Public Policy Process

Public policy in the United States is a diplomatic way of addressing issues that need to be dealt with across the country. Some of these issues or problems can be crime, international policy, health care, social welfare, and education to name a few. Problems or issues that highlight a need for public policy comes from public opinion by writing letters, emails, or phone calls to elected officials or from government or other officials. Public policy is based on laws, made on behalf of the public, and creating new public policy can take weeks or even years to (This Nation .com, 2015) (Geurts, 2015)pass. The process usually has four steps: setting of an agenda, formulating viable options, and implementing the policy, and evaluating the result.
Because there are numerous issues, they have to be prioritized on need of importance. This prioritization can usually be influenced by interest groups, political parties, the media, and other branches of government through lobbying. Agendas are also influenced by outside issues such as war, natural disasters, or tragic accidents in order to help victims using quick relief efforts. Usually the next step in the process is to formulate viable options.
Formulating agenda options is the stage where plans are made by various groups to try to come up with an amicable way to solve the problem. In this stage several people are involved with this process such as the president, agency officials, interest groups, private organizations, and congressional legislators. After various plans have been presented, one is agreed upon by the decision makers and in many cases adopted by Congress passing a law, the president signing an executive order, or when the Supreme Court rules on an important case. The last step is implementation of the
Smaller issues can be handled by individuals, families, or by civil societies such as social, economic, or political organizations or associations. Public policy initiation issues are those that must be addressed by laws and regulations adopted by the government. Although the process can be very complicated, and possibly take a very long time to implement, the forming of public policy is an essential public opinion driven way to solve issues or problems facing citizens in the United States.

References

Geurts, T. (2015, March 29). beinformed.com. Retrieved from Public Policy Making: http://www.beinformed.com/BeInformed/webdav-resource/binaries/pdf/publications/public-policy-making.pdf?webdav-id=/Be%20Informed%20Bibliotheek/0000%20WEBDAV/WebDAV%20StatContent.bixml
Goodman, D. (2015, March 29). What are the steps in the Public Policy Process. Retrieved from Wise Geek, Clear answers for common questions: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-steps-in-the-public-policy-process.htm
This Nation .com. (2015, March 29). The Policy Process. Retrieved from thisnation.com: http://www.thisnation.com/textbook/processes-policyprocess.html
UShistory.org. (n.d.). American Government. Retrieved from Policy Making: Political Interactions: