DPA 204 L-NU Dagupan City

1. PUBLIC POLICY & PROGRAM
ADMINISTRATION
By:
Engr. Rogelio D. Mercado
DPA 204

2. What is Public Policy?
• Attempt by the government to address a public
issue
• Principles & standards regarded by the
legislature or by the courts as being of
fundamental concern to the State & the whole
society
• Course of action or inaction taken by
governmental entities with regard to a particular
issue or set of issues

3. Meaning of Public Policy
• System of courses of action, regulatory measures,
laws, & funding priorities concerning a given
topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its
representatives
• Commonly embodied in constitutions, legislative
acts and judicial decisions; may also be created
by an executive order, bureaucratic regulation, or
provincial/city/municipal/barangay ordinance

4. Meaning of Public Policy
• Also considered academic discipline as it is
studied by professors & students at public
policy schools of major universities
• Basically the legal framework within which
society operates
• Composite of decisions that government
makes & programs it embarks upon or
implements to achieve goals

5. Meaning of Public Policy
• Implies process of formulating & promulgating
a program based on a set of principles
• Rule of action, manifesting or clarifying
specific organization goals, objectives, values,
or ideals & often prescribing the obligatory or
most desirable ways & means for their
accomplishment

6. Aims of Public Policy
• Reconcile conflicting claims for scarce
resources
• Encourage or foster cooperation that would
probably not occur without government
influence or encouragement
• Prohibit morally unacceptable behavior
• Protect the rights of individuals
• Provide direct benefits to citizens

7. Nature & Scope of Public Policy
• “The authoritative allocation of values for a society.”
• “The process of deciding who gets what, when,
where and how.”
• “What the government chooses to do or not to do
about a specific problem.”
• Establish the boundaries of our freedoms & color
the contours of our interactions with other people in
our political, social & economic systems

8. Three (3) Parts to Public Policy-Making
• Problem – issue that needs to be addressed
• Player – individual or group that is influential in
forming a plan to address the problem in
question
• Policy – finalized course of action decided upon
by the government; widely open to interpretation
by NGO players & private sector including church
& cultural institutions

9. Shaping Public Policy
• Complex & multifaceted process
• Interplay of individuals & groups (interest)
competing/collaborating to influence policy
makers
• Variety of tools/tactics used to advance aims
• Advocating positions publicly – educating
supporters/opponents, mobilizing allies

10. Advocacy
• Attempt to influence public policy thru
education, lobbying or political pressure
• Educate general public/policy makers re:
nature of problems, needed legislation &
funding required for services/research
• Regarded as unseemly but it can clearly
influence public policy priorities

11. Guidance for Policy Makers
(Core Principles)
• Politicians & public servants are accountable
to the public
• Elites, in politics & private sector, do not have
the right to pursue their interests without
constraints
• Government bureaucratic & decision
processes must be open, accessible, &
transparent, as well as responsive to public

12. Guidance to Policy Makers
• Individuals & communities affected by
projects have the right to information
regarding proposed developments; the
right to challenge the need for, and the
design of, projects, and the right to be
involved in planning and decision-making
processes.

13. Rational Model of Public
Policy Making Process
• Agenda setting – agencies & government
officials meet to discuss the problem at hand
• Option-formulation – alternative solutions are
considered & final decisions are made
regarding the best policy
• Implementation – the decided policy is
enforced

14. Stages in the Policy Process
(John W. Kingdom, 1984)
• Agenda setting
• Policy recognition
• Policy generation
• Political action
• Policy formulation
• Policy implementation

15. Agenda Setting
• Certain problems are viewed as needing action while
others are postponed; competing claims &
prioritization gain or decline in prominence over time
• Many people contribute – president, members of
congress, executive branch officials, political parties,
interest groups, media & the general public – in
shaping public opinion

16. Agenda Setting
• From many & competing claims, policy
makers select issues to be given priority
& those to be filtered out
• Confluence of 3 streams of events: policy
recognition, policy generation, & political
action

17. Policy Recognition
• Certain topics emerge as significant issues that demand
action due to many influences such as indicators that
come to public view, feedback on current programs, or
events that demand attention
• Policy entrepreneurs invest personal time, energy, &
often money to pursue policy changes by using
publicity campaigns, direct contacts with decision
makers (letters, phone calls) petition drives, etc. Or
involve themselves in media, political parties, or
interest groups, that provide access to decision makers

18. Policy Generation
• May occur almost simultaneously with policy
recognition; likely that many are trying to
generate solutions to the problem
• Ideas come from decision makers themselves,
members of their staff, experts in the
bureaucracy, members of the scientific
community, policy think tanks, or from the
general public

19. Policy Generation
• Proposed solutions swirl around through
speeches & articles, papers, & conversations
until a few ideas begin to gain special currency
• Ideas generated not only seem to correctly
address the problem but seem also to be
politically acceptable.

