Understanding Public Policy

Understanding public policy

Every government or central authority has its usual strategies put in place as a way of regulating or encouraging certain activities within its sectors, institutions as well as communities within its territorial boundaries. As defined by Dye, public policies are the actions the state opts to put in place or totally rejects with an aim of achieving certain goals. The paper seeks to shade light on the way -policy analysis affects social policy from either perspective.

Contributions of policy analysis in maintaining or changing social policy

Various models are used by the government in policy analysis with the paramount aim of maintaining social policy which includes institutional models, rational models among others. The rational policy analysis approach is the commonly used most by most governments. . In the early stages of problem definition, the central organization may have faced a series of problems brought about by high unemployment rates that are attributed by poor system of education. In so doing, the government can embark on a policy aimed at changing some of the educational learning systems with an aim of improving the quality of education (Dye, 2008).l Additionally, the state may employ expansionary policies targeting to raise4 the levels of investment as a way to boost the social living standards of individuals through creation of jobs.; On the contrary, some of the regulative strategies put in place by the government (f9or instance, specific standards of education tested through recommended examinations, are supposed to maintain the quality of learning in already developed institutions of learning.

In an effort to determine the best evaluation method, the social cost benefit methods identify the impacts of the policy of individual welfare. If the returns realized from implementing such policies are higher than the costs, the policy may be selected among the options. In carrying out this process, implementing parties will learn effective ways of utilizing scarce resources. On the other hand the same principle is used to establish the best social policy to be implemented based on certain culture and traditions of given societies. Following this process, individuals are also briefed on some of the ways they can utilize social amenities. Sometimes the central authority may restrict some of certain operations from taking place as a way of maintain a social balance between personality and resource utilization (Dye, 2008). The same regulation may also target to reduce anti-social behavior so that the environment may be used for productive activities.

The process involved in identifying various optional policies seeks to create awareness to both the central authority and benefiting individuals on matters related to social policy. In so doing the government will sample those options which seek