What should Go into Making of a Successful Public Policy

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What ?should Go into Making of a Successful ??Public Policy

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????*Jit Kumar Gupta

*[email protected]

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State?has been defined as a body /institution ?of government/ political organization of a society having rules and laws; officials and ?titles, with ?well-defined physical/ geographical boundaries as area of jurisdiction; ?having sovereignty and run from a political, practical standpoint. Looking at the historic growth and development, state is known to have an overarching presence in a given geographical area ?of jurisdiction, impacting every aspect of?human living. Accordingly, role, and relevance of ?state ?has assumed importance in optimizing human living, providing basic essentials of life, empowering people and communities, generating employment, taking care of ?their healthcare, promoting social, economic and physical development , removing poverty, bridging gap between rich and poor besides ensuring basic amenities of life to the poorest of the poor of its citizens. States are accordingly mandated to promote ?inclusivity, sustainability, universal good of all its inhabitants and create an environ of safety, security and prosperity. For promoting the universal good and create optimum conditions, ?states ?have adopted the mechanism of making policies and program for achieving the objectives defined above.

?With increasing human numbers and ?increasing diversity of human activities led by urbanization, industrialization, globalization and?technologies, the ?nature and complexity of ?public policies have undergone total change in intent and contents. These policies framed by state ?have assumed importance and have emerged as the major drivers and promoters of?pattern of economic growth and major tool ?for management and governance. Knowing the impact of public policies on growth, development and welfare of the communities/area, framing rational, objective and people focused public policies have ?assumed added importance.?Considering the role, importance and strength of public policy, it has been ??increasingly misused, abused and manipulated by the ruling?elite, as one of the most potent tools, ?to serve the interests of selected organisations and group of people. In majority of cases public policies are led by subjectivity rather than objectivity and ?for promoting the personal agenda rather than promoting public good. In democratic structures, the ?potential?of public policy has been invariably leveraged to promote vote-bank policies to remain in power.

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?Public policies have also been used to misuse and abused state power and resources?for the development of?particular area and communities ignoring/marginalizing other communities/area. Policies have been used/misused to promote poverty and widening the gap between rich and poor. Public policies framed with ?personal agenda/motive has led to creating conflicts ?and violence. Majority of conflicts and crisis faced by large number of countries have genesis in the ?manipulated public policies made operational by the rulers and ruling agencies/elites. Accordingly, knowing the role, relevance, impact, importance and influence, ?public policies need to be framed with care and caution so that ?these policies help in achieving the defined objectives of universal good. Considering the need ?and importance of ?framing rational public policies, it will be important to look at the context/gamut ?of making public policies; define does and don’ts while framing the policies and suggest options to ?create capacity in the state to prepare manpower which can help in ?making framework of public policy more rational, objective , effective, efficient and ??people focused ??

Context

·??????Framing/forming policies form integral part of growth, development and governance of any nation, state and community.

·??????Policy formulation invariably remains the foray of beaurucrats and the professionals,

·??????Every state, region and city have a policy ?framework (intended/unintended), dedicated to so called promoting universal good, prosperity, equity and quality of life for both existing and future population, which is going to live in the given geographical area.

·??????Policy making is traditionally depicted as a process that includes and involves; first identifying the issue and placing it on the agenda; followed by ?defining ?the problem; analyzing policy goals, evolving and ?examining alternative solutions and ?finally writing the most appropriate ?one into policy. Policies are then implemented by the executive agencies. Interest groups may challenge the actions through the judicial system operating in the given society. Sometimes, the policy is evaluated and revised or scrapped. At each stage, the theory goes, policymakers use evidence, data, and reason to guide their actions. The reality of policymaking, of course, remains much more complex.

·??????Policies are?known for their positivity and negativities, creating favorable and irrational pattern of growth.

·??????Majority of the policies suffer from the malaise of subjectivity rather than objectivity.

·??????Majority of ills prevailing in any society and communities, can be largely attributed to the??intent, content, scope, formulation and implementation of policies in the said geographical space.

·??????All public policies have a hidden agenda which remains invisible to majority of the people, communities and stakeholders.

·??????Policies are the outcome of?what?has been enunciated by the party exercising command, authority and power in the defined geographical?area; weather that power is vested through democratic or autocratic systems of governance.

·???????Policies are ?largely the outcome ?of the vision and approach adopted/stated/declared/defined by the group governing/ruling, legally/illegally, any geographical entity.

