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How COVID-19 has changed public policy

From the end of austerity policies to the worrying rise of compulsory digitalization, Harvard Kennedy School faculty see a world changed by the coronavirus pandemic.

For months, the coronavirus has crawled across the globe. One person at a time, it has passed through millions, reaching every corner of the earth. And it has not only infected people, but every aspect of our human cultures. Policymakers and the public sector face their biggest test in generations—some say ever—as lives and livelihoods hang in a terrible, delicate balance. Facing health crises, economic collapse, social and political disruption, we try to take stock of what the pandemic has done and will do. We asked Harvard Kennedy School faculty, in fields ranging from climate change to international development, from democracy to big power relations, to tell us how this epochal event has changed the world.

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Democratizing Work

As the United States and countries around the world consider re-opening after COVID-19, we are faced with a crucial question: Is our current societal model working and, if not, what kind of societal model do we want for tomorrow? Staying the course would be a recipe for disaster. The current levels of social and economic inequality both globally and locally have become untenable, and the current pandemic only reinforces these inequalities. Moreover, we are pushing the limits of what our natural world can endure. The status quo must change if we hope to survive the combined health, social, economic, political, and environmental crises at hand.

In May, Isabelle Ferreras, Dominique Méda, and I joined forces to ask a simple question: What can we learn from the crises that we are facing? At the time, admittedly, our thinking was focused on making it through the COVID-19 period only. And yet, the solution we put forth in a joint manifesto , which has now been signed by 5,000 academics around the world, outlines a solution—democratizing work— that we hope can contribute to fighting the health, economic, social, and political crises stemming from COVID-19, as well as the longstanding crisis of anti-Black racism, for which calls for change have intensified in the wake of the tragic murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.

What these crises are first and foremost teaching us is that humans never were and are not resources. They invest their lives, their time, and their sweat to serve the organizations that they work for and their customers. As we say in the manifesto itself, workers are not one type of stakeholder among many: they hold the keys to their employers’ success. Without workers, there would be no manufacturing plant, no deliveries, no production. All workers are essential. They are thus the core constituency of the firm. And, yet they remain excluded from participating in the government of their workplaces—a right that is still monopolized by capital investors. This exclusion is unfair and unsustainable and it prevents organizations from reaping the benefits of workplace democracy.

What I have seen in my research is that workplace democracy may well be critical to the success of corporations in the future. I have been studying organizations that pursue social and environmental objectives alongside financial ones for more than a decade. It is time we turn to these organizations and learn from their work as the economy as a whole transitions towards setting clear goals for employee well-being, and environmental and social metrics, alongside financial performance. My research reveals a critical link to workplace democracy: organizations that are more democratic—that give a voice to their workers—are better at staying the course and pursuing these multiple objectives.

Finally, democratizing workplaces is one of the most promising avenues for creating more just (including more racially just) workplaces where all workers—workers of color, women, workers with disabilities—have real control over resources, and an actual say, as equals in the governance of their organizations. By giving employees representation in decision-making bodies and the right to participate and control their organization’s strategic decisions, we can collectively build institutions that are truly equitable and fair.

Julie Battilana is Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School; Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; and the founder and faculty chair of the Social Innovation and Change Initiative .

The Rainy Day Is Here

The single best way to strengthen the national economy right now is to help reboot local economies, which are reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic. The United States has 90,000 jurisdictions—including cities, towns, school districts, and transit systems—that together provide the public with schools, water, sanitation, trash collection, fire safety, emergency medical response, and infrastructure. 

Local governments are now on the front line in fighting the pandemic: responsible for organizing local testing, contact tracing, treatment and isolation programs, buying protective equipment, and setting up a system to eventually deliver a vaccine. But their revenues have collapsed—and will be hit even harder in the new fiscal year that started July 1.  

State revenues are a mixture of sales and income taxes, federal aid and user fees. Following the 2008 financial crisis, most states prudently set aside “rainy day funds” in order to improve their balance sheets. This time the revenue shortfall will be far deeper and will quickly deplete these funds. Many revenue-producing activities—such as tourism, international airports, conventions, and sporting events—are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels for years. States that entered the pandemic in a poor fiscal position are especially vulnerable. And, unlike the federal government, states must balance their budgets. 

Meanwhile, local communities face an existential crisis. Revenues from sales taxes and user charges (tolls, parking fines, hotel and restaurant taxes, and the like) have dried up. And across America, small businesses—many of which are minority and women owned—are failing. Local governments will face a second fiscal crisis if property values fall, leading to a decline in property taxes.

State and local governments have already laid off 1.5 million employees, most of them teachers. A further 1.5 million are in danger of losing their jobs next month. Congress has provided some $200 billion in aid to states, but this is no match for the estimated $1.3 trillion revenue shortfall expected over the next three years. The Federal Reserve’s $500 billion Municipal Lending Facility is welcome, but it is only available to states and very large jurisdictions and must be repaid within three years. This will not help thousands of medium-sized communities that wish to issue longer-term debt to finance critical infrastructure projects that generate jobs.

States and municipalities are already taking steps to mitigate the damage. These include restructuring their balance sheets, entering into regional recovery efforts, carefully examining operating costs, adopting job-shares, monetizing fixed assets, pruning overheads and working closely with community banks. But at the end of the day, these efforts alone will not be enough to prevent cuts in vital local services that often fall on the most vulnerable. If night bus routes are curtailed, the night-shift nurse will be left standing outside the hospital waiting longer to get home.

Studies conducted in the 2008 crisis showed that each dollar invested this way produced a return to GDP of $1.3 to $1.55. In the current environment, we need to strengthen local communities by providing a flexible program of cash-flow assistance and long-term liquidity to states and localities.

Linda Bilmes is Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy.

Everyone Stays Home

The nexus between work and home has raised some interesting questions about how we prioritize “care,” mainly child care, as a critical infrastructure that needs to be prioritized in any crisis management response. We often think about a disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake, as impacting water or food supply, or an electrical gird. But what if the response to the crisis is everyone—absolutely everyone—stays home. We can wish for an “opening up” but if our kids are home—if we haven’t figured out the school and even college issue—then it all seems rather besides the point.

Juliette Kayyem is Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security.

The End of Austerity?

The economic response to the pandemic by the United States and other advanced economies has been faster and larger than anything we have ever seen before, including both dramatic policies by central banks and extraordinary actions by fiscal policymakers. As a result, household incomes are actually up not down in many countries, and while consumer spending has fallen, at least in the United States it has fallen by a lot less than it did in the financial crisis. If policymakers follow through (in the United States this means extending) the assistance after its slated expiration, this could be a real demonstration that early, large and sustained fiscal policy responses can be successful in protecting families from the worst ravages of recessions and getting the economy back on track more quickly. Instead of the debates over austerity in the wake of the financial crisis, we might have broad agreement on the critical role of fiscal and monetary expansions after this crisis.

Jason Furman is Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy.

The Perfect Storm

COVID-19 is causing the biggest economic downturn that developing countries have ever seen. Governments and the international community have prepared for a tropical storm, but it increasingly looks like a Category 5 hurricane. They need to act and they need to act fast to assure that the government is adequately financed to withstand the collapse in tax revenues and the need for increased health and social expenditures. Absence of such action will lead to a combination of currency, debt, and banking crises. Recovery from such avoidable events is slow and painful. 

Ricardo Hausmann is Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy.

It Will Never Be the Same

COVID-19 is the most important development in my professional lifetime. The 1918 pandemic, the 1929 economic decline, the 1968 social implosion and the Andrew Johnson presidency all at once is how it’s been described. Labor markets, financial markets and international relations will never be the same.

Lawrence Summers is Charles W. Eliot University Professor.

The Tide Is Rolling Back

COVID-19 is a game-changer for much of the developing and emerging countries of the world, and not in a good way. 

COVID-19 hotspots are flaring up in many low-income countries. And, while it is challenging to combat the disease in developed countries, developing ones face even graver challenges. Combatting spread is difficult. Social distancing remains near impossible in the dense mega-cities. The lack of clean water in many poorer towns and villages prevents effective handwashing techniques. For those who do become ill, health systems are less developed, with fewer hospital beds and medical personnel per citizen, less technology, and less equipment and personal protective equipment.

But, it is not just the disease that will have a human toll. The corresponding slowing of the global economy from the pandemic is leading to unemployment and food insecurity. For the first time in over 20 years, we expect that global poverty will rise. This, in turn, may roll back gains in nutrition, education, and preventative health.

Rema Hanna is Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies.

A Dangerous Turn

We are facing the most consequential set of challenges since the Great Depression and World War II. The United States, in particular, is at a dangerous turning point facing four fundamental crises:

• The Coronavirus Crisis: With more than 120,000 Americans dead, inadequate testing and irresolute federal leadership, we are not well organized for a possible second wave;
• The Economic Crisis: More Americans are unemployed now than any time since 1933 with no clear administration plan to encourage a recovery;
• The Racial Crisis: There is nothing more dangerous to our future than continued domestic dysfunction, especially denial of justice to African Americans and other minority groups;
• The Leadership Crisis: President Trump has failed to address these and other crises. His active attempt to divide Americans on race is the most disgraceful act by an American president in our lifetime. On this issue alone, he should be defeated on November 3.

There is hope. Americans have taken to the streets in the largest peaceful demonstrations in recent decades. Our businesses and universities lead the world in the digital age. The courts, career public servants in Washington, and the military leadership are defending democracy. Our students are ready to lead and to write the next chapter in the American story.

Nicholas Burns is Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations

Global Trends and Foreign Policy

Will the COVID-19 pandemic change or accelerate pre-existing global trends? Many commentators predict the end of the era of globalization that prospered under U.S. leadership since 1945. Some see a turning point at which China surpasses the United States as a global power. Certainly, there will be major changes in many economic and social dimensions of world politics, but humility is in order. One must be wary of assuming that big causes have predictable big effects. For example, the 1918–1919 flu pandemic killed more people than World War I, yet the major global changes were a consequence of the war, not the disease.

