Definition of Public Policy Implementation, continued

Peters notes that ìbureaucrats play and important role in interpreting legislation and making regulations to put it into effect; they also make important decisions while applying laws and regulations to individual cases (2007, p. 95).î For now, it is important to understand that government agencies at all levels of government are responsible for the implementation of policy, even if the actual providers of government services are private contractors. The institutional entities that are accountable to the people for the administration and outcome of public policy initiatives are administrative agencies and ultimately those elected legislative officials who enacted the policy in the first place and delegated its execution to the government bureaucracy. In the case of administrative agency rules and regulations, elected officials are still ultimately responsible to the people for the professionalism, efficiency, effectiveness, equality, and equity of the services provided by these agencies. Unfortunately, Congress and the president frequently pass vague, ambiguous, and ìloftyî legislation purposely leaving out the details which will need to be filled in by bureaucracy. This legislative technique allows both the Congress and the president to have some degree of plausible deniability if the policy is poorly implemented or if the implementation is a failure altogether. Essentially, this tendency by elected officials to refuse to take responsibility for both the enactment and implementation of laws is an abdication of legislative and executive authority, and many argue that this behavior bestows far too much power on administrative agencies by fiat.

What these few paragraphs indicate is that policy implementation is not a clear cut automatic process that occurs as soon as legislation is passed. Policy is not self-executing. In fact a ìlarge number of factors may limit the ability of a political system to put policies into effect. Rarely will all the factors affect any single policy, but all must be considered when designing a policy and attempting to translate it into real services for citizens. Any one of the factors may be sufficient to cause failure or suboptimal performance by a policy, and all may have to be in good order for the policy to work. In short, it is much easier to prevent a policy from working than it is to make it effective (Peters, 2007, p. 104).î The next few sections along with the assigned course readings will highlight the essential role of policy implementation in the overall policy-making and evaluation process. Additionally, the significance of several key actors involved with policy implementation, and some important challenges that routinely interfere with effective and efficient policy implementation will be discussed.