The essence of the policy making process is a very complex undertaking in both understanding and setting. It is a process that depends on the issue on the table for discourse. Naturally, the policy making process is the onus of policy makers supported by experts who must be highly qualified, skilled and knowledgeable in the field of policy making.
On a number of occasions, many people ventured into the field of policy making and failed because they did not understand – neither did they possess relevant qualifications, skills and knowledge that were required for the success of the policy making process.
A key factor for the success of policy making is primarily to identify inherent components of policy making. It is after inherent components have been identified, and critically and systematically analysed that one would be able to understand the desired end-states. To understand the desired end-state will help on how effectively and efficienctly a policy can be formulated and implemented.
Fundamentally, public policy making process would require a specific goal that government intends to pursue. It is a process for which the government needs to choose the best, comprehensive, action-oriented and executable alternative out of numerous alternatives.
In other words, the policy making process must identify a goal to be achieved and a course of action. The identification process shall involve systematic planning by those who are well-conversant with policy analysis and how prudently to utilise the available scarce resources to achieve the intended objectives.
The public policy making process must be time bound and executed within public structures.
Policy makers as goal setters must ensure that policies are executed within the realm of administration and management which involves the bureaucratic structures. As government can change hands, the structure of bureaucracy in most cases remains as an engine room of public administration and management.
It is therefore significant that the government invests in the engine room to be able to produce qualified experts who in turn will be able to plough back their skills and knowledge during policy formulation and implementation.
Efficiency and effectiveness on the other hand are sine qua non and yardsticks to measure government performances. Efficiency is a scale on which to measure whether quality work has been achieved. Effectiveness in turn, is the scale to weigh the achieved end-state against the set goals. Efficiency and effectiveness are, therefore, useful mechanisms that must be used during the policy process when formulating and implementing policies for the utilisation of scarce resources.
As earlier mentioned, the policy making process is complex and there shall be no viable policy formulation and implementation where an organisation has failed to analyse and understand its own strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). The conduct of a SWOT analysis is a key to problem identification and problem solving. Why SWOT analysis is critical is because in most cases human beings do like rushing to what is perceived as a problem just to end up treating a symptom instead of the ailment itself. That will in itself be considered as a quick fix approach which must be avoided by all means during the policy making process. In this case, policy making process, regardless of their stages, would require what is known as a critical path method.
Critical path method is better understood as the only alternative route to success. Take for example a case of starving from hunger after a severe drought and rain starts falling – there shall be no shortcut or quick-fix approach to produce omahangu and have food on the table.
Inevitably, producing omahangu would require the process of preparing the land, sowing, germination, growing, maturing, harvesting before feeding oneself. The same applies to the concept of policy making.
The concept of critical path method is therefore indispensable during the policy making process. In turn, a quick-fix approach must be discarded at all times in order to circumvent treating symptoms instead of the ailment.
To conclude, a policy making process has multiple inherent components which include, but are not limited to policy paradigm, decision making, policy management, policy planning, policy analysis, policy evaluation/monitoring, resources mobilisation, policy communication/control and policy implementation.
These inherent components are so interlinked to the extent that sometimes they are considered as interchangeable. These inherent components will be discussed in subsequent articles.