Government policy is any decision or plan of action a governing body (including school boards, city councils and county supervisors) makes about an issue. These decisions and plans are then implemented by the governing bodies themselves or by the agencies they employ.
A government’s policy can be based on anything from economics to politics, the environment to education. It can be developed at the local, state or national level and can even be enacted by the international community.
The purpose of any governmental policy is to improve the lives of its citizens in some way, whether that be by reducing crime or improving access to quality education. The development of a policy can be a complicated process that involves many different stakeholders and requires a wide range of skills.
One of the first steps in creating a new policy is agenda setting, which involves identifying the problems that need to be addressed and deciding what sort of solutions are needed. The nature of a problem is also determined by the ideology and dominant values that a given group or society subscribes to, so this can play an important part in what issues are identified as needing attention.
Once upon a time, policymaking was considered to be a central function of government, with governments of each nation state working together and civil servants monopolizing the advice they provided. Today, policymaking is a much more complex and intertwined process, with government policymakers seeking out diverse stakeholders and varied constituency groups to gather insights and develop innovative solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.