·??????Policies are also the outcome of ?copying/duplicating?success stories created in different geographies/ areas of growth and development.

·??????In the political system, it is invariably the ruling party , which remains, primarily and essentially, involved in?formulation ?and implementation of policies.

·???????In a democratic system of governance, ?policy formulation falls within the domain of party elected/voted to power?through the process of election conducted periodically, as defined by law of the nation. In other systems , it is the entity/people who exercise power and authority, by virtue of the system, through which they are put in place for ?governing the state/nation.

·??????In majority of cases, basic agenda , aim and objective of any policy framed by the governance structure, is to ensure that ruling entity remains perpetually in power. Accordingly, all policies?put in place focus on?empowering people in power and ?to make ordinary citizens feel?happy and supportive of the policies put in place.

·??????Policies?also involve?lot of cost to the nation/people when they are oriented towards promoting vote-bank politics. Such policies invariably lead nations to high degree of bankruptcy/indebtedness.

·??????Policies do not always involve promoting public good,?they can also be counterproductive and anti-thesis to rational growth and development e.g.?periodic regularization of slums ?in urban areas etc.

·??????Majority of nations and communities?suffer from the malaise of?irrational policies formulation at the state and the local level, which are embedded with distortions.

·??????Many?communities , nations and states also suffer from policy paralysis, due to absence/slow formulation of policies by the ruling group.

·??????Policies are known for its strength, role and importance in transforming communities and have placed ?numerous nations on fast trajectory of?economic and social growth and development. Dubai/Singapore remain the classical example of transformation ?nations and communities, through wonderful policy framework put in operation to attract investment by creating state of art infrastructure, providing incentives ?and ensuring safety and security to the trading companies/communities.

·??????Public policies are also known to promote poverty and exclusion of majority of people from main stream of growth and development. ?

·??????Policy formulation invariably remains prerogative of the elite /ruling class, which command power and authority.

·???????In majority of cases, the role and responsibility of formulation of policies is vested with executive/ bureaucracy engaged in doing day- to- day work ,duly assisted?by people working in the??line?departments.?

·??????Each nation/state has its own system of?policy formulation and implementation, which ??is rarely ?reviewed/analyzed/redefined to ?make it ??more?effective , efficient ,rational and logical.

·??????Public policies also remain biased, promoting?financial and social interests of particular ?group/groups for making available financial and other advantages to a select group.

·??????Public Policies have also been found to be rooted in/based on?a barter system for promoting mutual interests- in majority of cases??between the ruling group and the elites of the society- Real estate.

·??????Public policies ?remain different and distinct based on the political philosophy and ?types of challenge to be addressed . Generally, bureaucracy/bureaucrats hold the key to create public policy in response to an issue/ problem.

·??????All public policies involve and showcase, what the government would do to address the problem. Public policy can take the form of a new law, city ordinance, or government regulation.

·??????Public policy ?is always evolving, devolving, never static and never fixed/finite.

·??????Public policies framed not only have local but also global implications, impacting nations across the globe.

·??????Public policies also hold the potential of dividing communities and societies within the given geographical areas, instead of bringing them ?on the common platform.

·??????Policymaking remains a constant struggle over the criteria for classification; the boundaries of categories, and the definition of ideals that guide the way people behave.

·??????Each ?stage of policy making, involve and include competing views about what the problem is, if and why it matters, how it works, and what should be done to overcome such a problem.?

?Do’es?in Rational Public?Policy Making

Considering the role, relevance, importance and potential of?public policies??on human living and society, all public policies should be framed with positivity, objectivity, promoting universal good, ensuring equitable distribution of state resources , removing poverty, providing basic amenities of life ?and empowering human beings besides creating institutions which can innovate and ?promote public good and make the communities happy and healthy. Public policies framed must include and involve;

·??????Defining clearly and objectively ?intent, contents, scope and specify goals and objectives to be achieved; communities to be addressed; process/time-frame?for implementation and?expected outcome.

·??????Public policies ?must ensure that policies framed remain people centric and not authority centric.

·???????Policies should ?invariably focus on empowering people and communities making value addition and ensuring equitable distribution of available resources to all the citizens residing in the ?geographical area, based on equity and social justice.

·??????Policies should, ?primarily and essentially , aim at making optimum use of?available resources for promoting public good.

