Public Administration

15

Public Policy

Policy formulation is one of the essential functions of government. In the present setup, it is the responsibility of the government to ‘take care’ of the people. A government is to perform numerous functions and a policy is prior to every action. In simple words, a policy may be defined as a set of rules which can be utilised to achieve certain desired objectives. In the words of Richard Rose, ‘A policy is not a decision but a course or pattern of actions.’ It is the policy which provides a framework within which all actions for the accomplishment of an objective are to be activated. Robert Eye Stone defines public policy as ‘relationship of a government unit to its environment.’ According to Thomas R. Dye, ‘Public policy is ...