What is policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

What is policy - Essay Example Considerable manifestations of policy and power are usually apparent when things remain the same or when issues are not discussed or are intentionally suppressed. This way, policy can be expressed in silence, intentional or unplanned. Policy is whatever institutes, firms, and governments have arranged to do during a particular period. According to Colebatch (2009), policy is a term that can be employed in various circumstances and by diverse groups to justify what governs them in the way they think about what the world should be and how they should act. Colebatch has gathered a number of definitions of policy: use of power to attain objectives; a purposive path of action; a predictable program of objectives, values and practices; a path of action by government aimed to attain particular outcomes. An important thing is that a policy ought to have an objective. Colebatch (2009) claims that policy articulates itself in three manners: order, authority, and expertise. Hogwood and Gunn (1984) suggested numerous meanings for policy concept more than 20 years ago (as cited in Potucek & Vass, 2003). Their argument is that the concept of policy is variously employed to express a label for a field of activity, such as education policy as an expression of a broad function, as a program, and as both output and result. On the other hand, Wedel and others (2005), as cited in Rizvi and Lingard (2010), have suggested that policy refers to â€Å"a field of activity, such as education policy† (p. 4). They claim it is a particular proposal, government legislation, a general program and what governments attain. Consequently, a public policy defines the actions and positions taken by the state consisting of a range of institutions sharing the crucial features of authority and collectivity. According to the dictionary, policy refers to principles, directions and rules created or adopted by an institution to attain its prolonged goals. Policy is usually identical with decisions,