Public policy: concept, functions and examples

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

For many centuries, any state had its own political course of action. Gradually, it underwent very noticeable changes, an increasing number of people began to gradually join this area. As soon as journalists, experts, sociologists, publicists and a number of other figures began to penetrate state policy, it became possible to talk about the phenomenon of the emergence of "public policy".

Concept

At the moment there is no clearly defined deciphered term Public Policy, and in Russia it is not yet widely used. Quite often, scientists define the concept of public policy as an activity aimed at satisfying the interests of society, but under the control of the state. Thus, this made this kind of politics a completely new institution. It can be said that in a broad sense, public policy is the organizing, orderly activity of the state itself, which functions on the basis of state regulation of various social relations by all spheres of power - executive,legislative, judicial, media and many others.

Now political parties, like the media, are approved civil society institutions that act among themselves on the basis of horizontal ties, that is, they are considered equal allies. Although the term itself still has a very limited image, which in many respects operates exclusively in a theoretical sense, it can already be said that this phenomenon is not at all every minute. The gradual development of public policy has its own strategy - over time, to closely introduce an active "democratic public" into political management. Thus, a gradual modification of legitimacy takes place, a new direction for solving problems arises - a general consensus on a number of problems. It is this direction of public policy that sociologists are currently proposing, wishing to merge into one hierarchy the rival institutions familiar in the old days - social sciences, politics and journalism.

Stages of formation

In order to understand exactly how the phenomenon of public policy began to develop, one should plunge a little into the history of its formation. It began to develop only in the 80-90s of the last century due to a severe economic crisis, which became a major nuisance for a number of European countries. Western Europe at that moment simply had to reconsider its social policy, since the old institutions of civil society, acting to solve the problems of public administration, were no longer able to cope with the emergingproblems. It was during this period that neo-liberalists began to talk about a new way of governing, as well as the creation of a science of "the state in action".

The Russian Federation will be considered as an example of public policy, as well as its gradual development. In total, there are 3 main stages that led this institute to a modern result.

Democratization

It was the democratization of public policy that took place between 1993 and 2000 that became the first stage of formation. Gradually, a special design of an institutional democratic state began to take shape in the country. Presidency institutions began to develop, a multi-party system developed. The market economy has taken its rightful place, as has parliamentarism. The previously rigid state with a totalitarian system was gradually becoming a proto-democracy. The media began to aggressively cover the political situation in the country, as well as directly participate in the public and political life of the Russian Federation.

Crisis stage

From 2000 to 2007 there was an institutional crisis in the country. With Putin coming to power, vertical power began to grow, business gradually began to move away, and the state itself strengthened its role in the socio-economic sphere. The institutions of democracy, which were previously formal, have lost their dominant position and have given some of their functions to informal ones. Also during this period, one can notice sharp changes in the regional policy of the country and a gradualreforming the state apparatus and the judiciary in an attempt to create models that are effective in practice.

The sharp dominance of the institution of the presidency subordinated the executive branch, and the legislature, like the public parties, lost all leverage. The media in those years were suppressed by the oligarchs, who, with the permission of the authorities, used information to manipulate the opinion of the population.

Imitation of publicity

After the crisis and to the present moment, it can be said that public policy in the country is in many ways just an imitation, not a reality. This is characterized by several trends at once, which really contradict each other.

The media and media technology continues to be used as a mouthpiece for contemporary politics. On any channel, you can find programs where the political leadership of the country promises to soon solve all the problems of the population, and any opposition forces or protest actions are also actively denigrated.
The economic crisis has led to a sharp aggravation of all existing problems in the country, which led to the need for modernization. Medvedev called this policy "four I". It directly affects institutions, infrastructure, innovation and investment, which directly affects the sphere of public policy.
Formation of "underground publicity" in the Internet space. Such formation of shadow mechanisms is becoming more and more common in the country.

The role of public policy in the country

In order for the state to form an active, communicative policy between various social groups, acting on the basis of democratic discussion, the necessary conditions are required:

Power in the country should be transparent. First of all, this concept is currently invested in the free access of a person to government information as needed (with the exception of data classified as state secrets), as well as the ability of ordinary citizens to influence decision-making by the government apparatus.
The country's authorities should be focused on solving problems in the country, and not on meeting their own needs. The government must put the local community at the center of its focus.
The state apparatus must meet modern, highly efficient management requirements. This means the fight against bureaucracy and corruption, the constant retraining of personnel and the improvement of their level of work.

Functions

Full confidence of the population in their power structures and their decisions can only arise when they see the transparency of the entire structure.

The main function of public policy is precisely to make the power in the country more transparent, as well as to ensure communication between different segments of the population in the country.