Chapter One

1.Definition and Concepts of Policy

1.1 What is Policy?
Literal meaning of policy
The word “policy” is derived from the Greek words politeia
and polic, which refer to state and citizenship, and the Latin
word politia, which means “administration of the
commonwealth”.
Contextual meanings of policy
What is Policy? There is no simple answer to this question
Perhaps that is why so many people claim to have little or
no understanding of policy.
 They don’t “do policy.”
• Minor relevance to their work
 What is Policy?
Public policy is everything!
We literally eat, drink and breathe public policy.
 Public policy determines the quality of the air we
breathe and the water we drink.
 It affects the food we eat – how it is harvested, where
it is distributed and sold, and how much we pay.
 It controls the way in which we clean and monitor (or
not in the case of the Walkerton tragedy) the safety of
the water supply.
 Public policy sets limits on air emissions – though, of
late, governments seem to be issuing warnings of poor
air quality more than doing anything significant to
clean it up.
 What is policy?
When the term policy is used, it may also refer to:
 A policy is a set of ideas or plans that is used as a basis for
making decisions, especially in politics, economics, or
business.
 Official government policy (legislation or guidelines that
govern how laws should be put into operation)
 A policy often comes in the form of general statements
about priorities, written regulations or guide lines
procedures and/or standards to be achieved.
 At its simplest, policy refers to a distinct path of action
which is suitable for the pursuit of desired goals within a
particular context, directing the decision making of an
organization or individuals.
 A company or organization's policy on a particular topic.
For example, the equal opportunity policy of a company
shows that the company aims to treat all its staff equally.
 What is Public Policy?
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal to solve relevant and real-
world problems, guided by a conception and implemented by programs
as a course of action created and/or enacted, typically by a government,
in response to social issues.
Beyond this broad definition, public policy has been conceptualized in a
variety of ways.
 Generally speaking public policy is what the government chooses to
do, or not to do.
 It is a decision made by government to either act, or not to act in
order to resolve a problem.
 Lowi and Ginsburg (1996), define public policy as “ an officially
expressed intention backed by sanction, which can be a reward or a
punishment .”
 Public policy is a course of action that guides a range of related
actions in a given field. They rarely tackle one problem, but rather
deal with clusters of entangled and long-term problems.
 What is Public Policy?
We literally eat, drink and breathe public policy.
 Public policy determines the quality of the air we
breathe and ;
 the water we drink;
 It affects the food we eat – how it is harvested, where it
is distributed and sold, and how much we pay;
 It controls the way in which we clean and monitor (or
not in the case of the Walkerton tragedy) the safety of
the water supply;
 Public policy sets limits on air emissions – though, of
late, governments seem to be issuing warnings of poor
air quality more than doing anything significant to clean
it up.
 1.2 Types of Policies
The American political scientist Theodore J.Lowi
proposed four types of policy, namely
 distributive,
 regulatory
 constituent
 redistributive,
Policy addresses the intent of the organization,
whether government, business, professional, or
voluntary.
 Types of Policies
Distributive policies
 Extend goods and services to members of an organization, as well as
distributing the costs of the goods/services amongst the members of
the organization.
 Examples, public education, highways and public safety,
Regulatory policies
 Regulatory policies, or mandates, limit the discretion of individuals
and agencies, or otherwise compel certain types of behavior.
 These policies are generally thought to be best applied when good
behavior can be easily defined and bad behavior can be easily
regulated and punished through fines or sanctions.
 An example of a fairly successful public regulatory policy is that of a
highway speed limit.
 Types of Policies
Constituent policies
 Constituent policies create executive power
entities, or deal with laws.
 Constituent policies also deal with fiscal
policy in some circumstances
 An example of constituent policies are:
establishment of government structure,
establishment of rules or procedures for
the conduct of government, rules that
distribute or divide power and jurisdiction .
 Types of Policies
Redistributive policies
 is an essential component of strategies for reducing
inequality and promoting sustainable development in its
three dimensions: economic, social and environmental.
 Redistributive policies are concerned with the
rearrangement of policies which are concerned with
bringing about basic social and economic changes. Certain
public goods and welfare services are disproportionately
framed out.
 A final type of policy is redistributive policy, so named
because it redistributes resources in society from one group
to another.
 A few examples of redistributive policies are education,
health care, temporary assistance for needy families
(income support), and food programs like the
supplementary nutritional aid program .
 There are different ways to look at policy
Substantive and Administrative Policy
 The first is concerned with the legislation,
programs and practices that govern the
substantive aspects of community work. This
dimension of policy includes, for example, income
security, employment initiatives, child care
services and social exclusion.
 The second type of policy focuses largely upon
administrative procedures. These involve, for
instance, the collection of statistical information
on neighborhoods and the evaluation of complex
community programs.
 Cont…
Vertical and Horizontal Policy
Substantive and administrative policy can be further classified as vertical or horizontal
policy.
 Vertical policy is what we think of as the normal or traditional way in which policy
decisions are made.
 Vertical policy is developed within a single organizational structure and generally
starts with broad overarching policy, sometimes called “corporate” or “framework”
policy. Such decisions are made at head office and guide subsequent decisions
throughout the organization.
 Horizontal policy-making, by contrast, is developed by two or more organizations,
each of which has the ability or mandate to deal with only one dimension of a given
situation.
 Horizontal or integrated policy is created between parts of an organization or
among organizational components that are similar in hierarchical position [Smith
2003: 11-12].
 Governments increasingly are focusing their efforts upon horizontal policy-making
in recognition of the fact that many of the objectives they seek to achieve are
complex and relate to the mandates of two or more departments, jurisdictions or
non-governmental organizations.
 Areas of common interest include, for example, climate change, local issues and the
range of concerns rooted in cities and communities.
 Cont…
Reactive and Proactive Policy
Policy can also be categorized as reactive or proactive.
 Reactive policy emerges in response to a concern or
crisis that must be addressed – health emergencies
and environmental disasters are two examples.
 Proactive policies, by contrast, are introduced and
pursued through deliberate choice. The national skills
and learning agenda exemplifies this approach
(Education Policy). Knowledge and learning
increasingly have been recognized as vital keys that
unlock the doors to both economic wealth and social
well-being.
 Cont…
Current and Future Policy

Finally, there is yet another way to categorize various policies: those that are
currently on the public agenda and those that are not [Smith 2003: 10].
Current
 Issues already on the public policy agenda (e.g., health care) often have high
profile. A formal process to amend or improve the existing arrangement
generally is in place.
Future
 If an issue is not currently or never has been ‘alive’ on the public agenda, then
there is work to be done in making the case for its importance and raising
awareness about the implications of non-response.
 Making the case current/future is usually through the gathering of evidence
that supports the policy. Relevant evidence includes, for example, research
findings, evaluation data and results from focus groups. While the federal
government actively promotes the concept of ‘evidence-based decision-
making,’ its policy responses often lag behind the available evidence in many
fields.
 Unit Summery
Questions
 What is policy?
 What is public policy?
 List down public policies that are working in
Ethiopian context.
 List down types of policies with examples
that are not listed in your text.