Policy Making Process Paper

Policy making can be a complex process depending on the policy and how the people this policy will affect feel about it. Health policy is a subset of public policy. These policies include issues that related to health and illness. There are three interconnected phases that complete the policy making process. The processes are formulation, Legislative and finally the implementation phase. I will attempt to show how these processes come together to form policies as we know them today. The policy making process includes many different models but one of the oldest and most common approaches to the study of policy-making derives from the early work of H. Lasswell (1951). This American political scientist was the first to have taken into account
and analyzed policy as a process, which is, as a set of phenomena organized in time and led by a number of specific and self-induced mechanisms. The model that he helped build is usually known as the stages model of policy, since it separates policy-making into its component steps, or stages, and analyses each in turn. The original version of the model included seven stages, though more recent versions have reduced the process to fewer steps, varying between four and six. The beginning stages of a policy include the identification of issues, through public demands for action (Porter & Hicks, 1995).
It is then up to the appropriate person or committee to decide whether the problem is recognized by society as a whole or is limited to a certain interest group. Sometimes in the beginning stages of a policy the policy makers realize a problem exists but they must be willing to address them all. Many times public figures cannot address the problem because they do not possess the necessary instruments to carry out a policy response. For example public figures cannot bring effective change to certain environmental problems. A time scale must be in place, Policy makers attempt short term mandates depending on how pressing the problem is, the need to correctly identify the problem. Once the problem is identified the policy makers must be in agreement the issue the can be addressed by a policy. For example healthcare reform there was a public outcry for reform, the issues was identified policy makers agreed there was a problem and this issue can be addressed by a policy. As with any policy health care reform is seen differently by different groups for one reason or another with many opinions thus bring about the formulation of policy proposals, their initiation and development, by policy-planning organizations, interest groups, and the executive or legislative branches of government. Formulation stage
A policy should be formulated for example a national health research policy should be formulated based on the national health policy, basically policy formulation is the crafting of alternatives or options for dealing with a problem.
Due to time constraints and resources policy makers must choose which problems to act on. Sometimes determining what’s on the agenda can be difficult, but once the agenda is set the proposals of the policy can be set. Formulation of the policy includes the development of pertinent and acceptable proposed courses of action for dealing with public problems. The people involved in this process are the president and his advisors who are the leading source of policy initiatives. Next are the government agencies, the presidential organizations such as specific tasks forces and or commissions next are the legislators and finally the interest groups. All of these individuals are key figures in the policy making process. This leads into the next phase of policy making which is the legislative
stage.
Legislative stage
The next stage of the policy making is the legislative stage. This stage incorporates activities associated with rule making and policy operation; mobilization of human and financial resources to comply with the policy (Longest, 2002). Each legislature develops a series of steps through legislation proceeds to the floor of the legislature, which is then subject to an up or down vote. The policy outcome in that period is the proposed policy if it receives the support of a “decisive” coalition of legislators, once a bill is voted on and becomes law it is given a public law number and becomes United States code, this process continues ad infinitum. Once a policy is enacted into law it must implemented.
Implementation stage
This leads into the implementation phase. Implementation incorporates activities associated with rule making and policy operation; mobilization of human and financial resources to comply with the policy (Longest, 2002). During this phase congress delegates the implementation and all of the details to the executive branch departments and agencies.
In order for a policy to have proper implementation it must not exceed the jurisdictional limits of the agency. An example of this is certain transportation methods that may lie in different states. Before implementation can begin policy makers must make sure adequate resources are available and ample time is given for implementation, certain policies have failed because it took too long to implement or the cost was too great, also adequate staffing must be available to carry out the policy. Putting a policy in place without having someone to ensure the standards and policy guidelines are enforced will be a disaster. Finally policies must be clear and understandable this is especially true with more complex policies. These policies can be misunderstood if all of the details are not clear and concise causing the policy makers to simplify it. Once the policy is implemented all parties must know their role carrying out the policy and everyone must be on the same page, miscommunication can cause many problems when trying to make sure all of the details of the are followed exactly the way it’s supposed to be. Training is needed to ensure that everyone has knowledge of the policy and its guidelines and standards. Agencies must ensure total compliance if they want the policy implementation to be
successful.
Policy evaluation and maintenance
Many people think the implementation stage is the final step in the policy process when it really isn’t, once the policy is implemented its effectiveness must be assessed after a certain period of time. Steps must be taken to ensure the resources and means to maintain a successful policy. Policy maintenance refers to keeping the policy going after its Implementation. In order to monitor a policy data about the policy is needed. Having a good implementation plan will suggest ways in which data about the policy can be generated in the regular course of maintaining, examples include records, documents feedback from the public, ratings by staff. Plan monitoring also include tests, observation and physical evidence. The final step in the policy process is policy Evaluation. When evaluating a policy there are many questions that have to be asked such as was the problem correctly identified, were all the aspects of the policy covered. When analyzing the policy was all the data evaluated correctly and thoroughly (Slack, 2011). If there were any recommendations were they properly implemented more importantly is the policy having the desired effect and are there any needs for modification, change, or redesign what should be done differently next time. There are several types of evaluations, first there’s the formative evaluation, the formative evaluation documents and analyzes how a policy is implemented, with the objective of making improvements. The summative evaluation is conducted after a program has been fully implemented. This type of evaluation is used to see if the policy is meeting its objective. Policy evaluation applies accepted social science research methods to public programs. The same research designs used in laboratory experiments are not always practicable in the field, but the same principles can guide the planning and execution of policy evaluation (Jpkc.edu, 2011).

Conclusion
Policy making is a very lengthy process, and policy makers Policy makers should have available to them the widest and latest information on research and best practice and all decisions should be demonstrably rooted in this knowledge. Having a good relationship with the public also helps in good policy making after all it is the public whose trust the policy maker is trying to earn in order for this to happen, the policy maker must ensure the information in the policy is clear and concise, reliable, relevant and easy to understand.