Globalization—defined as interdependence across continents—is the result of changes in the technologies of transportation and communication which are unlikely to stop. Some aspects of economic globalization such as trade will be curtailed, but while economic globalization is influenced by the laws of governments, other aspects of globalization such as pandemics and climate change are determined by the laws of biology and physics. Walls, weapons, and tariffs do not stop their transnational effects.

Thus far American foreign policy has responded by denial and blaming others rather than taking the lead on international cooperation. On a speculative counterfactual, imagine an American administration taking its cue from the post-1945 U.S. presidents I describe in Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump . For example, the United States could launch a massive COVID-19 aid program—a medical version of the Marshall Plan. Instead of competing in propaganda, leaders could articulate the importance of power with rather than over others and set up bilateral and multilateral frameworks to enhance cooperation. Recurrent waves of COVID-19 will affect poorer countries less able to cope and a developing-world reservoir will hurt everyone if it spills northward in a seasonal resurgence. In 1918, the second wave of the pandemic killed more people than the first. Both for self-interested and humanitarian reasons, the United States could lead the G-20 in generous contributions to a major new COVID-19 fund that is open to all poor countries. If a U.S. president were to choose such cooperative and soft-power-enhancing policies, it might create a geopolitical turning point to a better world. More likely, however, the new coronavirus will simply accelerate existing trends toward nationalist populism, authoritarianism, and tense relations between the United States and China. 

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus.

Sounding a Retreat

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive global event since the Great Depression and World War 2. More than 7 million people have been infected in less than six months, more than 400,000 people have died, and many more deaths will occur even if effective vaccines or treatments are eventually found. The economic costs are staggering: much of the world has fallen into recession, public debt levels are soaring, and future growth prospects have dimmed.

Yet despite these far-reaching effects, the current pandemic will not transform the essential nature of world politics. The territorial state will remain the basic building-block of international affairs, nationalism will remain a powerful political force, and the major powers will continue to compete for influence in myriad ways. Global institutions, transnational networks, and assorted non-state actors will still play important roles, but the present crisis will not produce a dramatic and enduring increase in global governance or significantly higher levels of international cooperation.

Instead, COVID-19 is more likely to reinforce divisive trends that were underway before the first case was detected. In particular, it will accelerate a retreat from globalization, raise new barriers to international trade, investment, and travel, and give both democratic and non-democratic governments greater power to track and monitor their citizens’ lives. Global economic growth will be substantially lower than it would have been had the pandemic not occurred. Relations among the major powers will continue the downward trend that was apparent before the pandemic struck.

In short, the post-COVID-19 world will be less open, less free, less prosperous, and more competitive than the world that many people expected to emerge only a few years ago.

Stephen Walt is Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations .

A New Energy Landscape?

The coronavirus and the immobilization of much of the global economy that followed have created enormous challenges for energy markets. These challenges have been most pronounced in oil, in large part due to the fact that the majority of the world’s oil consumption is for transportation. Constraints on the mobility of billions of people around the world resulted in a drop in oil demand of approximately 25 million barrels a day, out of a pre-COVID demand of 100 million. This cratering of demand led to a dramatic decrease in prices, including a day in which the American benchmark for oil went into negative price territory.

These developments, and fear that such volatility in one of the world’s largest and most strategic industries could further exacerbate a teetering global economy, led to an unprecedented mobilization of international actors. In an extraordinary shift from past positions, the G20, the United States, and even President Trump personally became actively involved in brokering a deal among OPEC members and other allied producers to agree to the largest oil production cut in history. This cut, and market forces which brought several million more barrels of oil off-line in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere, has helped stabilize oil markets, albeit from historic lows.

But critical questions remain, and debates are raging about whether the energy landscape will ever return to pre-COVID parameters. One of the most important, questions revolves around whether this abrupt rupture in energy markets can be translated into a boost for the transition to a more environmentally sustainable global energy mix. The answer to this question depends on how durable changes in consumer behavior are (particularly around travel), and whether governments seize the opportunity that pumping economic stimulus into their economies gives them to advance the energy transition. Europe has already demonstrated a willingness to use its stimulus packages to further the transition; China’s actions demonstrated a mixed intent, and—thus far—there has been little indication that advancing a clean energy transition is high on the list of U.S. policymakers’ priorities. The world has at least one opportunity to create a silver lining from the COVID crisis, but it will require vision and action to realize.

Meghan O’Sullivan is Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Relations.

Good and Bad News for Climate

The coronavirus pandemic will likely have profound effects on both climate change and climate change policy.  These impacts are mainly—but not exclusively—due to the severe economic downturn that has been brought about by the response of governments, firms, and individuals to the pandemic. With depressed economic activity, there has been and will continue to be a net reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked with the observed net decrease in energy demand. Without the pandemic, overall, global emissions might have peaked in 2024. Instead, it now appears that global emissions may have peaked last year, in 2019. That’s good news for climate change, but economic recession is surely not a desirable approach to mitigating emissions.

The impact of economic recession is surely less positive for the course of environmental and climate change policy. Political will for environmental policies and regulations always decreases during economic downturns. However, the financial responses by governments to the recession can compensate for this, at least partly. Short-term financial assistance and economic relief have reasonably been focused on helping economies recover as rapidly as possible, as well as targeting relief to those in society who have been particularly disadvantaged. But long-term economic stimulus can include elements that help move the economy in a green, climate-friendly direction—less reliance on fossil fuels, greater reliance on renewable sources of energy, and greater efficiency in the production and use of energy. In the last recession, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included abundant use of such green incentives. And now the European Union’s proposed Economic Recovery Plan does likewise. Whether such an approach is used this year and next year in the United States, however, depends upon difficult domestic politics, not to mention the outcome of the November election.

Robert N. Stavins is A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development.

A New Look at Business and Government

Coronavirus and other health pandemics will happen again, and sooner than we think because of climate change. COVID-19 provides an opportunity to seriously examine the roles of business and government in society, to figure out what each is best at doing, to figure out what each is not well-suited to deliver, and what they must do more of together. These determinations must be made in a clear-eyed manner with data, incentives, and a tremendous sense of social-justice for the poor and vulnerable.

Amitabh Chandra is Ethel Zimmerman Wiener Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Henry and Allison McCance Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School.

The Worrying Rise of Digitalization

In times of crises, such as pandemics, all of society’s underlying vulnerabilities lie bare: the long history of injustice, of not respecting people’s rights as citizens and as human beings, lifts its ugly head one more time. We hardly need reminders that not all is well in the human rights domain, but COVID-19 definitely is one. Also, many of the responses to this pandemic, in one way or another, have rather forcefully driven along the digitalization of our lifeworlds. The possibilities for surveillance as practiced by both governments and private sector will increase enormously. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was formulated in responses to centuries of hardship in a thoroughly analog world. COVID-19 is one more, very big step into an increasingly digital world in which human rights not only need to be rethought in their new context, one by one, but also need to be defended in ways that themselves make use of the compulsory digitalization that happens all around us.

Mathias Risse is Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Philosophy and Public Administration.

Rebuild What? And How?

Our work on sustainable development invites a long-term perspective on today’s overlapping crises, of which the coronavirus, racism, and climate heating are only the most visible faces. From that intergenerational perspective, shocks and surprises are the norm, not the exception. Sometimes they stem from wars, sometimes from environmental degradation, sometimes from technological innovations, sometimes from revolutionary ideas … and sometimes from pandemics.  Such disruptions invariably impoverish or kill some people, while opening opportunities for others. They can also lay bare underlying social inequalities that incumbent regimes have ignored or papered over. This is certainly the case today, where it has become starkly clear how the burden of our overlapping crises is falling disproportionately on people who are Black or poor or otherwise socially marginalized.

The long-term perspective of the quest for sustainable development also highlights the reality that—however terrible the immediate impacts of history’s cataclysmic disruptions—their ultimate consequences for human well-being are not foreordained, but rather depend on how we choose to rebuild in their wake.

But rebuild what? And how?

Research suggests that the prospects for rebuilding a more just and prosperous world—and a world better prepared to weather the next shocks that will inevitably come along—depend on long-term programs of action to strengthen and maintain the following six interdependent social capacities:

• The capacity to conserve and enhance the natural and anthropogenic resources that constitute the productive base of society.
• The capacity to assure greater equity in access to that resource base and the flow of goods and services produced from it.
• The capacity to adapt to unexpected shocks through identification and provisioning of essential reserves and through practice in mobilizing them.
• The capacity to transform unsustainable development pathways into more sustainable ones through disempowerment of incumbents vested in unjust aspects of the status quo.
• The capacity to link knowledge with action in ways that enhance the effectiveness of political agitation aimed at equitable improvements in well-being.
• The capacity to govern—to work together to achieve what we can’t achieve alone—and thus to develop and implement all the other capacities in an integrated and mutually supportive fashion.

An integrated strategy of capacity building is no substitute for immediate action to meet the basic needs and redress the violent injustices facing us in today’s crises. But such a strategy is a historically informed alternative to the temptations facing each of us to focus exclusively on the single ill or capacity about which we feel most strongly. The capacities we list here are complementary, not competitive. Society has already built a significant understanding of how to foster each of them, and has sometimes learned to integrate them in sustained programs that support deep and long-lasting social change. Such programs should be put into action today by diverse actors at multiple scales in concerted efforts to rebuild a more just and sustainable world from the wreckage of our current crises.

William C. Clark is Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development; Alicia G. Harley is Post-Doctoral Fellow, Sustainability Science Program.

A Just and Democratic New Normal

A perfect storm of three crises is battering America: a public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic; a civic crisis of widespread protests sparked by racist police abuse; and an economic crisis of record unemployment and dislocation. Between now and November, we may well face a fourth political crisis surrounding the presidential election, its conduct, and perhaps even its outcome. These crises have vanquished all sense of normalcy for now. But, in the longer term, will we be able to create a better new normal? What world will COVID-19 leave behind?

