Policy Is The Pursuit Of Goals - 819 Words

Colebatch (2009, p. 47) defined policy as â€Å"The exercise of authority to achieve collective purposes. Policy is the pursuit of goals. The assumption is that policy is a purposive course of action†. Therefore, policy is processes acquired and followed by organisations to prevent and resolve contemporary difficulties. Public policy is policy for a public area or shared intent. It is when an organisation owns the policy (Baker, 2015). The stages model performs the duty to organise the different parts of the policy process so they can be understood. This model interprets policy concepts into real policies (Birkland, 2010, p. 21). The first part of the model is when ‘issues emerge’ as a result of, for example disasters or through the advocacy†¦show more content†¦It’s a problem of solution. There may be multiple understandings of the problem and there will be numerous interest groups attempting to shape it. The issue, which needs government observation, should be framed then the agenda should be set of how it is they’re going to address it (Cairney, 2011, p. 33). Formulation is the next section. The government formulates the policy. They write plans, set goals, establish a financial plan and calculate the result of resolutions. This makes the plan look complete, the policy look legitimate and gives you something to measure the policy against to see if it was successful. Indicators can be set up. A disadvantage of this is they can set themselves up for failure. If the targets are impractical and unrealistic, the government may not be taken seriously. If a target that is too high is set, then they’re setting themselves up for criticism. These are called stretch targets. Failure can result in people feeling overwhelmed and withdrawing from the issue. Although, stretch targets can also give an ambitious target which is important in helping stay motivated and enthusiastic (Cairney, 2011, p. 33). Ensuring the policy looks legitimate is a requirement of democratic policymaking. Consent needs to be given by the government and the policy target s need to be socially accepted. Policy needs to be accountable, this means the organisations need to take responsibility for their activities and may need to