·??????Removing poverty?and empowering poor should remain the central theme/focus?of the ?public policies framed.

·??????Policies framed at the local, regional and?state levels must?remain in line and should invariably avoid dualities and contradictions.

·??????Any policy, which focusses merely on economic and financial gain ignoring local culture and social structure, will always hurt majority and society.

·??????All policies framed should leverage the strength of existing parastatal agencies to promote public good and good of disadvantaged ?group or community.?

·??????Policies should aim at reducing the existing gaps and bridging them by empowering lower strata of society.

·??????All important aspects of human living and making them qualitative must be brought under policy framework.

·??????Policy framework should invariably?focus on preserving the vital, valuable?and scarce resources, essentially needed for ?preserving, conserving, protecting environment and promoting ecology, identity, culture and economy of any place ,area, community and state

·??????Policies formulated must?address??both short-term and long-term objectives of the society, facing challenges.

·??????Policies framed must focus on not only curative but also looking at preventive strategies?to overcome perpetual problems faced by society and communities.

·??????Policy formulation should be made integral part of governance structure and all elected representatives and state officials must be trained in the art and science of rational policy formulation.

·??????NGOs , CBOs?and civil society should be made integral part of policy

formulation, implementation, review and?redefinition

·??????All good policies should remain people centric and not individual centric. Policies framed must promote public good and not good of ?selected?individuals/groups.

·??????Good policies ??invariably?lead to good governance.

·???????Good policies should be based on the principles of openness, universal participation, accountability, effectiveness, coherence and subsidiarity.

·??????Good policy formulation includes and involve good implementation. Any policy which fails at the altar of implementation must be discarded and avoided.

·??????For assuring the successful implementation of public policies, a more efficient and effective allocation of public resources and ?increasing citizen’s direct participation, involvement, engagement and empowerment, must be embedded?in the policy.

·??????A well-formulated policy needs to have clear articulation of goals, and targets ?to be achieved besides defining mechanism for ?implementation.

·??????Impact of policies is easier when the expected outcomes are clearly defined, understood and appreciated?by all the stakeholders.

·??????All policies be supported by allocation of adequate resources, trained manpower and ?dedicated institutions for?effective implementation. Funding mechanism should have budgetary provisions for implementing individual policy areas.

·??????Periodic monitoring of results, fine-tuning of policy and delivery modalities are essential and critical for success of any policy.

·??????Public Policies should ?invariably be driven/led by/ based on?accurate/reliable data,?facts and figures, related to the area of policy, which should be?invariably sourced from reliable institutions.

·??????Policy formulation should be preceded by wide ranging consultation with all stakeholders and communities to be impacted.

·??????Policies made after wider consultation and understanding the local ?needs and culture, have better chances to succeed and acceptance.

·??????Study and learning remain vital and critical. Policies earlier made on the same subject must be made integral part of fresh policy to avoid earlier pitfalls.

·??????While elected officials remain important in shaping policy, but ?policy outcomes must?have genesis/outcome of considerable debate, compromise,?input received ?from multiple institutions, both governmental/parastatal agencies / interest groups and the public.

·??????Public policies based on ?universal positivity and inclusion have better chances to succeed ??as against policies promoting and propagating ?negativities and exclusion.

Don’ts in Public?Policy Making

Public policies made/framed based on the principle of subjectivity and exclusion, have been found to ?have done more damage than good ?to the communities/state. These policies have ?proved to be a failure and rejection ?by the communities/society, to whom such policies targeted/addressed. Accordingly, while framing public policies , it will be critical to ?identify/state/define elements which must be excluded ?from the policy making, to avoid pitfalls ?in public policies. These pitfalls need to be identified based on the critical studies made of earlier policies, bringing out ?the causes/reasons of success and failure of the policies implemented. The scorecard of avoiding ?elements need to be updated and made integral part of ?teaching-learning of a successful policy formulation. In addition, all public policies made, must be reviewed , whether all negativities have been removed before making the policy operational. Some of the negativities which need exclusion from public policy have been ?identified and detailed below;

·??????Policies ?which ?waste/destroy ?State resources, and believe in ??providing ?doles/freebies, ?to gain people confidence and goodwill to gain power; should ?invariably ?be avoided.

·??????Public Policies based on more of ?subjectivity and less of objectivity, invariably leads to disruptions and distortions.