Writing in the Financial Times , Peter Atwater foresees a ”K”-shaped recovery . The upward part of the “K”—people who will do better than before these crises—consists of professionals and others in others at the top end of the income distribution. The bottom part of the “K” consists of “have-nots” who may fare even worse than they did before the crisis: essential but sometimes disposable workers, sometimes lacking health care, sick leave, employment, and low-income and people of color whom we now know suffer much more from damage of COVID-19.

If the future is this “K,” COVID will merely have accelerated the trends toward economic, social, political, and health inequities that have been widening in the United States for the past forty years: a quickening of the old normal as we knew it.

But perhaps it is within our grasp to create a different new normal, one that is more equitable and democratic. We can see shoots of this better new normal in the civic federalism of local responses to COVID-19’s damage. Many governors and mayors stepped up with energy and creative solutions to protect public health and map the way to recovery. Some businesses and nonprofits took costly action early to protect their employees and communities. Labor and community advocates organized immediate aid, but also spoke up for the least advantaged.

There are more shoots visible in the huge protests following George Floyd’s killing. People of many races and classes have awakened to the reinforcing harms of economic inequality, disease, and racism. Himself an avatar of this intersectionality, Floyd lost his job as a security guard because of the pandemic, contracted COVID-19 in April, and was killed several weeks later by Minneapolis police.

Will these shoots multiply into a robust new American democracy? Or, will they be mowed down by the juggernauts of racism and plutocracy that preceded this pandemic? The answer is up to us.

Archon Fung is Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government.

Information Is Survival Gear

This pitiless spring of 2020 has exploited the forces that already weakened us: our political divisions, our doubts, and our intersecting injustices. Partisan division turned public health measures into performance art; distrust of institutions deepened as they struggled to respond; and the weight of suffering, physical and economic, on communities of color has inspired people all around the world to risk their own health and safety to come into the streets in solidarity.

Early in this crisis, the World Health Organization warned of an “Infodemic”— people overwhelmed by information, some of it true, much of it not, that made it harder for anyone to know what to believe. In the months since we’ve seen just how viral conspiracy theories can be, spread by those looking to divide us even further or profit from our fears. So both the media and the platforms that control so much of our information ecosystem face a reckoning that was long overdue. We are seeing that play out in real time, from the serial policy adjustments at Facebook and Twitter to the soul searching at our largest newsrooms to the desperate efforts to save what remains of local news.

Good information is more than a democratic value; it is survival gear. When people show up in emergency rooms after drinking bleach in hopes of preventing infection, or blame 5G, GMOs, or Bill Gates for the spread of the virus, we have failed to protect our information streams from lethal toxins. So out of this crisis, for all our divisions and distrust, should come a deep and broad debate over rules and norms about speech: who controls what we read and see and hear; how do we honor both freedom and fairness; what can we do to promote reliable information even as we prevent misinformation from spreading? We aren’t likely to agree on the way forward; so the next test is how well we create the conditions for debate, listening with open minds, putting the public interest first and realizing that the tension between values can be a source of strength, not an excuse for surrender.

Nancy Gibbs is Lombard Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy; Visiting Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice.

When Misinformation Mobilizes

As a researcher of critical internet studies who specializes in media manipulation and disinformation, I am often asked about how social media impacts society. When it comes to thinking about health misinformation on tech platforms, we must recognize how quickly people’s behaviors change when exposed to new information. Questions about how to protect yourself and family from COVID-19 became a breeding ground for misinformation, where political polarization exacerbated an already contentious issue. To wear a mask or to not became a show of partisanship as the relatively innocuous recommendation became a political discussion on social media.

As the pandemic hit, like a slow-moving hurricane, many took shelter indoors and followed along closely online, where social media platforms amplified both truth and misinformation about COVID-19. Rumors and conspiracy about medical recommendations sit alongside data about potential risk and harm, which are difficult for public health professions to address. Some health misinformation underpins in-person rallies to reopen the economy in the United States, where activists claimed COVID-19 was a grand hoax by Democrats to hijack the election. When misinformation mobilizes, it can endanger the public.

For the last decade, we have witnessed social media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, become the most indispensable conduits of information during social upheaval, elections, and natural disasters. But, if we look back to their origins, they were not designed for such critical communication infrastructure: YouTube began as a dating site; Facebook was a place for college students to network; and Twitter’s purpose as a microblog was described by CEO Jack Dorsey as “a short burst of inconsequential information.” How things have changed!

The lessons we learn today about how to handle health misinformation may hold the key to developing public policy on other forms of disinformation, especially as it relates to the role social media companies will play in curating content online.

Tech companies are slowly coming to the realization that it’s not just their corporate reputations at stake; it’s also our lives.

Joan Donovan is Research Director at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

Banner photo by REUTERS / Eric Gaillard.

Faculty portraits by Martha Stewart.

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Public Policy Essay: Meaning, Components, and Structure

Table of Contents

Public policy essay writing provides an atmosphere for people to make significant contributions to the advancement of society by acting as links between ideas and deeds. Regardless of whether you are a student, policymaker, or just interested in the dynamics of influencing the public conversation, you must comprehend the intricacies of writing compelling essays that serve purpose and clarity. However, we know that it is tough for students to write such essays on their own. This is why we have brought you a comprehensive guide where we break down public policy essays by exploring their deep meaning, breaking down key components, and structure. This blog curated by All Assignment Help will clear all your doubts regarding a public policy essay.

So let’s get started!

What Is a Public Policy Essay?

A public policy essay is an essential resource for anyone looking to have a meaningful conversation about the laws that form their society. This written analysis goes deeper into the complexities, consequences, and possible solutions to policy issues, going beyond their obvious surface level.

A public policy essay is essentially a thoughtful, well-researched analysis that breaks down a specific policy, covering its background, guiding ideas, and practical implications. Moreover, this type of writing enables authors to express not just their opinions about particular policies but also suggestions for reforms or alternate courses of action.

Furthermore, a public policy essay offers a chance for people to participate in the continuing conversation about societal issues and the policies that attempt to address them. However, writing an essay on a public policy topic requires a lot of time and effort, and yet students fail to write a well-researched essay on their own. Hence, we suggest that they should seek online essay writing services where they will be assisted by professional essay writers who will work according to their needs.

Read Here: Personal Essay- Examples, Structure, and Writing Tips

Key Components of a Public Policy Essay

Although writing a public policy essay requires precise organization and planning in order to convey your thoughts clearly. The following are the key components that you should include in your public policy essay writing:

Introduction

• Describe the background of the topic or subject you are discussing.
• Give a clear explanation of your essay’s major point or goal.

The Problem Statement

• Give a precise definition of the topic or problem your essay is trying to solve.
• Justify its importance and the need for attention.

Overview of Policy

• Describe the public policy that you will be talking about.
• Give a brief overview of the goals, purpose, and background of the policy.

Analysis of Policy

• Talk about the implementation of the policy and any difficulties encountered.
• Determine whether the policy is successful in resolving the stated issue.
• Give a clear description of the aims and objectives of the policy.

Policy Alternatives

• Describe some different approaches to policy.
• Consider the benefits and drawbacks of each choice.

Suggestions

• Make suggestions for enhancing the current policy or putting forth a fresh strategy in accordance with your findings.
• Provide logic and supporting data to support the suggestions you make.
• Highlight how important the problem is and how important your suggestions are.
• Summarize the main points of your essay.
• Provide a detailed reference list for every source you used and cited in your writing.
• Use citation styles ( APA , MLA, Chicago, etc.) consistently.

However, don’t forget to utilize clear, succinct language, logical flow, and examples and facts to back up your claims. Furthermore, keep in mind any particular instructions or specifications given by your instructor. Also, you can hire an essay helper online if you need any kind of assistance in writing your essay. The essay helper will not only write your essay but also provide you with the knowledge needed to write a flawless public policy essay.

How To Structure A Public Policy Essay?

Writing a public policy essay that successfully communicates your position on the topic requires a well-organized strategy. A compelling introduction draws the reader in and establishes the framework for your arguments. Therefore, a proper essay structure is essential to successfully convey your ideas and arguments in your essay. Here is a general outline to assist you in structuring your essay:

Create an Eye-Catching Introduction

Your main goal in the opening should be to use a hook that will captivate the reader. This might be accomplished by posing an intriguing question, providing an eye-opening statistic, or including a relevant quotation. Move on to giving background information on the public policy issue you will be addressing once you have the reader’s attention. This background information should be brief and provide readers with the essential context to understand the complexities of the policy issue.

Present a Concise Thesis Statement

Now, give an easy-to-understand and understandable thesis statement after the introduction. This sentence acts as the essay’s center. It summarizes your position on the public policy matter and highlights the primary points you will make in the essay. Moreover, it serves as a road map for your readers, pointing them in the direction of what you are saying. However, to create a concise thesis statement, you need to create a lesson plan assignment so that your statement won’t miss anything important.

State The Significance and Context

Once your thesis has been established, explore the public policy problems larger context. Give a thorough analysis of the political, social, and economic forces that have influenced the necessity for the particular policy. Afterwards, show how important the issue is by explaining the potential consequences of ignoring it and highlighting how the suggested policy would be able to help with these issues.

Conduct Literature Review

Perform a comprehensive literature review. Provide a summary of the most important conclusions drawn from studies, policies, and other relevant literature that are relevant to the public policy problem. By doing this, you show that you understand the current topic and the voids your essay seeks to fill, as well as establish the intellectual foundation for your argument. Thus, conduct a deep literature analysis so that you can provide useful information to the readers.

Write Body Paragraphs

Make sure to highlight the policy analysis part in the first body paragraph. Begin by outlining the precise goals that the suggested policy seeks to accomplish. Analyze the different alternatives or options for policy in depth. Afterward, seamlessly transition to the details of putting the selected policy into practice in the second body paragraph. Lastly, identify potential obstacles to policy execution and take appropriate action. Identify any obstacles or objections to the suggested policy. Also, provide thoughtful responses to these challenges and openly acknowledge them.

