Public Policy
Public policy is "whatever governments choose to do or not to do" — Thomas R. Dye's widely cited definition. It encompasses laws, regulations, programmes, budgets and judicial decisions. Public administration is the operational machinery; public policy is the strategic content it delivers. The two disciplines have grown ever closer since Harold Lasswell's call (1951) for a "policy orientation" in the social sciences.
A purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a problem or matter of concern (James E. Anderson). It is what governments decide to do — or deliberately not do — about public issues.
Types of public policy
Different typologies illuminate different aspects:
- By substantive area: economic, social, foreign, defence, environmental, education.
- Theodore Lowi's classification (1964):
- Distributive — broad benefits funded broadly (subsidies, agricultural support).
- Redistributive — transfer of resources between classes (BISP, Ehsaas, progressive taxation).
- Regulatory — rules governing conduct (NEPRA tariff regulation, OGRA, SECP rules).
- Constituent — concerning the rules of governance itself (creation of new ministries, devolution).
- Substantive vs procedural policies.
- Material vs symbolic (Edelman).
The policy cycle (stagist model)
The classic stages framework (W. Dunn, James Anderson) presents policymaking as a cycle:
- Agenda setting — which problems reach government attention.
- Policy formulation — designing alternative solutions.
- Policy adoption / legitimation — formal decision (Act of Parliament, SRO, cabinet decision).
- Policy implementation — translating the decision into action.
- Policy evaluation — judging performance against goals.
- Policy maintenance, succession or termination.
Although stylised, the cycle remains a useful heuristic — provided we remember that real policy is often messy, parallel and non-linear.
Models of policymaking
| Model | Key thinker | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| Rational-comprehensive | Herbert Simon (qualified) | Identify all options, compute costs/benefits, choose optimum |
| Bounded rationality | Herbert Simon | Cognitive limits force satisficing, not maximising |
| Incrementalism | Charles Lindblom (Science of Muddling Through, 1959) | Small departures from status quo via political bargaining |
| Mixed scanning | Amitai Etzioni | Combine rational big-picture scanning with incremental detail |
| Garbage Can | Cohen, March, Olsen | Problems, solutions, participants and choice opportunities flow independently and meet randomly |
| Streams / MSF | John Kingdon | Problem, policy and political streams join at a 'window' |
| Punctuated Equilibrium | Baumgartner & Jones | Long stability punctuated by sudden change |
| Advocacy Coalition Framework | Paul Sabatier | Belief-based coalitions struggle inside policy sub-systems |
| Elite theory | Mills, Mosca, Pareto | A small elite, not the masses, shapes policy |
| Group theory / pluralism | David Truman, Bentley | Policy is the equilibrium of group pressures |
| Public choice | Buchanan, Tullock | Self-interested actors in political markets |
- Anderson's definition: "a purposive course of action followed in dealing with a problem".
- Lowi (1964) classified policy as distributive, redistributive, regulatory or constituent.
- Kingdon's Multiple Streams: Problem + Policy + Politics → Policy Window.
- Bounded rationality (Simon) and muddling through (Lindblom) are the two foundational realist critiques of pure rationalism.
- Pakistan's Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is the principal annual instrument for development policy.
Implementation — the lost link
Pressman & Wildavsky's 1973 book Implementation showed that even well-formulated policies routinely fail at the delivery stage. They identified the multiplicity of decision points and clearance chains as key culprits. Subsequent scholars distinguished:
- Top-down approach (Sabatier & Mazmanian) — clear goals, hierarchical control.
- Bottom-up approach (Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucrats) — discretion of frontline workers (teachers, police constables) shapes actual policy.
- Hybrid/synthesis — combine the two.
In Pakistan, the recurring failure of education and population policies despite multiple announced "Education Policy 2009/2017" documents is a textbook case of weak implementation capacity, frequent transfers, and political interference.
Evaluation
- Formative (during) vs summative (after) evaluation.
- Process vs impact evaluation.
- Criteria: efficiency, effectiveness, equity, responsiveness, sustainability.
- Tools: cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, RCTs (especially in development).
The Planning Commission's PSDP projects are evaluated through the PC-I-to-PC-V cycle and monitored by the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives.
Pakistan-specific policy infrastructure
- Cabinet is the supreme policy body; the Cabinet Division services it.
- Planning Commission prepares Five-Year/Vision plans (Vision 2025, Vision 2030 drafts).
- National Economic Council (NEC), headed by the PM, approves macroeconomic policy and the PSDP.
- Council of Common Interests (CCI) under Article 153 — vertical coordination between federation and provinces.
- Sector regulators: NEPRA (electricity), OGRA (oil & gas), PTA (telecom), PEMRA (electronic media), SECP (corporate), State Bank (monetary).
Major policy examples
| Policy area | Recent Pakistani document |
|---|---|
| Macro | IMF Extended Fund Facility (2019, 2023, 2024) |
| Trade | Strategic Trade Policy Framework |
| Education | National Education Policy (2009; 2017 draft) |
| Population | Population Policy 2002; CCI 2018 recommendations |
| Energy | Integrated Energy Policy; CTBCM |
| Anti-poverty | Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP, 2008); Ehsaas Programme (2019) |
For CSS, link a Pakistani example to every model: Lindblom's incrementalism ↔ annual budget; Kingdon's window ↔ post-floods climate-finance agenda 2022; Pressman-Wildavsky implementation gap ↔ 18th Amendment devolution of health/education.