·??????Too many/excess of public policies remain bad?and prove counter-productive

·??????Policies must??be fine-tuned?to remain objective in description. Ambiguities in policy formulation and possibilities of misinterpretation/manipulation ?need to ?be avoided.

·??????Policies leading to creating conflict between various communities and groups must be avoided.

·??????Policies which are not followed and opposed by majority of population should invariably be modified/avoided.

·??????All policies based on negativities remain counter-productive and should be avoided.

·??????Policies borrowed and copied from?different social, economic and physical structures, without considering the local context and culture , have more chances of?failure than success.

·??????Any policy which widens the social, physical and economic gap shall invariably remain counter-productive and needs to be avoided.

·??????Prevailing contradictions in policies?formulated?by various agencies and institutions should invariably be avoided.

·??????Public policies have to be framed with long term perspective. Short -term/quick-fix policies, in majority of cases, lead to creating adverse environment?in space and society.

Role of Data in Policy formulation

?Failures/inadequacies/inefficiencies prevailing in majority of public policies can be ?largely attributed to the fact, that such policies were not supported by any authentic data and detailed studies made. In order to avoid such pitfalls, all public policies must?be ?framed and based on prevailing ground realities and perception of the people/stakeholders to whom policy is being addressed. Any?public policy, formulated?without?prior consultation and ?without taking into account??ground realities, will?invariably?fail in achieving ?its defined objective. ?For making any policy rational and?objective, it will be critical that it must?be supported by ?sourcing authentic ?qualitative and quantitative?data on the subject of policy .Accordingly, creation of a data bank with regard to physical, social, economic and environmental aspects of the area and?local communities will remain pre-requisite/ crucial for framing ?rational policies. Authentic and accurate data?holds distinct advantages in the policy formulations for the reasons;?

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• Authentic and quality data ?always ?remains the ?foundation/fulcrum of the formulation of ?rational public policy
• Data opens up ?realm of large possibilities for policy-makers,?not only helping in better understanding and identifying areas of intervention, but also allowing for an accurate assessment of the effectiveness and impact of interventions undertaken.
• Lack of data ?severely hinders and delays the understanding , formulation and ?performance of the public policy in the critical areas such as health, education and sanitation,
• ?Absence of??data invariably leads to delay ?in the assessment and evaluation of the ?policy?in the given area.
• ?Ensuring the availability of high quality, granular, low cost, and real-time data ?remains a key requirement, for ?good/rational/efefctive policy formulation and its implementation. It also helps in ?promoting ?data driven good governance.
• For administrative data to stay relevant in policy making?it?needs?updating, monitoring and strengthening?on continued basis.?
• Harnessing the potential of administrative data invariably helps in ?formulating and designing?better/robust policies, ?for transforming ??millions of lives across the world.

While data remains ?valuable/important ; ?quality and nature of data?to be referred to remains critical, while framing policies. Data referred to for framing policies?has to be, both qualitative besides ??coming from a reliable source. Referring any unreliable data will lead to forming policies which will invariably lead to adverse consequences and failure of the policy at ground level. It will be in the fitness of circumstances, if?all the state governments setup a centralized data center?at the state level?duly supported by District level data centers, to map the entire state including its geographical area and population and create a data bank. These data centers must be?manned by professional of outstanding merit, who can?source data from different sources; analyze it carefully and periodically; inform the state governments ?about the emerging issues/problems for taking appropriate decisions regarding formulation of ?the public policies. Existing manpower and resources?available?in the state Statistical wings /Planning Board can be effectively leveraged in creating data banks at state and ?district levels.

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Role of Technology in Public Policy formulation;

Technology has emerged an important and critical tool?in the domain of policy formulation and policy implementation, which is now being used extensively, both locally and globally. Technology holds enormous capacity, capability and potential in sourcing?relevant ?information; identifying good practices used globally on similar topics;?identifying elements used in making of the successful policy;?mapping extent of success and failure of the different policies?besides??learning lessons from the said policies. All these can be achieved ?in the most cost-effective and time- efficient manner through the use of appropriate ?information technology. Potential of IT technology still remains?marginalized and muted in policy making. State must leverage the expertise available with ?the ?department?of IT, to evolve tools/software for scanning/analyzing/evaluating the data and make it available for policy formulation. ?However, technology has to be used with care and caution. Public policies have to be framed considering the local contexts, culture, practices, prevailing social, economic and physical conditions; patterns of?literacy; political environment and attitudes, preferences and aversions of the?local communities, population etc.