Together, these initial sections provide your readers with a clear picture of the public policy essay context, significance, and body of existing knowledge. Additionally, they also establish the groundwork for an in-depth study of the topic.

Also Read: How to Write an Outstanding 900-Word Essay

Some Suggested Public Policy Essay Topics

You should certainly think about the ideal topics if you want to write a persuasive and interesting public policy essay. However, you should choose a topic that is relevant to the current time. It needs to spark debate and hold the attention of your readers. It would be simple to conduct the necessary study to get sufficient data and proof to back up your claims. Therefore, we have brought you the latest and trendiest essay topics that you can choose from for your next public policy essay.

The following list includes some suggested essay topics that you might find interesting:

• The economic effects of immigration policy
• How well the financial sector is regulated by the government?
• The function of the state in guaranteeing health care accessibility
• How well government initiatives to fight poverty are working?
• Transportation policy: the involvement of the government
• The way the government can help to promote inexpensive housing
• The success of government initiatives to advance renewable energy
• How well government support for the arts is working?
• What and how well-performing government initiatives are at helping small enterprises?
• How the restaurant industry is affected by government regulations?
• The efficiency of public funds allocated to space exploration
• Effects of governmental regulation on the technology sector
• The function of the state in advancing technological innovation
• How well government money is used to advance technology?

Writing a flawless public policy essay requires you to select an appropriate topic that gives something to the readers. With these topics at your hand, you can choose one that you find most suitable for your next essay writing.

Get Help from Our Essay Writers!

A well-written essay is an excellent way to ensure top grades. If you are unable to accomplish your writing essay on your own, professional writers are always available to assist you. However, you can always hire our essay writers to complete your public policy on time if you don’t have excellent writing skills. They will provide with you error-free accurate, and original content for your essay. Furthermore, they can also help you with your online classes as well. No matter the time you need help with your online classes, you just need to visit our website and type, “Can someone take my online class for me ?” We will immediately match you with the expert who holds the best knowledge of your online class subject.

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• Americans’ Views of Government’s Role: Persistent Divisions and Areas of Agreement

Wide majorities of Biden and Trump supporters oppose cuts to Social Security

Table of contents.

• Views on the efficiency of government
• Views on the government’s regulation of business
• Confidence in the nation’s ability to solve problems
• Views on the effect of government aid to the poor
• Views on government’s role in health care
• Views on the future of Social Security
• Trust in government
• Feelings toward the federal government
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans’ attitudes about U.S. government, such as its size and role.

This report is based primarily on a survey of 8,709 adults, including 7,166 registered voters, from April 8 to 14, 2024. Some of the analysis in this report is based on a survey of 8,638 adults from May 13 to 19, 2024.

Everyone who took part in these surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for the report and its methodology .

While the economy, immigration and abortion have emerged as major issues in the 2024 election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump also have dramatically different ideas about the size and role of government.

These differences reflect decades-old divisions between Democrats and Republicans over the scope of government.

Among registered voters, large majorities of Biden supporters – roughly three-quarters or more – favor a bigger, more activist government.

• 74% say they would rather have a bigger government providing more services.
• 76% say government should do more to solve problems.
• 80% say government aid to the poor “does more good than harm.”

Trump supporters, by comparable margins, take the opposing view on all three questions.

The Pew Research Center survey of 8,709 adults – including 7,166 registered voters – conducted April 8-14, 2024, examines Americans’ views of the role and scope of government , the social safety net and long-term trends in trust in the federal government .

Democratic support for bigger government is little changed in the last five years but remains higher than it was a decade ago. Republicans’ views have shifted less over the last 10 years.

Among all adults, about three-quarters of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents favor a bigger government, up from about six-in-ten in 2014 and 2015. The share of Republicans and Republican leaners who prefer a bigger government has increased only modestly over the same period.

Democratic support for bigger government, while slightly lower than in 2021 (78%), remains at nearly its highest level in five decades. During Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s, fewer than half of Democrats said they preferred a bigger government with more services.

Voters continue to express very different views about government’s role in specific areas than about the government generally.

A large majority of voters (80%) – including 82% of Biden supporters and 78% of Trump supporters – say that in thinking about the long-term future of Social Security, benefits should not be reduced in any way.

However, Biden supporters are more likely than Trump supporters to say Social Security should cover more people with greater benefits.

• 46% of Biden supporters favor expanding Social Security coverage and benefits, compared with 28% of Trump supporters.

Most Americans (65%) continue to say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.

Democrats overwhelmingly (88%) say the federal government has this responsibility, compared with 40% of Republicans.

The share of Republicans who say the government has a responsibility to provide health coverage has increased 8 percentage points since 2021, from 32% to 40%.

There are wide income differences among Republicans in opinions about the government’s role in health care:

• 56% of Republicans with lower family incomes say the government has a responsibility to provide health coverage for all, compared with 36% of those with middle incomes and 29% of higher-income Republicans.

When asked how the government should provide health coverage, 36% of Americans say it should be provided through a single national program, while 28% say it should be through a mix of government and private programs. These views have changed little in recent years.

Democrats continue to be more likely than Republicans to favor a “single payer” government health insurance program (53% vs. 18%).

Other key findings in this report

• Americans’ trust in the federal government remains low but has modestly increased since last year. Today, 22% of American adults say they trust the government to do what is right always or most of the time, which is up from 16% in June 2023.
• While the public overall is divided over the nation’s ability to solve important problems, young adults are notably pessimistic about the country’s ability to solve problems . About half of Americans (52%) say the U.S. can’t solve many of its important problems, while 47% say it can find a way to solve problems and get what it wants. Roughly six-in-ten adults under age 30 (62%) say the nation can’t solve major problems, the highest share in any age group and 16 points higher than two years ago.

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Top 20: Public Policy Topics

This list comprises, in no particular order, the topics on the mind of faculty, staff, and students as we finish up 2019 and head into a new decade and the 2020 elections. Many experts at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy experts weighed in on these topics this year. 

Michigan leaders worried about possible effects of next recession “While no one knows when the next recession will hit or how bad it will be, the economic growth clock is ticking.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Stevenson debunks five myths about the Fed in Washington Post “When we look at the data, we are not seeing how inflation and unemployment move in response to market forces; instead, we are seeing the Fed actively trying to keep inflation near its 2 percent target. So the relationship now reflects the Fed either undershooting or overshooting its rate.”  – Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy; professor of economics

10% Happier: Stevenson and Wolfers talk wealth inequality and redistribution on NewsHour

“Rich people are happier than poor people, and that’s true all the way along economic distribution.” – Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy; professor of economics

“Increases in income keep making you happier, but they’re making you happier at a decreasing rate.” – Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy; professor of economics

Wolfers’ take on Trump’s tariffs “The United States is still less protectionist than it has been throughout most of its history or than most nations are today.” – Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy; professor of economics

Environment

Democratic presidential candidates’ climate change proposals may be unrealistic, says Rabe “What this would look like, and how this would work, probably hasn’t been talked about at the dinner table in most communities. What we don’t know is whether the nominee will stay the course and keep the plan, or hedge and dial back.” – Barry Rabe, Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; professor of environmental policy; professor of political science; professor of the environment

Utilities have little financial incentive to plug methane leaks “The overwhelming lesson we’ve taken from doing this research is that the price regulations we’ve relied on in the natural gas distribution sector are out of date, given our current understanding of methane’s role in climate change.” – Catherine Hausman, assistant professor of public policy

Alternative Energy

Sarah Mills work featured on This is Michigan “Wind turbines fit better in some communities than others. It depends on what their development goals are.” – Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Artificial Intelligence

Parthasarathy talks algorithms place in the criminal justice system “Technology is not neutral. Even when we think about how data is collected and stored and how we measure things, even that in and of itself has a bias.” – Shobita Parthasarathy, professor and director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks are major risk in elections, warns Ford School PhD “Malware seeks to steal, block or alter data. It’s the kind of code used to steal your passwords or credit card numbers. And it can also steal your vote.” – Ford School doctoral student Nadiya Kostyuk and Kenneth Geers, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council

Driverless Vehicles

Ford’s Robert Hampshire forecasts the future of autonomous vehicles Given the approximation that “autonomous vehicles averaged one disengagement [emergency scenario] every 5,000 miles…you’d need around 50,000 to 100,000 employees, distributed city by city. A network like that could operate as a subscription service, or it could be a government entity, similar to today’s air traffic control system.” – Robert Hampshire, associate professor of public policy and a research associate professor in both the U-M Transportation Research Institute’s (UMTRI) Human Factors group and Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS)

Current Political Environment

Axelrod talks “don’t fall into the zero-sum trap” and other lessons on podcast “The biggest lesson for me is don’t fall into the zero-sum trap. Whenever we think of things as a rivalry or a competition, we tend to immediately fall into the simple-minded thinking that it’s a zero-sum game…it’s usually opportunities that are mutually advantageous that are overlooked if you take that approach.” – Robert Axelrod, member of the National Academy of Sciences and former MacArthur Prize Fellow,  Walgreen Professor for the Study of Human Understanding at the University of Michigan. Axelrod has appointments in the Department of Political Science and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

National Debt

Lowering national debt is as easy as 1, 2, $4.95 billion! “The longer we wait to do so, the more burden the current generation will have to take on compared to the baby boomer generation.” – Tyler Evilsizer, Deputy Policy Director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) and guest speaker at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Immigration

Withdrawing from the Flores Agreement could keep immigration lawyers in dark, Vieux says “We’re going to see a lot more people detained for longer periods of time in facilities that are not licensed, and significant physical- and mental-health ramifications for the children that we serve.” – Hardy Vieux (MPP/JD ’97), Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and vice president, legal at Human Rights First

Health Care

Iovan and Lantz discuss their latest research on super-utilizers “There are two major reasons behind the drive to reduce emergency care use. First, the emergency department is not the best place to receive primary care. Super-utilizers use the ED for a number of reasons other than having a medical emergency.” – Paula Lantz, associate dean for Academic Affairs; professor of Public Policy, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy

“Many studies of super-utilizers find that health care use and costs go down the year after the intervention. However, a big problem is that we see this even without an intervention. This is in part because the people in the ‘super-utilizer’ group change somewhat from year to year.”- Samantha Iovan, staff at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

“We really want to stress the importance of conducting more high-quality evaluation research in this area. These patients certainly have many medical and social needs that have to be addressed, but the current research literature does not provide the evidence to support claims that super-utilizer interventions that are spreading across health care systems are actual working.” – Mahshid Abir, Department of Emergency Medicine at U-M Medical School

Shaefer warns of Medicaid work requirement risks “This should include the highest-quality experimental or quasi-experimental testing of employment, health outcomes and economic impact. Doing so would set Michigan apart in its commitment to really understanding the full impact of work requirements.” – H. Luke Shaefer, PhD, director of Poverty Solutions at U-M, and associate professor at the University of Michigan, School of Social Work, and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Marianne Udow-Phillips, executive director of the Center for Health and Research Transformation

Ivacko discusses opioid interventions on Michigan Radio “If they don’t have someone to turn to or a helping hand in these difficult times, it’s just that much harder for them to try to take a step forward.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Levitsky warns of consequences from marijuana legalization in Michigan “Keeping marijuana products away from vulnerable youth will require more vigilance and state and local intervention than when marijuana was banned.” – Melvyn Levitsky, professor of international policy and practice at the Ford School, and Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)

Ivacko makes sense of the recreational marijuana ‘haze’ If a chief of police or county sheriff feels it’s important to follow federal law, and a county administrator or a city mayor feels it’s important to follow state law, well, that’s a tough place to be for public officials. And so, opting out, you know, is a way to avoid those kinds of challenges.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

National Security

Ali proposes a commission to fight domestic terror “Our country still faces the possibility of additional attacks that will raise the same questions about why the government is not doing more to stop the violence.” – Javed Ali, a Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Josh Kirshner, former special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

Scott Atran et al look at cognitive triggers for extremist violence through brain scans “In this new effort, we sought to learn more about what goes on in the minds of people who have expressed a willingness to die for a cause that is based on sacred values—in this case, sympathizers of an Al-Qaeda associate called Lashkar-et Taiba.” – Scott Atran, adjunct research professor

Pilkauskas finds Earned Income Tax Credit helps low-income moms live on their own “The rule of thumb is that it is generally good to pay less than 30% of your income in rent—but in our study, half of mothers paid more than 50% of their earnings on rent. Increasing the EITC by $1,000 reduced severe housing cost burdens by 5 percentage points.” – Natasha Pilkaukas, assistant professor of public policy

Poverty Solutions & CLOSUP new report find local officials believe many Michigan residents struggle to make ends meet “Economic recovery across Michigan in the wake of the Great Recession has been uneven.  Despite a very low unemployment rate, this survey finds poverty and economic hardship are widespread and common challenges exist in all kinds of communities.” – Tom Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Natasha Pilkaukas’ research on three-generation household receives Michigan Minds spotlight “I’m really interested in thinking about what we can do to help children thrive. Who is in the household matters for kids.” – Natasha Pilkaukas, assistant professor of public policy

Higher Education

Dynarski’s work on school day SAT testing cited in Inside Higher Ed analysis of the 2019 test results “Universal testing alone will not get disadvantaged students into college. But it produces small, discernible increases in college attendance, especially at four-year colleges.” – Susan Dynarski, a professor of public policy, education and economics

Seefeldt offers insight on student debt trends on Michigan Radio “So while [these students] may be qualifying for financial aid, financial aid has not kept pace with rising college costs. So you have students who have more need, but the types of grants and aid we can give them is just not there.” – Kristin Seefeldt, professor of public policy and social work

Jason Owen-Smith warns of “serious risks” when universities cater to an industry “I think a narrow focus that closely aligns university work with near-term business needs is perilous.” – Jason Owen-Smith, professor of sociology and public policy

Alternative Transportation

Hampshire receives National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator grant Robert Hampshire, associate professor of public policy at the Ford School and associate research professor at Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), was awarded a $948,182 grant by the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator (C-Accel) to study how all Americans’ quality of life and economic prosperity can be improved by recent transportation innovations like ridesourcing and driverless vehicles.

K-12 Education

More harm than good? Professor Brian Jacob criticizes the continued turnover of accountability systems for Michigan schools I think we need more stability in the political and policy environment…to allow the people on the ground to focus on the actual work at hand.” – Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; professor of public policy; professor of economics; professor of education

Infrastructure

Leiser and Mills contribute to resources for new Michigan Lead and Copper Rule “As part of a project led by the University of Michigan’s Water Center and funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation, we have explored some of the challenges associated with financing LSL replacement under the revised Lead and Copper Rule.” – Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Stephanie Leiser, lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Who makes the call? Thacher and Gillooly advocate for 911 operator training “There is a lot of ambiguity on the part of callers, and it would rarely be appropriate to criminally punish them, because there are just so many judgment calls.” – David Thacher, associate professor of public policy and urban planning

“Operators need agency support to train them on how to handle such callers, and protocols about when calls can be appropriately rejected so as to reduce operators’ liability.” – Jessica Gillooly, PhD student

Voter Turnout and Election Reform

Yusuf Neggers discusses latest research with VoxDev “We might think that these information constraints are particularly important in rural areas where you have lower literacy rates and probably lower penetration from radio, television, newspapers, that might otherwise provide information.” – Yusuf Neggers, an assistant professor of public policy

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Understanding Public Policy

Checked : Mark A. , Greg B.

Latest Update 21 Jan, 2024

12 min read

Table of content

What is Public Policy?

What is the nature and scope of public policy.

Students taking economics at higher levels of education should understand public policy and what it represents. It is one of the most important topics, as it leads one to understand why and how governments make certain policies. When there is an issue within an economy, say a high inflation rate or a depression, the government comes up with different approaches to resolve them. But that is just for fiscal and monetary policies. Public policy is wider and takes on more serious issues concerning how people generally live and interact.

The public policy becomes an academic pursuit in the early 1950s and has been expanding into different dimensions ever since. Today, the subject is attempting to acquire the status of a discipline. And since it is the study of products on governments, it is a vital organ in different social science studies, including economics and management. Public policy has received such a huge and rapid growth in the academic arena, attracting researchers, teachers, and public administrators who now feel it is becoming complex. All disciplines associated with public policy cut through traditional academic lines on demarcation. This means it is an inter-disciplinary subject that has become quite interesting and thought-provoking.

Public policy has continued to be more challenging by the day. It has achieved so much attention over the past few years, yet many still don't understand how it works.

In the field of economic studies, the policy comes in as an instrument of direction and resolutions. It seeks to offer guidelines on what should be done when certain situations arise and how stakeholders should handle economic shocks. Therefore, it is vital to learning policy because sooner or later, you will be required to apply.

That is why, in this unit, we shall be looking at the meaning, nature, scope, and importance of public policy. There is a significant constant change in the conceptualization of 'public' and 'private' domains in the study of policy, which should be well understood too. We also attempt to look at this subject to understand the changes and what they mean to society, both socially and economically.

The term public policy is one of the most common terms used in our daily lives. It is also a major aspect of academic literature where we use terms such as education policy, fiscal policy, and monetary policy, among other various references in different disciplines. It is an area that involves all spheres labeled as public. The idea behind public Policy presupposes that there is an aspect of life that is common, and far from an individual or purely private.

During the initial years of public policy studies, it was only in researchers and political science students who got involved. Their focus was mainly on the institutional structure and philosophical justification of the government. In other words, they never sort to look at the policies themselves. Instead, they only focused on making the government look good. Political science was mostly preoccupied with the political activities of different political institutions. It concentrated on understanding political statuses and how they change governance. Yet, the policy is a critical component of the political process. It helps participants understand why certain directions should be taken and not anything else.

According to Thomas Dye, a renowned scholar of policy analysis, the traditional approach to a public policy defined the institution where the policy was formed. However, the relationship between crucial institutional arrangements and public policy consent was not very much explored. He continues to note that the political science of the modern era is shifting more towards public policy, which means it is now more about the description and explanation of causal and consequential activities of public policy. Economic studies have also focused more on understanding the cause for public policy and what determines which policy to be applied under certain circumstances. Modern political sciences have also focused on the organization of public authorities and public servants' behavior. This approach means determining the formulation of public policy is much harder. Even though it is largely contended that experienced policy implementation feeds back into the more in-depth application of policy-making processes, economic studies, more than political sciences, attempt to apply policy issues into the public field of administration. By seeking to understand how policies are generally made, it helps stakeholders, and the general public knows which policies are useful in resolving economic and administrative issues.

The public-policy-studies' past has mainly focused on the policy's content and the process of formulation and application. Today, this subject's study has evolved into its own discipline known as policy science, formulated by Harold Laswell in 1951.

There are two aspects of public policy that make it a worthy subject of study.

The 'public' is the first and most important concept of public policy. You may have come across terms such as 'public interest,' 'public sector,' 'public opinion,' and many others that involve the public. They are all founded on public policy, which means the spheres involved have to do with 'public' instead of 'private.' The public sector is made up of human activities regarded as requiring government intervention or common action. Despite this clear definition, there has always been a conflict between what is regarded as 'public' and what should be seen as 'private.' W.B Baber states that there are ten main points that differentiate the public from the private sector.

He says, public policy:

• Face more complicated and ambiguous tasks
• Faces more issues implementing its decision
• Involves more people motivated by a wider interest.
• Us concerned more with securing opportunities or implementing capacities.
• Compensates for market failure
• Engages in activities that bring out more significance
• Has strict standards of commitments and legality
• Must operate in the public interest
• Maintains a minimal level of public support.