20. Political Action
• To reach the top of policy agenda, proposal
must be consistent with emerging political
realities
– Consistent with prevailing political climate
– Favored by incumbent administration &
legislative majority
– Support of interest groups

21. Policy Formulation
• Development of formal policy statements
(legislation, executive orders, administrative
rules, etc.) that are viewed as legitimate
• Procedure in legislation: a bill is introduced &
referred to a committee ( & perhaps a sub-
committee), hearings are held, the committee
reports to the larger body, a vote is taken in both
houses, a conference committee works out
differences in the 2 versions, & the bill is sent to
the chief executive for his signature

22. Policy Formulation
• President has formal & informal means of
influencing legislation thru program initiatives
& budget proposals
• Other government officials interact with
Congress on a regular basis & may also affect
policy outcomes
• Individual citizens & interest groups also seek
access & influence

23. Policy Formulation
• Government agencies usually send program
proposals to the legislature for its
consideration
• Agency personnel are often called upon to
provide testimony regarding particular
proposals due to their expertise on public
issues

24. Policy Formulation
• When relationship among interest
groups, agency personnel, & members of
Congress become strong, frequent &
intense, the resulting alliance is called
sub-governments or iron triangles that
often exert great influence

25. Policy Implementation
• Legislation is general & lacks details
• Legislators cannot foresee questions that may come
up during implementation
• Legislation leaves great deal of discretion to public
managers in working out details of particular
program
• Managers develop administrative rules or policies to
give detail to legislation or fill in the gaps

26. Types of Policy
• Regulatory policy – designed to limit the
actions of persons or groups so as to protect
the general public or a substantial portion of
the public
• Distributive policy – most common form of
government policy, uses tax revenues to
provide benefits to individuals or groups by
means of grants or subsidies

27. Types of Policy
• Redistributive policy – take taxes from certain
groups & give them to another group
– Income stabilization – support to
unemployed or retired
– Social welfare – providing direct payments
to indigents
– Health care programs - Medicare

28. Types of Policy
Constituent Policy – intended to benefit the
public generally or to serve the government
Foreign & defence policies
Policies affecting the structure & function of
government agencies like government re-
organization, etc.

29. Steps in Making Public Policies
(Roy Sylvan)
• Identify problem that needs improvement or
solution
• Develop alternative solutions that can improve or
solve the problem
• Adopt an alternative or combination of alternatives
• Implement the adopted policy
• Evaluate the effect of the policy on the problem it
addresses & on the people affected

31. Steps in Passage of Bill in Philippine
Legislature
• 1st reading – principal author may propose additional
authors; contains title, number & names of authors
• Bill referred to appropriate committee for study; if
disapproved by committee, dies
• 2nd reading – after favorable committee evaluation,
bill forwarded to Committee on Rules for calendar;
read for 2nd time in entirety

32. Steps in Philippine Legislature
• Debates – general debate & amendments
proposed in accordance with rules
• Printing & distribution – after approval on 2nd
reading, bill printed in final form & distributed
to members 3 days before passage
• 3rd reading – last reading where only title is
read; no amendment allowed & votes (yeas &
nays) entered in journal; member may
abstain; majority of quorum can pass bill

33. Steps in Philippine Legislature
• Bill referred to other house – same procedure
• Bill forwarded to President – if approved on 3rd
reading by both houses, bill printed in final form &
transmitted to the President for appropriate action;
no action within 30 days means the bill becomes law;
bills re-passed over veto automatically becomes
law.

34. Local Legislative Body (Sanggunian)
Critical Tasks
• Formulating & managing the legislative
agenda
• Crafting ordinances & resolutions
• Enacting ordinances & codes of ordinances
• Evaluating the implementation of ordinances

35. Crafting Ordinances & Resolutions
• Identifying & analyzing a policy problem to be
addressed by legislation
• Gathering research-based information
• Drafting the legislative proposal – requires
knowledge of its parts or elements, rules of
construction such as grammar & usage, form
& style; civil society groups can influence this
cycle by drafting proposals & giving them to
legislators

36. Enactment of Legislation
• Deliberation
• Consultation
• Codification
• Consideration

37. Legislative Oversight
• Evaluation of how the policy
was carried out; that funds
were not wasted

38. Elements of Effective Local Legislation
• Efficient institution or organization
• Participatory legislation process
• Development perspective; addresses
development objectives: poverty reduction,
environmental protection, gender equality,
peace & unity, accountability & transparency,
citizen participation

39. Citizen Participation
• Awareness-raising on areas & mechanisms for
participation
• Making existing legislative mechanisms for
participation work
• Developing innovative tools to encourage &
sustain participation in legislative decision
making

40. Mechanisms for Legislative
Participation
• Committee meetings
• Committee hearings
• Legislative agenda formulation – public
consultations & workshop
• Budget hearings
• Accreditation (research, writing, information)

41. Methods to Solicit Input
/Comment from Public
• Public hearing
• Public consultation
• Focus group discussion
• Community needs assessment survey
• Consultation by individual legislators

42. Tools To Reach Out Public
• Legislative digest
• Sanggunian brochure
• Media tools
• Website
• Letters to constituents
• Barangay or purok hopping
• Study visits for students