Chapter two

Contexts and Foundations of public policy

2.1. Contexts of public policy
• Public policies are not made in a vacuum; they are made with in
nation’s social, economic , political and cultural environments.
• Those environments highly influence public policy formulations
and their goals.
• Policy environment is complex, multifaceted , mostly dynamic ,
& has far-reaching impact .
 Social context
• The social environment consists of factors related to human
relationship within a society.
• Social contexts affect policies in a myriad of ways; influencing the
type and scope of the same.
• Some of the important factors and influences operating in the
social environment are:
 Demographic characteristics (the composition, diversity and
distribution of population) - such as age , race ,ethnicity,
gender, inter-state migration and rural-urban mobility or
urbanization, and other attributes
 The role and position of men, women, children,
adolescents, and the aged in family and society
 Socio-cultural norms and values,- such as
expectation of society from government , attitudes , social
customs, beliefs, rituals and practices, changing lifestyle
patterns and materialism
 Cont…
 Family, religion, and other institutions structure and
changes in them
 Educational levels, awareness and consciousness of rights

 The work ethics of the members of society, and the attitude

towards minority and disadvantaged groups

 Socio-cultural concerns such as corruption & renting

seeking , use of mass media’s cultural influence , crime and
violence , losing cultural values , etc
• All the above social conditions of countries influence the type,
scope, content of public policies and their implementation.
• Social conditions are dynamic in nature , each stage of change
requires corresponding policy changes or adjustments.
 Economic context
• The economic environment consists of factors related to the
means of production and distribution of wealth
• The economy affects the development policies and programs of
many societies
• Some of the important factors and influences operating in the
economic environment are:
 The economic stage at which a country exists at a given
point of time
 The economic structure adopted, such as a capitalistic,
socialistic or mixed economy
 Economic indices like national income, distribution of
income, growth of GDP, per capital income, disposable
personal income, rate of savings and investments, value of
exports and imports, the balance of payments, etc
 Cont…
 Infrastructural factors, such as financial institutions, banks,
modes of transportation, communication facilities

 the size and composition of industry sectors, inflation,

employment rate, and the cost of labor and raw material
• All of the above economic factors affect economic policies and
programs of a country.
• For example, a country’s budget deficit and the rise of
unemployment and inflation rate have got a direct bearing on
the development policies to be in place.
 Political context
• Scholars contend that it is impossible to understand public policy
without considering the prevailing politics which affects policy
choices at every step.
• These refer to the views and positions of parties on the role of
government and legitimacy to intervene.
• Whether a policy is acceptable or not at a given point in time is a
matter of politics.
• The bureaucracy derives legitimacy from the political institution in
power, politicians in turn claim their authority rested on the
approval of their electorates (HPRs).
• The separation of powers influences a public policy that operates in
a country.
• Any public policy developed at national/federal level must be
acceptable to majority of the legislative body.
 Political culture context
• Political culture refers to the widely held values, beliefs, and
attitudes such as trust and confidence in government and the
political process or lack of it.

• Deeply held cultural attitudes towards or against a given issue/

problem (e.g. abortion, human rights, family planning, etc)
affect the content and effectiveness of public policies.

• Such attitudes or “values divide” also make constituencies to

spread along their value sets having far reaching implications
in the formulation of public policies and their implementation.
 Cont…
• Differences in public policy and policymaking in various
countries can be accounted for at least partially by variations in
political culture: parochial political culture: subject political
culture ; & participant political culture
1. Parochial political culture
 Citizens have little awareness of or orientation toward either
the political system as a whole, the input process, the output
process, or the citizen as a political participant.
 Expect nothing from the system
 Implications for policy formation: Citizen participation in
policy formation is essentially non-existent, because
government matters little to most citizens.
• E.g. many African countries
 Cont…
2. Subject political culture
 Citizens are oriented toward the political system and the
output process, yet has little awareness of input processes
or of the individual as a participant.

 Citizens are aware of governmental authority and may like

or dislike it, but is essentially passive.

 Implications for policy formation:

– Individuals may believe that they can do little to
influence public policy, whether they like it or not.
– This belief may lead to passive acceptance of
governmental action that may be authoritarian in style.
– In some instances, frustration and resentment may build
until redress or change is sought through violence.

Ex: Germany, Japan, Korea (Old days)

 Cont…
3. Participant political culture
 Citizens have a comparatively high level of political awareness
and information along with explicit orientations toward the
political system as a whole, its input and output processes,
and meaningful citizen participation in politics.