Because of these key features, public administration emerged, coming in to secure public interest rather than private. Political economists hold that only markets can balance private and public interest, which is true. But new liberalism is founded on a belief that public administration is a more rational approach to encouraging public Policy. In this case, the civil servant is mainly tasked to serve the interests of those who elected them. This means public bureaucracy is different from anything that exists in the private domain. The issue of rational public interest became a major point of argument after World War II. Herbert Simon describes bureaucrats as exhibiting a large function of 'bounded rationality.'

The second aspect of public policy is the idea of 'policy,' and, like the concept of 'public,' is not a very precise term. It is a denotation of guidance of action, among other elements. Therefore, a policy can take different forms, including a declaration of goals, declaration of course of action; declaration of general purpose; and an authoritative decision. Hogwood and Gunn state that there are ten applications of the term 'policy,' where it a label for a field activity, the show expected state of affairs; specified proposals; government decision; frontal authority; a program; an output, a result, a model or thought; and a process. But the policy is something that cannot be seen from a single perspective because it assumes different forms. There is a push to designate policy as 'outputs' of the political system. Hence, public policy has been defined lesser as more or less inter-dependent concerned with different activities. Public policy studies have contrastingly focused more on the examination of policy decisions concerning specific values, more than just a political analysis.

This are magnum issues that can be recognized from various definitions that have come from different scholars. Y. Dror states that policies are a general directive of the mainline of action that should be followed. Peter Self also opines that policies change directives as to how tasks should be understood and undertaken. Sir Geffrey Vickers says polices are decisions giving directions in relation and continuity to the courses of action, which the responsibility of the decision-making body. And according to James Anderson, Policy can be regarded as the "purposive action course followed by an actor or actors handling a certain issue. According to Thomas Dye, public policy is the decision of governments. All these definitions have something in common, that policy involves an action, which should be taken or followed by concerned parties.

We have already seen what public Policy and why it has become such a huge concern for modern governments. It is also good to note that policy may be general or specific, narrow or broad, simple or complex, discretionary, or detailed, among other features. In economics, public policy is more emphasized as to what the government chooses to do or not to do. In which case, it can appear into three categories:

• Activities attached to a specific policy
• Activities that are more general in nature.
• Activities based on vague and ambiguous policies.

However, it is rare to find government with a set of guiding principles for every activity in real life. This means some decisions are just made because they come as an impromptu. The Supreme Court comes in with its decisions to offer new interpretations for some constitution articles that may seem hard to comprehend.

Public policy may cover a larger part of its activities, which follow the country's development policy. For instance, the development policy can be adopted through the socio-economic development, equality, or similar broad principles of guidance for action. It can also be adopted as a basic framework of goals. As stated above, public policy may be narrow, covering specified activities, like child labor protections, or maybe as wide as women's empowerment.

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In modern political systems, public policy is seen as purposive or goal-oriented statements. Also, public policy may be negative or positive. Positive public policy may some form of government intervention resolve a particular issue, like policies to shield markets from failure. On the other hand, a negative public policy could be when public servants refuse to take action on some matters the government is required to handle. Public policy is also defined by legal coercive qualities accepted by citizens as legitimate – like paying of taxes to avoid severe penalties.

The nature of public policy can be better understood when compared to related concepts, including:

• Policy-making and decision-making where policies influence decisions. However, policy-making does involve decision-making, but not every decision carries a policy.
• Policies and goals. Policies can be used as a means to end action. In other words, we can expect policies to the deliberate choice of action to attain certain goals and objectives.
• Policy analysis and policy advocacy. There is some distinction between policy analysis and policy advocacy. In this case, policy analysis is all about discovering the impact of a policy.
• Policy analysis and policy management. There is a need to understand the distinction between policy analysis and policy management. However, despite their differences, they are linked through policy-making and cover a large aspect of senior administrations.

Apart from the nature of public policy, the scope is another significant aspect of its study. It consists of the development of scenarios and extrapolations of contemporary trends concerning the public. The public sector scope and size have grown exponentially, making it important to consider how it is linked to public policy.

In trying to understand public policy, there are many other aspects of the subject you are going to cover. For instance, some scholars have tried to discuss the typologies of the policy issue. According to Lowi, for instance, policy issues can be classified as distributive; regulative; redistributive; and constituent. There are other issues you will come across, including: Regulatory Policy issues, constituent policy issues, conflict policy issues, and bargaining policy issues.

It is also vital to understand the significance of public policy. In this case, we have seen that public policy is focused on resolving public problems. It seeks to determine how issues and problems are defined, constructed, and resolved. Also, policy is purposive and deliberately formulated, it is well-thought-out, the real action, it delineates a time frame and follows a defined course of action.

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Ted McAllister , is the Edward L. Gaylord Chair/Associate Professor of Public Policy Pepperdine School of Public Policy. He is a an intellectual historian who brings a historical imagination to the public policy curriculum. McAllister teaches the core MPP courses "Ethical Dimensions of Public Policy" and "Great Books and Great Ideas, along with elective courses in public opinion, American democratic culture, among others.

"What is Public Policy?" was the first question that I asked when I got a phone call recruiting me to a new policy school about to open at Pepperdine. So, there is some irony in the fact that I'm now writing an essay on the subject. And yet, it is a matter of some consequence that one of our program's defining classes has the very same question in the title of the class: "The Roots of American Order: What is Public Policy?" The question, more than a textbook answer, is essential to Pepperdine's approach to educating policy leaders.

A class that asks this question in the midst of a serious historical examination of the sources, development, and crises/challenges of the American constitutional order implies that the answer is somehow bound up with history; that public policy is related to the regime; that public policy is somehow a cultural as well as political subject, a moral as well as technical matter. For these reasons we cannot define policy without considering its modifier, public.

In terms of the growing number of autocratic or fascist regimes (most so-called "communist" regimes are better understood as fascist), the modifier ought to be state or government policy. One of the goals of such regimes is to absorb publics into the state and destroy institutions and associations that interfere with the integration of individual identity with the abstract state. To the degree that these states can accomplish this goal, the government need not consult any public in making policy since the government gives the only means of expressing collective purpose and because the state wishes to define collective identity rather than reflect it. Under these circumstances, policy is primarily a matter of the relationship between two things: the interests of those who rule the state and the technical analysis that demonstrates possible outcomes, benefits, problems, with any suggested policy. If the government determines that it is in its interest (and that of the state, which amounts to the same thing) to dramatically increase the supply of electricity then it sees the policy question in terms of technical problems, costs, and efficiency. The building of huge dams that displace tens of thousands of families does not present a political or public challenge, only a technical one that must be weighed against other technical challenges.

The United States, however, has publics, and the existence of publics creates the fundamental tension that governs the policy establishment—including the universities that teach policy makers. Policy establishments are prone to think of policies as responses to problems and they are attracted to the most streamlined, efficient means of solving the problems. To the degree that this perspective dominates policy making, technical knowledge and related forms of analysis are wedded very closely to the policy aesthetic that glories in efficiency.

Publics introduce, among other things, profound political and social complexity that clash with the beauty of simple, streamlined efficiency. Publics are not just those bodies being served by policy regimes, but they are diverse, self-interested, and often profoundly ignorant sovereigns who demand that policies express their often inchoate will or desires. To be public policy the policy decisions must somehow express the will of a public, whether local, state or national.

To love public policy is, therefore, to love the profound and often confounding complexity of making good choices that both invest a large group of people with a serious role in deciding policies and yet incorporate the best policy analysis. Truly good public policy must find ways of understanding the will of the public while at the same time educating and informing that same public. If we left it here we might engage this complexity with a reasonable process of incorporating various stakeholders and policy makers in an "inclusive" system of public engagement. Alas, this is only the beginning of the complexity

A good public policy must engage deeper norms and principles and "values" of a community. No community is understood in this way through town hall meetings or by "civic engagement" efforts, however valuable they may be otherwise. A community has a deep history and its cultural and social character requires historical knowledge as well as a subtle understanding of emerging pressures and challenges to the nature of that community by a wide array of economic, political, demographic and other changes. A public might deeply value its long-term commitment to the rights of minorities and so protect those whose eccentric ways of living would otherwise make them vulnerable to policy czars who look for an efficient policy solution to a given problem. Understanding that a community honors its historically grown, socially expressed, culturally validated, species of tolerance requires that the voices that make up the public is something more comprehensive than the will of a self-interested majority.

This one example suggests that every public in a large nation is distinct in some important respects and that no good local public policy can be made without a great depth of what we might call "local knowledge"—often the knowledge that can only be possessed by those who have absorbed it through decades of living in that place.

The larger the public the greater the tendency to think of policy in technical terms, the more hostile policy makers are of the very idea of a public. A nation of 300 million souls cannot be said to have a public in a deep sense of that word. Some common historical, cultural, and social ground makes the American public something discernible and distinct from, say, the Canadian public. But it is nonetheless not substantial enough to be one thing that can be heard or expressed by a government seeking to make national policy that expresses the deeper will of the people. America is a public of publics and if it ceases to be this then it loses a necessary condition for a free and self-ruling nation.

To approach public policy as a technocrat is to be an idiot—the word "idiot" originally referring to a deeply private person who is ignorant of public matters. Therefore, to talk about "American public policy" (national policy) we are forced back to a defining question of policy-making in our regime: what is public policy?

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36 public policy questions to energize your government/history classroom debates.

Social Studies --- Civics --- Current Events --- Government --- Debate Topics

Brief Description

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to begin class and/or spark student discussion and debate, these activity ideas are for you. Included: Thirty-six open-ended questions relating to public policy issues that are in the news and, even better, important to students.