Role of Academic Institutions

Policy formation has ?largely remained the forte ?of the state bureaucracy with minimum input from the academic institutions. This practice has led to formation of policies which ?remain myopic in vision/ time-scale. Accordingly, such policies have yielded limited dividends . In ?order to ensure that public policies focus on long term growth and development of the communities and nations , it will be critical to involve reputed institutions in making public policies. State governments must identify such institutions of excellence, who have requisite capacity, capability and ?manpower ?resource to look into the entire gamut of growth and development of the state in a holistic manner and suggest policy options to?promote ?its development. Constant interaction with such institutions can help in?rationalizing the policy making capacity of the state government. All states have established ?institutions of public administration for training its human resources in the art and science of good governance. Strength ?of such institutions, with appropriate modifications/strengthening/restructuring, ?needs to be leveraged in the domain of public policy. Involving academic institutions in the public policy formulation, can help in making policies more focused, ?qualitative, productive, effective and efficient. ?

Element of Accountability

Public policies, despite its critical role in determining /rationalizing the ?growth and development of any ?community and state ,have never ?been ?subjected to accountability of the people responsible for formulating such ?policies. Lack of accountability has led making large number of public policies, which appear to be patently wrong in its intent, contents and scope, causing enormous financial loss besides promoting social and cultural disparities in the region. Lack of accountability has led to embedding a culture of subjectivity in formulating such policies. Many wrongs have been done and perpetuated in the name of policies framed by the state. Many states/areas/communities ?remain impoverished due to wrong/biased policies formulated ?for such areas and communities. Large state ?financial and other resources have been misused/abused in the garb of promoting public interest through irrational policies. ?Such practices need to be curbed and addressed on priority in order to make the domain of policy making more ?transparent, professional, objective and people centric. For achieving the objective , element of responsibility, on the part of ruling political leadership and bureaucrats involved, ?needs to be embedded and made integral part of policy formulation. This should include that all the officials including the political system involved in forming public policies which are patently wrong and leads to causing financial and other ?structural/cultural losses , must be held accountable and?appropriately dealt with a law put in place. Role of courts in such cases assume importance in making public policies more objective, transparent and rational by ?including accountability as part of policy making and implementation.

Conclusion;

In the current scenario of ??rapid urbanization, industrialization, globalization, liberalization and opening up of economies, role, involvement ?and responsibilities of the states have increased manifold, impacting all aspects of human living, growth and development. In this changed scenario, art and science?of ?formulating rational public policy has emerged as?an area of?considerable importance?and specialization for modulating the growth and development of the people and the state. Accordingly, it ?becomes important that pattern/practice of formulating ?public policy, is made ?objective, more professional, productive, effective, efficient and people centric. This would call for creating appropriate capacity within the government and ?creating ?institutions which can assist the state in ?formulating rational and objective policies.

?At present, policy making has been the exclusive domain of the bureaucratic system working in the state, limited to All India Services(IAS/IPS/IRS/IFS) and State Administrative Services(PCS). This limitation needs to be replaced by having larger manpower trained in the art and science of policy making, ?available to the state. For having more manpower, States should include policy making integral part of manpower training in the training curricula, so that all the senior level functionaries, working in the state services, are appropriately trained in the ?art ?of making of the public policy. In addition, all institutions involved in training manpower are also mandated to create capacities in ?formulating the public policies. Learning policy making should not remain confined to public services only , its scope and ?ambit must be ?widened by ?including public policies ?integral part of professional teaching and learning for empowering professionals in ?the policy formulation. Elected representatives in general and Ministers in particular must also ?be trained in the ?complexities and intricacies of framing rational public policies in order to?enable them to play their role in framing rational policies.

?Looking at the above brief, policy formulation remains a distinct and professional field and accordingly must be developed professionally, rationally and logically. Success,

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growth, development and governance ?of any state and nation depends upon its ?capacity, capability, ability, efficacy and efficiency in preparing , formulating and successfully implementing?quality?policy framework which remains critical or making India as the global leader besides removing poverty, promoting ?larger public interest and achieving universal?good.

Author;

????????Ar Jit Kumar Gupta

????????????#344/40-a, Chandigarh-160036

?????????????????Former, Director, College of Architecture IET Bhaddal (Pb)

[email protected]

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