Public Policy

The public policy cycle consists of several stages. First is agenda setting, where emerging issues are identified for policy formulation. Then comes policy formulation and impact assessment. Next is the adoption of policies and support for regulatory bodies. Implementation and verification are critical stages, followed by evaluation of policy efficiency. The cycle concludes with support, maintenance, and updates to existing policies, and then starts again with agenda setting. It is a continuous process. The public policy cycle starts with the agenda setting which talks about the scanning and identification of emerging issues on which policies need to be formulated. The second stage is the formulation and the impact assessment of particularly formulated policies in a relevant public domain. The next step would be the adoption and supporting and advising the regulatory bodies on how to adopt particular public policies. The next and very critical stage would be the implementation of those policies, independent verification and methodological guidance for the implementation of such policies. The next stage is the evaluation to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of a particular policy. The concluding stage is providing for support, maintenance, crisis response, feedback or updates to existing policy and the cycle again continues from the first stage which is agenda setting. Therefore, concluding the public policy cycle in a continuous form.