11.1: What Is Public Policy?

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Public policy can be defined as what governments choose to do, or not do. Governments may choose to make drinking liquor and smoking marijuana illegal, or not. Governments may choose to provide tuition for free primary and secondary education, or not. They may choose to extend that to the college level, or not. They might choose to expand health insurance coverage to all of its citizens, or not. Governments may also decide how to address laws that treat citizens unequally, or in the case of past laws that did so, how to make amends for them, or not. They might choose to continue developing transportation systems based on automobiles, or they may choose to shift these over to mass transit. These systems might include high speed trains from the major population areas within Texas, or they may not. Governments may also make determinations about what basic rights citizens have, and how to structure law enforcement procedures accordingly.

That is a simple way to approach the issue, but public policy is more complex than that as it involves the totality of what political institutions seek and what governments do. Here’s a more expansive definition that includes the process, as well as the various actors within that process: “a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives.”⁵

A large number of actors, in different capacities are involved in the public policy process. These policies can be implemented by the government, hired out to private firms, or simply encouraged by offering incentives and subsidies. They can include the policies delegated to the national government in the U.S. Constitution, as well as those reserved to states and to the local governments. They are established, shaped, and maintained by the political and governing institutions discussed throughout this book.

Policies can concern whether a good or service is provided, in addition to establishing basic rules about how people get along in public spaces. Is it ok for people to panhandle, or carry guns openly, or to feed the poor in a public place? These can include social policies which determine what types of things people can do in the privacy of their homes. It can also involve what types of things people cannot do, including what types of actions are not just illegal, but can result in someone being given a prison sentence. The range of policies and the activities related to them is vast, and may indeed be endless, but hopefully the following discussion can make them understandable.

5. Dean G. Kilpatrick, National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina , “Definitions of Public Policy and the Law,” Violence Against Women Prevention, 2000, https://mainweb-v.musc.edu/vawpreven...finition.shtml.