Government policy is the decisions, actions and initiatives that help to address specific societal issues like economic growth and social well-being. This can include laws, regulations, courses of action, funding priorities, and other formal and informal policies. Policymakers are tasked with advancing the interests of a broad range of stakeholders through the process.
Policymakers are tasked with ensuring that their policies are based on sound research, and that they are effective at achieving desired outcomes. Creating policy involves a complicated process of gathering, analyzing and evaluating information from different sources. It requires the active involvement of many different stakeholders from both within and outside of government. Ultimately, the creation of policy is a collaborative process that can be influenced by many factors, such as current economic and political conditions, prevailing social values, and public mood.
A policy is a system of guidelines, rules and procedures that assists in making decisions and achieving rational outcomes. It may also provide context, elucidating the reasons and motivation behind the policy, which is often useful in determining its effectiveness in ambiguous or uncertain situations. For example, it may be helpful to know that a particular law was created for the purpose of enhancing worker productivity and job satisfaction. This contextualization can guide a court’s decision when deciding a case involving that law. Discretion is also often granted to policy administrators in the execution of a policy. This discretion allows them to make a variety of choices on a wide scale.