Public policies: what they are and how they regulate our social life

One of the most basic and at the same time most complex processes of political and administrative systems is decision making. It involves, among other things, defining problems and finding possible solutions. Likewise, it involves different needs, interests and explanations related to social phenomena. Ultimately, the complexity lies in finding a way to “significantly alter the way in which collective problems are dealt with” (Dente and Subirats, 2014).

In the public sphere, decision-making can become visible in the design and implementation of strategies that directly impact situations defined as a collective problem. The latter is what is defined as “public policy”., a concept that we will develop in an introductory way in this article.

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What's public politic?

The word "politics" is a term that has its origins in the most classical traditions of philosophy and that can have many definitions, depending on the purpose of its use. The most modern definitions refer to

matters that have to do with the exercise of power. And in this sense, the term is also related to the intention of solving collective problems, which, in turn, links public powers and spending with daily life.

If we also understand the "public" as a common space, where both conflicts and solutions are generated, we can say that a "public policy" is a set of objectives, decisions and actions carried out a government to provide solutions to problems that are considered a priority in a particular context (Tamayo, 1997). Some examples of public policy are the set of measures that are implemented to manage the health, education, culture, sports, among others, and the costs and benefits that this supposes.

In this sense, public decisions and public policies are strongly related elements, but they do not refer to the same process. The second is a much more extensive mechanism, and is made up of different decisions.

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The cycle of construction of public policies

The set of objectives, decisions and actions that make up a public policy is carried out through a complex process that starts with the detection of a problem. The latter has to be important enough to receive more or less immediate political and governmental attention. That is to say, to place it on the government agenda, and in this way, begin to propose different solutions that significantly impact the problematic situation.

The process of making public policies then follows different phases, which have traditionally been divided as follows: way: definition of the problem, design alternative solutions, decide on an alternative, implement it, evaluate the results obtained.

About the analysis process

As we have seen, public policy is the set of actions that are implemented to provide a solution to a previously identified collective problem. Hand in hand with this, we can talk about another process: the analysis of public policy, which occurs when evaluating the scope and results of the actions that have been implemented. Or, when the objectives are evaluated, the performance of the different actors, the networks that were generated, the means that were used, among other elements of the process of carrying out a policy in concrete.

Being the result of a process, the isolated phases of public policy creation make no sense or effectiveness in themselves, but in relation to the others, which becomes visible precisely in the analysis. For example, it is possible to do a proper definition and detection of a problem, but err when implementing the solution. Or it can happen that there is an adequate implementation plan, without there being a well-defined problem, or without the implementation plan corresponding to the real problem.

Due to all of the above, the concept of public policy can also be understood as a term that is operational for analysts, although, due to the complexity of each of the phases that we have described previously, the start-up of each corresponds only partially.

Who makes them? Government and citizen participation

The processes through which decisions on public policy are made are closely dependent on the activity of different actors, as well as on a plurality of needs and interests.

Originally, and in many contexts, the process of making public policies was a task reserved for political powers and specialized people. In other words, for one or more actors considered competent to start any of the phases that make up the public policy process.

However, and given that many times the specialized actors turn out to be oblivious to the problem and the impacts of its solution, the design process, implementation, evaluation and analysis has recently moved towards more participatory mechanisms, which include the people who will be affected by the policy in question. The latter has made the processes of creating public policies acquire a complex character regarding decision making, where several mirages can arise about the participation of different actors.

In very general terms, participatory processes have emerged after recognizing that the government, traditionally in charge of carrying out public policies, as well like “politics” itself, they are nothing more than a group of people and institutions with political and legal powers to make decisions, which impact the spaces common. With which, the people who are also part of these spaces can be considered as competent in political terms.

Bibliographic references:

• Tooth, b. and Subirats, J. (2014). Public decisions. Analysis and study of decision processes in public policies. Editorial Ariel: Barcelona.
• Tamayo, M. (1997). The analysis of public policies. In Bañón, R. and Carrillo, E. (Eds.). The new Public Administration. University Alliance: Madrid.