Students will

• engage in discussion and debate relating to issues of importance to them and the world.
• think critically as they analyze public policy issues.

debate, public policy, issues, critical thinking

Materials Needed

Using debates in the classroom is a proven strategy for engaging students and developing critical thinking skills. Debates can take many formats and cover many topics. Following are 36 classroom-friendly topics. You might

• challenge students to research the topics and be ready to offer informed opinions.
• arrange students into small groups to stage debates on a selection of the topics.
• use some of the debate strategies in the Education World article Its Up for Debate . Those debate strategies include
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate Format
• Role Play Debate
• Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics
• Four Corners Debate
• Inner Circle, Outer Circle Debate
• Three-Card Debate Strategy
• Participation Countdown Strategy
• Tag Team Debate
• Fishbowl Debate
• Think-Pair-Share Debate

36 Public Policy Questions to Energize Your Classroom and Engage Students in Debate

• Is the Confederate Flag a symbol of heritage or a symbol of hate?
• Should Native American nicknames/mascots be banned from high school, college, and professional sports teams?
• Should Supreme Court members be elected by the people instead of appointed by the President [with Senate approval]?
• Should the Federal Government be allowed to regulate Major League Baseball [and other professional leagues] by enacting uniform penalties for steroid use?
• Should the practice of physician-assisted suicide be allowed?
• Is file-sharing a crime and should those who share files and those who create file-sharing software be criminally prosecuted?
• It is currently a law that you can be forbidden Federally subsidized students loans for college [such as Stafford and Perkins loans] if you have a prior conviction for drug use, drug possession, or drug dealing. Do you think that this should remain a law?
• Many states have hate crime legislation. Under such laws, crimes motivated solely because of someones race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation are given stiffer and mandatory penalties. How do you feel about those types of laws?
• Should the Federal, State, and Local governments rebuild the New Orleans area and encourage people to return in large numbers?
• Is it good policy for schools to ban the sale of soft drinks, candy, and other questionably nutritious snacks in order to promote better eating habits?
• How do you feel about the rise of gated, police-monitored communities? Should they be allowed or should construction of those types of communities be stopped?
• What are your opinions regarding beach-front property and private beaches? Should all beaches be public to allow access to the ocean, or do you believe that some beaches can be bought for private use?
• As a means to preventing terrorist activity, do you have a problem with the Federal government having access to your e-mail account, library records, and other personal information?
• Should it be legal to give the death penalty to someone who commits a crime as a minor [under 18 years old]?
• A much higher percentage of Australians (88 percent) vote in elections than Americans (about 50%). Many believe that this is due to the fact that Australians who do not vote must pay a fine, typically $20. Should the United States enact similar measures?
• Some have proposed that the Federal government should set an age restriction [21 years old] on when a person can apply for a credit card. Do you believe that this legislation should be passed?
• Should taxpayers finance the building of a light-rail system to lesson traffic in our major cities?
• Are todays video games too violent and/or sexually provocative?
• Should the United States adopt English as its official language?
• Do you believe that the government should do more to limit immigration [legal and/or illegal] from Mexico, or should we just open the border?
• Should the Electoral College be outlawed and replaced with a system where the Presidential candidate with the most votes is elected?
• Are professional athletes overpaid, or is this simply a situation where highly skilled and scarce athletes are paid according to supply and demand?
• Are race relations better or worse than they were before the 1960s?
• What is your opinion about Wal-Mart? Does Wal-Mart represent all that is good about capitalism or all that is wrong about capitalism?
• Should the United States attempt to spread the principles of democracy throughout the World, or should we let the other countries of the World decide for themselves?
• Should drug companies be forced to limit the price of potentially life-saving drugs so the average person can afford them?
• Are television and/or print advertisements exploitative in nature? Do they take advantage of consumers?
• Should makers of unhealthy foods targeting children be forced to change packaging that attracts young people?
• Should there be a Constitutional amendment that allows naturalized citizens to be president or vice president?
• Some shopping malls across the United States are not allowing people under age 18 to enter on Friday and Saturday nights without parental supervision. What are your opinions regarding that policy?
• As a means to combating obesity, should the United States enact a fat tax on fast food and other unhealthy foods?
• As a way to curb drunk driving, should all cars have breathalyzer machines installed? (Some legislators in New York have proposed this requirement.)
• Should public companies (those whose stock is publicly traded) have to disclose the pay and total compensation of their CEOs and other high-ranking officials?
• In your opinion, should September 11th be made a national holiday or national day of mourning?
• What is your opinion regarding merit pay for teachers? When students do well on standardized tests, should the teachers of those students receive merit-based raises?
• Should standardized tests [SAT, ACT] continue to be used as a measurement of student achievement and an important part of the college admission process?

