Introduction

There exist some or the other problems almost everywhere. Problems, issues, hurdles, obstacles or hindrances forms a part of society and can originate in the areas of day to day life, education, economy, environment, politics, transportation, infrastructure, housing, business, agriculture, communication, health etc. The key to overcome these obstacles and problems is through effective planning and implementation of various policies for the society by the governing body. Government is always making an effort to solve these problems by formulating policies with objectives of development and wellbeing of the people of their state. Effective policy formulation is a necessary step and an attempt to address the problems which if not checked on time leads into uncontrollable stages hampering overall development of the society. A public policy can be fundamentally termed as the action or the proposed action taken or to be taken by the government to fulfil the actual objectives directly related to the sustainable growth of the society (Ikelegbe, 2006). These policies actually set certain guidelines that determine the prospective decisions for the individual or business institutional by working on the desired action plan.

BACKGround

Policymaking is not an easy task. It requires high degree of research study and involves a combination of various processes. These processes are defined always for the purposes of future analysis in order to prose better and effective future policies. The process includes areas like identifying policy problems, formulating policy proposals etc. Every step in setting Public Policy requires effective planning. (Kingdon, J.W. 1984) The public policy gets legitimized once the public statements are given by the government officials at all levels. Finally the public policy is circulated and executed through public orders, governing laws or through appropriations of certain rules and regulations. There are many challenges in formulating an effective public policy for the society.

Defining Public Policy

According to the dictionary of the Merriam Webster, “Policy refers to a particular course or method of action which were strictly selected according to provided conditions to guide the current and future decisions”. The English oxford dictionary defines policy as the principle or course of action suggested by the government, business, individual and party. Apart from these two definitions many scholars define policy as the directions that supports the decision-making that represent the value and allocation resources based on these decisions reflect the ethical, political and programmatic viewpoint. (Abah, N.C., 2010) Policy reflects the statement of what is required to be done in order to overcome a particular situation or resolve the problem. The assumptions translate the government vision into set of programs with actions that delivers the desired change in the society. (Ikelegbe, 2006) Public policy determines decisions or behavior of the government to solve a given problem. It is basically guidelines that governments choose to do or not to do. (Kingdon, J.W. 1984) Public policy sets objectives for the substantive measures to deal with a particular problem. Public policy in simple term can be defined as the strategic that aim to utilize available resources towards eradicating problems or reducing concerns for the society under public domain. Public policy refers to the response received from the public to improve the overall human conditions (Kingdon, J.W. 1984).

Stages in Public Policy Formulation

The process of public policy formulation has following four stages: (Abah, N.C., 2010)

• Setting Agenda for the public policy formulation;
• Actual Formulation of the policy;
• Gradual implementation of the policy;
• Regular and continuous systematic evaluation.

All these stages are regarded very simple and overlapping. These stages are criticized of not saying much about the way policy is constructed, worked upon and made again. (Kingdon, J.W. 1984)

Challenges in Formulaing Public Policy

The public policy further converts the vision of the government into the required actions that are necessary to produce the desired outcome in the real world. There are two main challenges in the process of public policy formulation. (Abah, N.C., 2010) First being the formulation of a valid, efficient, and implementable solution to the issue at hand through public policy. Second being that it must be politically feasible such the proposed course of action is made legitimate through majority‐building in a bargaining process or through elected or appointed officials.( Kraft, M and Furlong, S., 2007) Some of the major issues that have an impact on formulating public policy include:-

• Understanding the actual context of the underlying problem that is required to be dealt with.
• Defining the alternative courses of action and working on the possibilities for gathering further information.
• Anticipating consequences of each alternative action after understanding each relevant techniques
• Valuing the outcomes based on measurable criteria should of pursuing each objective
• Making the correct choice of the preferred course of action after evaluating all aspects.

Conclusion

In everyday world, problems and issues frequently emerge and policy is formulated defining the solutions. (Downs, A., 1967) This requires setting a proper action plans with present or future orientation that is needed to be identified. There is always a better way of resolving the public problem through effective policy formulation. It is the duty of the policymakers to ensure that proper understanding of the specific situation is established and detailing of the different options is made into a comprehensive plan of action to overcome all obstacles. The informed decisions of the policy are made before its implement as an outcome working on the cost and its impact of an intervention.