Government policy is the broad area of laws, rules, and courses of action promulgated by a governmental authority. It affects every aspect of people’s lives, and it is the main arena for the political process. People often try to make a difference by supporting and voting for politicians and political parties, but there are many other ways to try to shape public policy.
One of the most important issues in policy making is deciding what problems require attention. This involves identifying which issues are worth solving, and it requires a balance between different factors, including economic conditions, prevailing social and ideological values, the state of the government, and the public’s mood.
Once a problem has been identified, the next step is to decide on a solution. This includes finding out whether a given issue is solvable through direct government action, and if so, whether it would be better to do so directly or indirectly. This could involve levying taxes to discourage an undesirable behaviour (Force), subsidizing a more desirable one (Budget), or simply making the undesirable behaviour illegal (Regulate).
Some policies are very complex and risky, and it is often impossible to know how they will turn out in advance. This is true even when we have a clear idea of the causes and effects involved, and it makes policy making in complex areas especially difficult. Examples of such policies include forcefully promoting democracy, freedom, rule of law and human rights in other nations, cloning humans, geoengineering and building new planned cities.
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