain national development with regards on the role of government. There is democracy and political freedom under the Aquino government, while on Marcos government there is an authoritarian state and martial law was declared. Privatization was implemented on some agencies and the need to change the form of our government to address the problem in our economy.

According to Romeo B. Ocampo (2003) a national leader should know the role of government especially the framework for policymaking in facing the nation challenges. First, we should appreciate the role of public policy in the study. Like the America they give importance on this subject while the other countries seem to neglect it. Policy represents a meaningful kind of theory or hypothesis that challenges testing through implementation. Without the study of policy, there will be no administrative reform and innovation. Public policy studies also viewed as a relatively new window in comparative studies of government and development.  

Different countries may share common features in terms of the policy process, but they will be differ in the form of the substance of policy (Horowitz 1989: 203-204). In terms of state capacities and policymaking the Third World countries is more powerful and more dependent on foreign aid against Western countries. During the Aquino regime’s where there are coup

Public Policy and the Role of Government                                                        3

attempts, policymaking in our country may be better described as taking place under crisis conditions. The government is very determined in pursuing its policies. The importance of both

international and domestic relations with regards to relative autonomy is that policymakers can exercise inspite of the forces that can influence their decisions.

Philippines other Third World Countries are more dependable on the international aid agencies. The previous administration has defended our creditors while sticking to the policy of honoring our foreign debt. The influence of foreign experts on domestic policy can be seen on the privatization. The previous administration enacted the 1991 Local Government Code with regards to decentralization. Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) and Planning-Programming-Budgeting System (PPBS) are technical innovations, they have been discredited and gone out of fashion in their country of origin. There are some fundamentals issue of the role of government that need to be address. The economic progress of East Asian countries has been attributed the primary given to private enterprise at the expense of government participation and regulation. Some countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore played a vital role in propelling their economic progress than international aid agencies (Ofreneo 1991: 5-7; Gereffi 1990/1:51-57).