⇒ The ‘policy process’ suggests there is a particular method of creating policy - the ‘stages model’ is often used to demonstrate the steps involved in the creation of policy

⇒ Firstly the issue emerges, either gradually or due to an emergency

⇒ Once it has sufficient attention/support it is put on the agenda

⇒ Alternative policy selection is the process of choosing the correct policy tools to deal with the problem.

⇒ The policy is then enacted, implemented, and evaluated

• The stages model of policy making has been criticised for being too linear – it is unlikely that policy is really enacted in a clear step-by-step fashion like this

⇒ Policy making is part of an input-output model: the problems are the inputs, and the public policy decisions are the outputs

• The political system transforms the inputs into outputs
• Although this input-output model has been criticised as treating the political system as a ‘black box’ (i.e. there is little explanation of how exactly the political system does this)

⇒ There are four environments that influence how policy is made: the structural environment, the social environment, the economic environment, and the political environment.

⇒ There are certain rules that must be followed by Government when making policy e.g. the USA has the Administrative Procedure Act which governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the USA may propose and establish regulations

⇒ The demographic of a country (such as the age, race, gender of its population) affect the policy environment

⇒ The UK population is an ageing population meaning policy may be directed more towards the elderly

• There will be health challenges faced by this putting strain on health services such as the NHS

⇒ The UK’s gender ration between men and women has been fairly balanced over the last 50 years, but policy has turned its head towards the changing role of women in society

⇒ Public opinion polling data can be assessed to see what policy should and should not be adopted

• Asking people what they think are pressing issues faced by society provides an interesting insight into what they think policy should focus on
• In the USA public opinion shifted from civil rights being the most important matter (1965), to energy (1970s), and then to defence (during the latter years of the Cold War)

⇒ Although it can be argued that these polls are really just a reflection of what the media is saying and do not reflect the real concerns of a public that has undertaken careful consideration of the present-day problems

⇒ John Kingdom states that a nation’s mood reflects how they believe the Government of the day is handling certain social problems – hence why the public’s mood may be good during economic boom

• Leading up to the 2008 recession the public mood was generally high but fell significantly afterwards

⇒ In America, polling is done to determine the approval rating of the president – more often than not their approval rating declines throughout their duration in office

• Although Trump’s approval rating recently rose, at 42% (March 2018) it is low for a president at this point in his tenure

⇒ Without a positive national mood and trust of key Governmental institutions the legitimacy of the political system may be undermined – as a result, their ability to implement policy effectively is weakened

⇒ The economic environment is the totality of economic factors, such as employment, income, inflation, interest rates, productivity, and wealth that influence the buying behaviour of consumers and institutions

⇒ Economic activity is usually measured by looking at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – this is the total value of everything produced by all the people and companies in the country.

⇒ These economic factors influence what policy is made and, such as in the financial crisis of 2008, policy can affect the economy

• Keynesian economics advocates an increase in government expenditure and lower taxes during a recession to stimulate demand.
• On the other hand, when the economy is doing well (such as in the 1990s when the US federal budget was in surplus) the Government often increases tax and spends less

⇒ The wealthier the country the more problems a Government can solve (in other words, they can afford to implement more policy)

⇒ The legislature and the executive branch deals with inputs and creates outputs, but what are some examples of inputs?

⇒ Election results, public opinion, media coverage, and interest group activity are a few examples of inputs into the political process

⇒ Input from the public and political participation is most effective during elections and referendums where they have an opportunity to vote and provide a mandate to the Government

⇒ However, voters vote for a party/candidate for different reasons, which makes it difficult to truly know any particular voter’s policy preferences

⇒ The link between voters and policy is also weakened due to the fact that votes don’t take place that often

⇒ Public policy preferences can also be collected through opinion polls

⇒ Although many people criticise and distrust polls, they are usually a good representation of public opinion

⇒ Elections and opinion polls are not the only way to let Government officials know what issues exist – you can also communicate with them through emails, letters, etc.

⇒ However, communicating through these means often lead to a poor response

• To deal with this problem, some pressure groups will communicate on a particular group’s behalf or will mobilise its members to send the same email/letter to the relevant Government official

⇒ Being part of a group, as mentioned above, often means you can exert more power than if you try as an individual e.g. Greenpeace and the National Rifle Association are two powerful interest groups

⇒ The news can shape public opinion and direct the public debate towards a particular problem – a lot of people and interest groups use the media to help push their concern forward

⇒ The media is often criticised for inaccurate discussions of issues and policy

⇒ However, widespread negative coverage of policy proposals can be very effective of stopping it in its tracks

⇒ Information is also occasionally leaked by Government officials as a sort-of trial to see how the public react to certain policy proposals

⇒ The political system will take these inputs and transform them into particular outputs, including the adoption of laws and regulations

⇒ Public policy is usually concerned with laws that arise from the legislator (i.e. Statute law)

⇒ However, Case law (laws that arise from the judiciary) is also important as it helps to explain and define the boundaries of Statute

⇒ Regulations rules and administrative codes issued by governmental agencies at all levels, municipal, county, state and federal. Although they are not laws, regulations have the force of law, since they are adopted under authority granted by statutes, and often include penalties for violation

⇒ Oversight is a common function that involves checking whether an enacted law is running effectively and efficiently e.g. an oversight hearing was adopted in response to Hurricane Katrina where they concluded the response to the Hurricane was inadequate

⇒ Similarly, policy evaluation is undertaken to determine the success of a particular policy