Definition of Public Policy Implementation

Once the government has legitimized some form of public policy such as a law, statute, edict, rule, or regulation, the stipulations of that policy must be put into action, administered, and enforced to bring about the desired change sought by the policy-makers. This task defaults to the government executive and necessitates the designation of a government agency as having the responsibility for the new policy. Theoretically the responsible agency is given the requisite resources and authority to ensure that the new policy is carried out as intended, but in reality, this does not always occur.

As discussed in the first four lessons of this course, public policy is implemented to effect some change in the behavior of a target population and it can normally be assumed that this change will ameliorate some public problem. Therefore, it stands to reason that unless the stipulations of a given policy are actually carried out, the problem will persist. As soon as the tenets of the new policy are implemented, a detailed policy evaluation can be conducted to determine if the desired results are being obtained and if not, why not, and what needs to be changed. More will be discussed concerning policy evaluation later in this lesson.

Administrative agencies accomplish most of the day-to-day work of government therefore they have the most immediate and direct impact on the daily lives of citizens than do any other government entities (Anderson, 1990). Dye indicates that implementation ìinvolves all of the activities designed to carry out the policies enacted by the legislative branch. These activities include the creation of new organizations ñ departments, agencies, bureaus, and so on ñ or the assignment of new responsibilities to existing organizations. These organizations must translate laws into operational rules and regulations. They must hire personnel, draw up contracts, spend money, and perform tasks. All of these activities involve decisions by bureaucrats ñ decisions that determine policy (2005, p. 52).î One critical aspect of policy implementation is the high degree of discretion afforded to the bureaucrats and agency procedures to transform laws into action as outlined by Dye above. Administrative decision-making has a significant impact the determination of who receives benefits and who is restricted as a result of the implementation of any policy. Administrative decision-making also has a far reaching impact on society as a result of the promulgation of agency regulations, contracting, licensing, inspections, enforcement, adjudication, and the actual discretion for agencies to interpret their own agency rules.