POLI 364: PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS IN GHANA DR. EVANS AGGREY-DARKOH COURSE OVERVIEW Welcome to the course: Public Policy Process in Ghana. It is a very important course and I am happy that you have signed up for it. Please note that policy studies often focus on how policies are made rather than on their content or their cause and consequences. The study of how policies are made generally considers a series of activities, or processes, that occur within the political system. The implication of this process model is that policy making occurs in identifiable stages and that each stage can be examined separately. Public policy process in Ghana like any other country is essentially a complex and multi-layered one. You need to know that policy process is essentially a political process. It is a complex political process in which there are many actors: politicians, pressure groups, civil servants, publicly employed professionals, and even people who see themselves as passive recipients of policy. In this course our concentration is on the how public policies are made in Ghana, the contributions of the various actors in the policy process and the factors that undermine the crafting of enduring public policies and programmes in Ghana. Public policies in a modern, complex society are indeed ubiquitous. They confer advantages and disadvantages, causes pleasure, irritation, and pain, and collectively have important consequences for our well-being and happiness. Specifically, the following topics will engage our attention. Unit 1: The Concept of Public Policy Unit 2: The Policy Process Unit 3: Constitutional Basis of Public Policies in Ghana Unit 4: The Civil Service and Public Policy Making in Ghana Unit 5: Actors in the Policy process in Ghana-participant in the process Unit 6: The Budgetary Process in Ghana Objectives At the end of the course, you should be able to: Explain public policy discuss the differences between policy, decision and programme Outline the public process in Ghana Examine the constitutional basis of public policies within the machinery of government Discuss the phenomenal role of the public bureaucracy in the formulation and implementation of public policies Identify and discuss the contributions of official and non-official actors to the policy making process Examine the budgetary process in Ghana 1 Unit 1: The Concept of Public Policy Introduction Welcome to unit 1 of this course: The Concept of Public Policy. In the course of our daily lives, people are affected, directly and indirectly, obviously and subtly, by an array of public policies. Take for instance, when a care is bought, the laws of Ghana requires that it is registered with the Driver and Licensing Authority. The Car is expected to have certain safety equipments, spare tyre, fire extinguisher, etc. State policy expects the car to have a valid insurance sticker, road worthy certificate and the driver is expected to have a valid driver’s license. In this unit, I am going to introduce you to the concept of public policy, its varied definitions, characteristics, the reasons for studying public policy, questions in policy analysis, policy analysis and policy advocacy and the category of public policies in Ghana. Objectives At the end of this unit you are expected to: State and explain the various definitions of public policy Discuss the various characteristics public policies Outline the reasons for studying public policies Examine the key questions posed in policy analysis Outline the difference between policy analysis and policy advocacy Discuss the various category of public policies in Ghana Section 1: What is Public Policy? Introduction Welcome to section 1 of unit 1. The subject matter of public policy has been given varied interpretations. There is no universally acclaimed definition of what is meant by the term public policy. The field of public studies is filled different definitions of public policy. In this section, I am going to introduce you to a variety of definitions given to public policy. it is interesting to note that public policy is the course of action or inaction taken by a government in response to problems in a society. Objectives At the end of this section, you should be able to: State and explain Thomas Dye’s definition of public policy Explain James Anderson’s definition of public policy Discuss Yehezkel Dror’s definition of public policy Discuss the other definitions of public policy. The definitions of Public Policy To explain how policy is made provides a good guide to how a political system operates as a whole. In other words, policy brings together different aspects of a political system and the 2 various political issues and concepts. To understand how policy is made in one country as opposed to another is to understand that country’s specific political characteristics, including the interactions of its political system with other systems such as its social and economic environments. Policy also helps us to study the way in which these characteristics come together and are integrated through processes of decision-making and the implementation of policy. (Axford, Browning, Higgins and Rosamond, 2002:443). We talk of policy in general way. We hear people ask, why don’t politicians do something about that problem? why did the government make that decision?, I am going to stop the government doing that. They are all referring to policy, whether it relates to how issues get put on the political agenda, how policy is formulated, who makes the key decisions and how they are implemented, or why some policies seem to fail and others evolve and are modified. Essentially, policy is about three processes: The intentions of political and other key actors, The way decisions or non-decision are made, The consequences of these decisions. You need know that in academic studies of policy, we offer definitions of public policy to understand the shape of the field we seek to study. For many people, defining public policy helps them define their own roles in policy making, as well as that of the organization they work for. There exist a plethora of definitions of public policy. You must however note that the difference in the definition is mater of semantics rather than substantive. Let us consider some of the definitions of public policy. The concept of policy is central to our understanding of the way we are governed. The impact of government on the welfare of the people is discussed as a “social policy”. Experts in climate or land use or air quality organize their knowledge as an agenda of concern for government as a contribution to the making of “environmental policy”. The term policy therefore implies something broader than simply ‘what the government wants to do’. It is important for you to know some of the key definitions of public policy. Thomas Dye’s Definition of Public Policy Thomas Dye has defined public policy as “whatever government chooses to do or not to do”. It involves both actions and inactions of government. This definition appears very simple as it encapsulate every aspect of governmental behavior from purchasing or failing to purchase paper clips to waging or failing to wage nuclear war, and thus provides no means of separating the trivial from the significant aspects of government activities (Hewlett and Ramesh 1995:4). Governments do many things in the state. They regulate conflict within the society, they organize society to carry on conflict with other societies; they distribute a great variety of symbolic rewards and material services to members of the society, and they extract money from society, most often in the form of taxes. Thus, public policies regulate behavior, organize bureaucracies, and distribute benefits etc (Thomas R. Dye 1987: 2). Public policy involves both action and inaction. Inaction becomes a policy when officials decline to act on a problem. That is, when they decide an issue negatively. This choice differs from non-action on a matter that has not become a public issue, has not been brought to official attention, and has not been considered or debated. 3 Two basic merits of Dye’s definition have been identified. First, Dye specifies clearly that the agent of policy-making is government. This means that private business decisions, decisions by charitable organizations, interest groups, individuals or other social groups are not public policy. Second, Dye highlights the fact that public policies involve fundamental choice on the part of governments to do something or to do nothing. To Thomas Dye, public policy at it most simple is a choice made by government to undertake some course of action. The difficulty we have to contend with is the non-decision of government which is also characterized as public policy. That is the government decision to do nothing, or not to create a new policy, or simply to maintain the status quo. In each of the above options, there should be a deliberate decision to pursue a specific course of action. James E. Anderson’s Definition of Public Policy According to James Anderson public policy is “a relatively stable, purposive course of action or inaction followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a problem or matter of concern” (Anderson 2011:6). Unlike Thomas Dye’s definition, this definition focuses on what is actually done instead of what is only proposed or intended; differentiates a policy from a decision, which is essentially a specific choice among alternatives; and views policy as something that unfolds over time. To Anderson, public policies are developed by governmental bodies and officials. Note that non-governmental actors and factors may of course influence public policy development. There are several implications of this definition. First, the definition links policy to purposive or goal-oriented action rather than to random behavior or chance occurrences.