 They also understand how individuals and groups can influence

decision-making.

 Implications for policy formation:

– Individuals may organize themselves into groups and
otherwise seek to influence governmental action to rectify
their grievances.
– Government and public policy are thus viewed as
controllable by citizens.
– Most demands will be made on government compared to
other political culture
Ex: US, Korea (nowadays)
 Technological context
• Technological context consists of those factors that are related to
the knowledge applied and the materials and machines used
in the production of goods and services
• Some of the important factors and influences operating in the
technological environment are as follows:
 Sources of technology- organization sources, external sources,
and foreign sources; cost of technology acquisition;
collaboration in and transfer of technology.
 Technological development- stages of development, changes
and rate of change of technology, and research and development.
 Impacts of technology on human beings, the man- machines
system, and the environmental effects of technology
 Communication and infrastructure technology in management
 2.2. Foundations of public policy
• Foundations form contexts upon which public policies are to be
analyzed, formulated, implemented, and evaluated.
1. Constitution
• A country’s Constitution is not only the governing social,
economic, cultural and political life of citizens, but it also
provides and sanctions the rights of the same. A constitution-
– may expand or constrain the power that citizens, groups,
government and their agencies should exercise.
– envisages the structure of governance, mode of power sharing
among government branches (the executive, legislative and
judicial) and structures (federal, state, local government levels).
And these relationships determine how often and how fast policy
issues are identified, set into agenda, deliberated and brought to
adoption.
 Cont ….
• Thus, public policies are the product of what constitution
envisages for citizens, groups and the larger public to be
translated into actions.
2. Ideological basis
• The ideological basis on which countries operate affects the type
and expediency of public policies.
• In the absence of strong and stable ideological
underpinnings, whose strength emanates from the
fundamental Constitutional provisions,
– policies are merely frequented without noticing their impacts
– individuals and groups take every weak opportunity to threaten
unwarranted change of policies.
• For fear of unwarranted policy change, it is believed that certain
ideological and constitutional pillars have to be maintained to
prevail.
 Cont ….
• Issues such as Constitutional provisions on belief, liberty, equality
of citizens, voting rights, etc. which are core beliefs and
constitutional rights have to be durable, adaptable to new
problems and conditions, and rarely threatened by those who
seek policy change.
• In Ethiopia, constitutional cores such as the sovereignty of the
nation, nationalities, and peoples, rights to religion, land
ownership, etc are important ideological pillars of the FDRE.
 3. Separation of powers
• Many democratic states have distinct separation of powers between
the legislative ,executives, and the judiciary.
• Such arrangements maintain the checks and balance of power that are
exercised between and among government units.
• Separation of power is mainly intended to check the power of
government- the three branches and the government structures-
federal, state and local governments.
• Such checks and balance may sometimes lead to what is known as
“policy restraint” which equally manifests itself as both benefits and
losses.
• It considered valuable for its sober deliberation instead of policies
based on immediate “passions” or fads.
• In federal governance, it creates a total policy gridlock since members
of the federations have to make sure the decision they arrive at would
not result in counter productive and undesirable costs.
 4. Political
• The relationship between politics and public policy is a matter of
the debate such as the “chicken and egg”.
• Many, however, believe that public policy is the “creation” of
politics. Thus ,politics is
– the process by which government structures and
authority are established and maintained and also
paves ways as how public policies are formulated and
adopted.
– about “who gets what, when, and how” (Harold Lasswell
,1958)
– also about power and influence in society and also the
process of policymaking.
“Power”, on the other hand, is the “ability to influence others
more than they influence you” (Clemons&McBeth, 2001, 16).
 Cont…
• Proposals by the executive branch have to be approved by the
legislative. And the supreme court can also exercise what is
called judicial review to declare it a law or unconstitutional.

• The separation of powers also meant that there are multiple

policy venues at each governance structures.

• That is why federalism is said to be an ideal opportunity to

exercise the power separated between the center, state and
local levels.
 Group-Exercise

1. In view of checks and balances of power between and among

the branches of government in the FDRE and its constitution,
explain how the judicial review process takes place as a result
of the interaction between and among the three branches?

2. Have you sensed some level of policy restraints between the

two levels of the FDRE? If “yes”, what do think are the
causes and the remedies?