UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS AND ADMINISTRATION (MPA520) By: Tobias Chomba Lecturer LECTURE 5 - POLICY- MAKING PROCESS The policy making process has four stages. These are: 1) Conceptualization stage 2) The adoption Stage 3) The Implementation 4) The Monitoring and Evaluation 1). Conceptualization stage This is the first stage where a particular Ministry, experiencing unsatisfactory situation defines the problem. The first consultative meeting involving the Minister, the Permanent Secretary and other technical staff in the Ministry takes place. Then, the Permanent Secretary informs the Ministry s Liaison Officer about the impending policy proposal to get ready to transmit it to the Policy Analysis and Coordination Division. After examining to ensure that aggregate consultation has taken place at Ministry level and that all relevant issues have been addressed, the Policy Analysis and Coordination Division, in consultation with the Ministry s Liaison Officer arranges an Inter- Ministerial Committee Meeting of Officials (IMCO). This meeting involves all identified policy stakeholders A policy proposal on Health, for example, may attract the interest of Ministries of Health, Local Government, Environment, Energy and Water Development, and Agriculture. The initiating Ministry follows it up by preparing a Cabinet Memorandum and circulates to all Ministries and the Policy Analysis and Coordination Division for observations or comments which are embedded into the memorandum. This is an additional element for consultation. And the following institutions must always be consulted: i. Ministry of Finance and National Planning on all memoranda with financial implications ii. The Attorney General on all legislation having legal implications iii. The Ministry of Defence on all memoranda with implications on National Defence and Security. iv. Ministry of Foreign Affairs on memoranda having implication on all International Corporation and Agreements, and v. The Ministry of Home Affairs on all memoranda with implications on internal security. The preceding processes having been completed, the ministry that initiated the policy issues, further checks the detail, refines the memorandum and submits it to Policy Analysis and Coordination Division (PACD).
2) The Adoption Stage This stage involves the inclusion by the PACD of the memorandum on the agenda of the appropriate Cabinet Committee. This is after ensuring that all technical details/matters have been adequately dealt with and enough consultation has taken place. The appropriate Cabinet Committee studies the proposal and makes a recommendation to full Cabinet to adopt in the full plenary session. The Cabinet then makes a decision. 3) The Implementation Stage Adopted policy options should not remain on the shelf. They have to be put into action. To set this process in train, the PACD prepares records of Cabinet decisions and conveys them to the appropriate or initiating ministry. The concerned ministry prepares an implementation program which may prompt an Inter- Ministerial Committee Meeting of Officials (IMCO) convened. 4)The Monitoring and Evaluation In order to monitor or check that Cabinet policy decisions are implemented, the PACD requests concerned ministries to provide quarterly reports which are presented in the form of an agenda memorandum. The PACD carefully studies and tables it to cabinet for consideration and approval. Once approval has been obtained, the PACD informs the initiating ministry about the decision. This process can be protracted, taking into account of the heavier workload the Cabinet normally have. In the intervening period, there are postponements of meetings, consultations and counter consultations as new inputs from the wider policy environment come in sometimes quite late. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POLICY MAKING AND POLICY ANALYSIS Policy-making is the constitutional preserve of the political players. It involves making a choice on recommended choice options. Policy Analysis on the other hand is a technical skill of detecting the worth/value of policy problem, formulating, or reformulating it, identifying its causes, suggesting possible options, predicting likely positive and negative consequences, and advocating for the best option. Policy making is conducted by non experts, the politicians, while policy analysis is the domain of trained specialists. Policy making is less mentally tasking while policy analysis is more mentally penetrating, can involve rigorous, scientific research to produce policy data or information. It can be expensive and slower Policy Analysis may start with a pilot project in order to gauge carefully how smaller program may perform before embarking on a larger project. Policy
makers, as politicians, often prefer options with quicker results. This is because they want to impress their electorate, strengthen their legitimacy and win the next election. Policy analysis is done by appointed beauracratics who do not worry about elections. In developing countries, policy making is conducted by players with large variances in educational attainments, making consensus building on values sometimes difficult. Policy Analysts on the contrary tend to have similar educational levels and background. They therefore tend to think at the same level, perceive problems and solutions quickly and build consensus (at the same level) something very difficult among politicians. Policy making is often subjective while policy analysis tends to be objective. FORCES IN THE POLICY- MAKING PROCESS There are several forces in the policy-making process that influence how policy making occurs. These forces include among others the individual citizen, electorate power, policy agenda, media influence, pressure groups, and political parties. Policy making is essentially a manifestation of power. Power is described as the ability to bring change in the behaviour of other people. In terms of public policy, power may be