Summary
Summary understanding political behavior and participation (PLC2602)
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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PUB2602PUBLIC POLICY
THEME 1: WHAT IS PUBLIC POLICY
STUDY UNIT 1: WHY IS PUBLIC POLICY IMPORTANT?
POLICY DEFINITION
Statement in which goals are set
Programme developed by decision makers in response to conditions in a particular society,
determining how the conditions will be addressed, the principles underlying how conditions
will be addressed, the principles underlying the programme
The criteria determining the implementation of the policy and the policy goals to be met
Public policies refer to the policies determined in the public sector – made by state
departments, provincial departments, local authorities, cabinet and parliament
Private policies – policies made by private institutions
Public policies affect all spheres of life and society – economic, welfare, housing, monetary,
fiscal, immigration, education, transport, relations to other states and countries
PUBLIC POLICY
The authoritative allocation of scarce resources
Public policy is authoritative
Means and power to implement and enforce policies
Mostly concerned worth the allocation of resources and determining priorities
Always limited by the scarcity of resources, there is always more needs in a society than the
resources available to address them
The actions and inactions of government
Inaction can be just as impactful on society as government action
Policy – a projected program of goals, objections, purpose. A purposive course of action
followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a problem or matter of concern
Intended to produce certain results and should be purposive/ goal orientated actions
Policies are courses of action based on authoritative law
CONTEXT OF POLICIES IN THE 2000’S
Studied from a multitude of perspectives – located in two traditions in political sciences
Behaviourism – focuses on the bahavio9ur of political actors and political dynamics related
to the sense of communication, psychological motivations for public behaviour and political
values and culture are then emphasised
Institutionalism – emphasis on role of institutions in policy making and implementation
PUBLIC POLICY ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS OF GOVERNANCE
States ability to take decisions and make policies for itself without external sanctioning or
interference is the ultimate in dictation of a state’s sovereignty
Globalisation affects this limitation
Heterogenous multinational states more common
No more clear indication between pubic and foreign policy
PUBLIC POLICY AND DEMOCRACY
, Public policy applied to any form of regime
Depends on particular value system and institutional arrangements, such as the separation
of value systems, fair elections, sound practice of public accountability and collective
responsibility
i.e constitutionalism
system of accountability – parliamentary system where government is accountable for its
policies to parliament
IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC POLICY AND POLICY STUDIES
provide guidelines and frameworks on how to approach their tasks
provide benchmarks by which their performance can be evaluated
articulations by government about its goals and means used to take action
STUDY UNIT 2: THE SOURCES OF PUBLIC POLICY
OFFICIAL SOURCES OF POLICY
new government will usually spend a lot of time drafting policies and converting them into
published policy documents
the longer a document is in power it becomes more difficult to gain access to a concise and
comprehensive policy document on a particular issue
the policies analysts’ tasks become increasingly tedious and complicated
ELECTION MANIFESTO
sets out the policies a prospective party running for government would pursue if it were to
receive majority of votes and become government
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
make proposals for key policy considerations that are published in government gazette
if it needs improvement a white paper is prepared
a white paper states official government policy an
d should be approved by the executive – these are also published in a government gazette
LEGISLATION AND LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
refers to acts of parliament
parliament, ministerial and executive proclamations issued in terms of specific legislation]
legislation is passed by regional authorities and the by laws of local authorities
THE BUDGET
special type of legislation, expression of governments policies in numerical and financial
terms
gives an indication into the priorities of the government and what the pressing needs in
society are and how they will be addressed, what the policy targets are
what role government plays in economic activities
\what fiscal and monetary policies are to be followed
POLICY STATEMENTS, SPEECHES AND ARTICLES
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