defined as the capacity of individuals or groups, or holders of public office to determine policy decisions. In policy making power is exercised by different individuals and groups such as MPs, bureaucrats, leaders of organized interest groups, individual citizens, the ministers and President etc. Each set of forces exercise certain influences which taken together, make up the policy making process. The Individual Citizen One dimension of study of policy making is concerned with explaining how an individual citizen influences those entitled to make decisions. In a democracy, people are said to be masters of their own destinies and political sovereign. And representative democracy it is assumed power flows from people. These same people initiate the process of legislation and policy making by voting for candidates whose opinions and values they know. In public service, for example, large numbers of people are employed yet only a small percentage of them are influencing the choice of public policies. Here it may be noted that power of influence of individual citizens cannot be underestimated and thus many governments around the world have realized that ultimately sovereignty is vested in the people of the country. Electorate Power The act of voting forms the basis of political participation. Voting is a decisive act resulting in the formation of legislative majorities with programmes. Thus, the voter sees his/her role in influencing the selection of policies and programmes. It is precisely
because of this power of influencing policy decisions that voters are a recognized force in policy making. Policy Agenda, Demands or claims are made by citizens or interest groups on public officials (elected or non elected) in the political system for action or inaction on some perceived problems. These demands constitute what is called policy agenda. Policy agenda is not to be interpreted as political demands. There are two types of policy agenda namely systematic agenda and governmental agenda. Systematic agenda consists of all issues that are commonly perceived by members of the political community as deserving public attention. Concerns of people may be highlighted in newspapers and academic studies etc. On the other hand, Governmental /institutional agenda constitute those issues to which public officials give serious attention. This sort of agenda may arise from policy decisions, parliamentary debates and executive decisions. What makes policy problems be on the policy agenda? 1. The significant role and influence of interest groups and political parties 2. MPs or elected representatives are sometimes agenda-setters 3. Crisis such as floods or natural disasters as a consequence of policy problem can enable escalation of a policy problem onto the agenda. 4. Protests, slogans, strikes band violence resorted to by organized groups are some methods by which policy problems may be brought to the attention of policy makers and hence put on policy agenda. 5. Communication media publications may escalate the policy problem onto the policy agenda. Influence of the media A pre-requisite of democracy is free media of communication. The media channel information between the citizen and the government thereby shaping the reactions to each other s decisions. By publicizing specific causes, the media acts the most important source of information for the government on public s reactions to contemporary issues. It is therefore important to determine whether the media is politically biased in the way they present the decisions and actions of governments to the public or public opinion to government in order to avoid distortion of the concept of democracy. When the media can influence opinions in a situation where the government is seen to be responsive and responsible to the public, then they are correspondingly influential in determining of policy. Pressure groups Public opinion expressed by individual citizens does not reflect the intensity of the view. Additionally, an individual citizen acting alone is rarely a significant force in influencing policy. Unless large numbers of citizens are organized for some common purpose or interest, the chances of transmitting the messages and policy issues will become bleak.
Therefore, interest or pressure groups are important means of enhancing the effect of public opinion. The exercise of political influence by organized citizens is a predominant feature of democratic form of government. A pressure group is different from a political party. A pressure group may be said to articulate interests while a political party aggregates those interests into working majority view which may obtain power. The two types of pressure groups include sectional interest groups (these protect and enhance member interest; and they form positions identified with their members) and promotional groups (these seek to promote causes and are consequently engaged in lobbying activities; they either exert influence over the public generally or sectional interest groups in particular by appealing to their conscience) Political Parties. Political parties are another means of enhancing the effect of public opinion. They serve as intermediaries between citizens and policy makers. Party platforms on which elections are fought form a basis for party leadership, when as a government, it engages in the making of public policy. Political parties are important agents for establishing popular control over government and public policies. They help reflect issues at stake and in setting value goals for society. In summary, although political parties can in theory play a decisive role in policymaking, they do not carry out public s wishes. They are important institutions but it would be wrong to over-estimate their influence on public policy. Much of text adapted from: 1. R.K. Sapru, Public Policy formulation, implementation and evaluation (second revised edition.) 2. Dr. W. Mafuleka, Public Policy Analysis, EPM lecture notes.university of Zambia 2009.