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Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and receive top education news, lesson ideas, teaching tips and more! No thanks, I don't need to stay current on what works in education! COPYRIGHT 1996-2016 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYRIGHT 1996 - 2024 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SchoolNotes.com The Educator's Network Publications Insights and context to inform policies and global dialogue Policy papers and briefs The concept of public policy Essay To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block As a source of information (ensure proper referencing) As a template for you assignment Introduction Bibliography The concept of public policy is very critical and sensitive since it affects a majority of people who are ruled under the policies made. It entails the process taken by the government in addressing an issue that affects the public and the intentions of the government in taking the actions. It can also be said to be the result of the government’s actions towards deciding on who gets what and who does not after some considerations. It comprises major components like regulations, laws, actions and decisions aimed at controlling a certain behavior or solving a problem that is either caused by or affects the public. Public opinion, on the other hand, is a set of people’s views and attitudes towards a specific topic or issue that affect them. It usually affects the process of public policy-making as it takes into consideration the public interests. This piece of work gives a critique of the article; Information Effects in Collective Preferences by Althaus looking into how the author tackles the topic and his efforts in making us understand the relationship between public opinion and public policy. The author starts of by showing us how information is essential in decision making, especially in shaping public opinion which to a great extent affects the process of public policy since the public are a major element in the public policy-making process thorough their various opinions. It is evident that uneven distribution of political information among the society members leads to different public opinions by the members as they have different levels of knowledge concerning the specific topic or problem and therefore the public policies that are made based on the collected opinions from the public are usually not complete as they do not comprehensively represent the public. This shows that the process of public policy-making could only be effective if knowledge about particular issues of concern were evenly distributed among the citizens as this would make them make appropriate and informed decisions based on facts and the government would hence take effective actions and solve the public’s problems. Public opinion is therefore influenced by information effect, which is the information’s impact in shaping collective opinion as a result of low levels and uneven social distribution of knowledge regarding politics in the society. Political knowledge enhance proper decision making in regard to political issues as the informed citizens are able to understand the major components involved in public policy-making, for instance, the policy itself, the participants or actors and the problems at stake. Although we can argue that being politically informed enhance the individual’s and collective opinion, some studies for instance in cognitive psychology also show that even the people who are poorly informed an political matters can make opinions that are in line with their political inclinations by relying on some political figures and other sources for instance online processing and other information shortcuts without necessarily having the specific factual knowledge. Aggregation of the opinions made by both the well informed and ill-informed citizens will also allow coming up with an appropriate conclusion. This disputes the fact that the correct and meaningful collective opinion could only be attained if all the citizens were well informed. All in all information among the citizens influences their opinions by affecting the interaction between those collecting the data and those giving the responses, for instance, the poorly informed citizens who are usually the Blacks, the poor and women tend to give vague response as compared to the knowledgeable audience leading to poor presentation of the public’s preferences as opposed to those from the knowledgeable citizens who are mostly, the Whites, the rich and men whose views tend to be greatly considered. The opinions of the well-informed people also tend to be of high quality in terms of being consistent with the political predisposition regarding the particular problem in question. Public opinion and public policy are directly dependent on each other since public policy formulation and implementation is based on the public’s opinion about the particular topic or problem and it is usually made in response to a specific problem or issue facing the public with an aim of solving it. The citizens’ provision of information on the topic is usually useful in the policy formulation and implementation process as it brings forward their beliefs, attitudes which in the long run influence the cause and effects processes and what the government is likely to undertake and the expected outcomes of the actions taken. It is, however, difficult to determine how information or knowledge in the political field would affect an individual’s or group’s preference in regard to what is best for them. The political interests of the informed people may either be subjective or objective and in some instances they may not reflect what the public may prefer in relation to a particular issue. The knowledgeable citizens tend to be in a good position to argue or respond to different situations based on the knowledge they have previously acquired. They also have a certain degree of confidence due to their prior experience and can hence easily understand complex political issues and happenings that surround them as compared to the ill-informed citizens. The measure of how information affects preferences and opinions among citizens can be attained through taking of constant variables in the society in both the enlightened and the ill-informed citizens in the community for instance education, age, race, religious affiliation, marital status, gender, region, financial status, type of community, region, parental status, partisanship, and occupation among others and presenting the same questions to them and then evaluating the responses. The author, however, recognizes that a political party affiliation is an essential element since it is also a relatively constant characteristic of the citizens and a major determinant of the citizen’s responses to political issues as it acts as a basis for the citizen’s responses and a shortcut as opposed to factual knowledge they would have concerning the topic of discussion. Although the author tries to tackle this issues comprehensively through application of various theories, models and methods and also by taking into consideration what has been said by other authors in regard to the same topic, it is still difficult to completely determine the exact influence of information on political interests and preferences among the enlightened and the ill-informed citizens as the results from the conducted surveys are often almost the same since there are other determinants apart from information or knowledge exhibited by the respondents. To understand the concept of the influence public opinion on public policy formulation and implementation, the author gives us an example on how information can affect people’s attitudes toward spousal notification law. The example tries to show how information can shape an individual’s or group’s collective preference. The question posed to the respondents is, “Would you favor or oppose a law in your state that would require a married woman to notify her husband before she can have an abortion?” The responses were obtained and the logit coefficients evaluated and it is noted that the differences in the responses attained is relatively very low. The models used can however not perfectly represent individual opinions but can generally show the differences between those groups that are for the law and those that are against its enactment. The model also shows the effects of information or knowledge on an issue on policy preferences among various groups. From the above-named question, two-thirds of the respondents seemed to support the spousal notification law while a third was against it. The well-informed citizens seem to be divided on the issue as 48% of them supported it and 52% opposed it and hence the problem lies in the unequal distribution of political knowledge among citizens. Men were more informed as compared to women because even after full provision of political knowledge, their responses did change much as compared to that of women. This shows that the difference in information available to both men and women affects the results obtained in opinion surveys and hence leads to inefficient public policy-making by the governments as they base they actions on the opinion polls gathered. Different topics attract different public opinions according to how best the citizens are informed or interested in them for example issues of social, fiscal, and security wellbeing among others. A change in information or knowledge on an issue also leads to changes in collective preferences as the people are subject to change their opinions with change in information. The deviation however varies depending on other elements, for instance, the Whites, the rich and men are less likely to change their opinions much as compared to the Blacks, the poor and women who are more susceptible to change of opinion due to prior lack of knowledge. This can be seen when taking varying responses of the citizens on different issues, for instance, foreign policy issues, fiscal issues, operative issues and social policy issues. Generally, fully informed citizens tend to give divided opinions on policies like foreign policy, they are more concerned on social and fiscal concepts and policies and more conservative on operative issues that take place around them. Correcting for information unevenness can, however lead to notable shifts in individual and collective opinions. The authors argues that the only way out in understanding collective preferences could be the balancing of political knowledge among the society members which will counter the low levels and uneven social distribution of information on politics and political issues. He also states that information level in an individual or group affects collective opinion greater that previous studies have shown. It is also clear that different levels of information brings about change in responses and therefore collective preferences of various people could change either with a less or great magnitude if everyone was equally informed in various aspects of concern in the political field. The author argues the topic in a very comprehensive manner by looking into various studies that have been done regarding the effects of information or knowledge among the citizens and its role in shaping their opinions which in the long run affects the public policy-making process and the actions taken by the government in regard to the problems faced by the citizens. He then gives lots of models and informative examples from which the reader can draw his or her own conclusions and there after gives his point of view with specific reasons for making the decisions. From the information given by the author in his article, Information Effects in Collective Preferences, it is evident that the public is a very essential component or determinant in the process of public policy formulation and implementation. This is because the public opinions are used by the government and other bodies involved in the policy-making process for instance legislative bodies, leadership, bureaucracy, interest groups, political parties and the justice system in decision making. Public policies are made out of the public’s interest which is expressed through public opinion. However, public opinion can sometimes be decisive and not representative of the reality for instance when the respondents that are contacted during the survey are not representative of the total community in terms of size and aggregate composition or characteristics. Knowledge of the people on the particular issue also affects the opinions given as people tend to give vague information when they are not conversant with the political issue while those who are well enlightened tend to give meaningful responses that are in line with the government’s expectations. In most cases the responses from the well-informed citizens are usually used as the basis in making public policies hence their needs end up being catered for at the expense of those that are not well informed. This shows that the policies formulated and implemented by the government are usually not representative of all citizen’s views as they are not based on everybody’s opinion as it should be the case. Public opinion usually has limited influence on public policy since in most cases there are usually no clear public preferences for one policy over others as the citizens are not given the options of choosing among policies that are available. The policy-makers also do not necessarily follow the public preferences due to lack of adequate relevant information. This is because most people have no distinct preferences on most issues, especially political related and in the few cases where preferences have been established, public opinion is usually much divided to a point where the bodies involved in public policy-making cannot base their actions on it. For instance, in the example on passage of the notification law of the spouse on abortion given earlier, the public seemed much divided and the government may be left with the final decision hence public opinion is overruled. In some instances the government may make advantage of a situation and go per its preference as opposed to the public preference as it has powers over the general public. The government may come up with an idea regarding a policy and persuade the public to support it for example through campaigns. This is a way of molding the public opinion where different bodies and institutions involved in public policy-making process affect the public’s decisions on various aspects. In cases where the public opinion is well known and the preferences seem to be well defined, the policy-makers may also not go in accordance to them for various reasons for example if the preferences are deemed to be based on ignorance on the issue, when it is not for the well being of the majority in the society or when the policy to be passed is susceptible to change completely in the event of enactment of an alternative policy in future. Although public policy is sometimes in line with public opinion, this is not an adequate justification that public opinion determines the actions taken in the public policy-making policy. The public policy-makers mostly make a generalization since they can gauge what the public would prefer and at the end of it all, they end up coming up with policies that are in favor with the public preferences even without their consultation. It is however clear that public opinion and public policy are strongly related. Although public opinion is expected to be the basis of public policy in determining its formulation and implementation, it does not work out this way. In few instances, the public opinion matches with the policy-makers preferences and hence it is adopted but in most case, it opposes the policy makers’ preferences and it is therefore ignored. This shows that despite the public being given a chance to voice their views and ideas the final decision lies in the public policy-makers, especially the government since the public has no power to force the government to act in a certain way. Althaus, L. Scott. “Information Effects in Collective Preferences.” American Political Science Review. Vol. 92, No.3. 1998. How Spain Influenced European Policymaking Nurse Participation in Policy-Making To What Extent Is Policy-Making Being Europeanised in Member States of the European Union Concepts of Informing and setting policies The Governmental Role in Food Safety Stages of a Policy Cycle Australia Industrial Relation Policies Freedom of speech in the Balkans Chicago (A-D) Chicago (N-B) IvyPanda. (2019, May 1). The concept of public policy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-public-policy-essay/ "The concept of public policy." IvyPanda , 1 May 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-public-policy-essay/. IvyPanda . (2019) 'The concept of public policy'. 1 May. IvyPanda . 2019. "The concept of public policy." May 1, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-public-policy-essay/. 1. IvyPanda . "The concept of public policy." May 1, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-public-policy-essay/. IvyPanda . "The concept of public policy." May 1, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concept-of-public-policy-essay/. Center for Law and the Human Person Center for Religious Liberty (CRL) Comparative and International Law Institute (CILI) Compliance, Investigations, and Corporate Responsibility Program (CICR) Law and Public Policy Program (LPP) Law and Technology Institute (LTI) Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) Securities Law Program (SLP) Columbus School of Law 2024 Catholic Law News Professor Chad Squitieri Expands on Justice Barrett's Interpretation of the Major Questions Doctrine in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy Professor Chad Squitieri , a fellow at Catholic Law's Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, had his essay “Placing Legal Context in Context” selected for publication in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam . Squitieri's article was developed for a January 2024 symposium jointly hosted by the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy . In line with his field of expertise, Squitieri's recent publication concerns the major questions doctrine and proposes how textualists jurists should account for the President’s role on the federal lawmaking process. Squitieri's article is available for viewing here . Below is the abstract.  . . . In Biden v. Nebraska , Justice Barrett authored a concurrence in which she characterized the major questions doctrine as a linguistic canon that accounts for the “legal context” surrounding delegations of power. Some scholars have critiqued Justice Barrett's concurrence on the grounds that empirical research suggests that ordinary readers do not account for “majorness” in the way that the major questions doctrine requires. This Essay argues that those critiques miss the mark because they conflate factual context with legal context. Justice Barrett’s concurrence should be considered within the broader textualist tradition of understanding “ordinary meaning” as a legal concept, and not simply an empirical fact. But to say that Justice Barrett’s concurrence should be understood within that broader textualist tradition is not to say that her concurrence is immune from criticism. To the contrary, this Essay contends that Justice Barrett's concurrence does not account fully for legal context concerning the President's lawmaking functions. The upshot is that textualists eager to embrace the major questions doctrine are better off reconceptualizing the doctrine as a substantive canon that polices the precise lines delineating the lawmaking powers vested in the President and Congress. . . . Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Advertisement Supported by Abortion Debate Shifts as Election Nears: ‘Now It’s About Pregnancy’ Two years after Roe was struck down, the conversation has focused on the complications that can come with pregnancy and fertility, helping to drive more support for abortion rights. Share full article By Kate Zernike In the decades that Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, abortion rights groups tried to shore up support for it by declaring “Abortion Is Health Care.” Only now, two years after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, and just six months before the presidential election, has the slogan taken on the force of reality. The public conversation about abortion has grown into one about the complexities of pregnancy and reproduction, as the consequences of bans have played out in the news. The question is no longer just whether you can get an abortion, but also, Can you get one if pregnancy complications put you in septic shock? Can you find an obstetrician when so many are leaving states with bans? If you miscarry, will the hospital send you home to bleed? Can you and your partner do in vitro fertilization? That shift helps explain why a record percentage of Americans are now declaring themselves single-issue voters on abortion rights — especially among Black voters, Democrats, women and those ages 18 to 29 . Republican women are increasingly saying their party’s opposition to abortion is too extreme, and Democrats are running on the issue after years of running away from it. “When the Dobbs case came down, I told my friends — somewhat but not entirely in jest — that America was about to be exposed to a lengthy seminar on obstetrics,” said Elaine Kamarck, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, referring to the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion opponents say that stories about women facing medical complications are overblown and that women who truly need abortions for medical reasons have been able to get them under exceptions to the bans. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player The Supreme Court says cities can punish people for sleeping in public places Jennifer Ludden U.S. Supreme Court says cities can punish people for sleeping in public places A homeless person walks near an elementary school in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 23. The rural city became the unlikely face of the nation's homelessness crisis when it asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold its anti-camping laws. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption In its biggest decision on homelessness in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. The justices, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, overturned lower court rulings that deemed it cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment to punish people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go. Writing for the majority, Justice Gorsuch said, “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many.” But he said federal judges do not have any “special competence” to decide how cities should deal with this. “The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this Nation’s homelessness policy,” he wrote. In a dissent, Justice Sotomayor said the decision focused only on the needs of cities but not the most vulnerable. She said sleep is a biological necessity, but this decision leaves a homeless person with “an impossible choice — either stay awake or be arrested.” The court's decision is a win not only for the small Oregon city of Grants Pass, which brought the case, but also for dozens of Western localities that had urged the high court to grant them more enforcement powers as they grapple with record high rates of homelessness. They said the lower court rulings had tied their hands in trying to keep public spaces open and safe for everyone. Supreme Court appears to side with an Oregon city's crackdown on homelessness But advocates for the unhoused say the decision won’t solve the bigger problem, and could make life much harder for the quarter of a million people living on streets, in parks and in their cars. “Where do people experiencing homelessness go if every community decides to punish them for their homelessness?” says Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Today’s ruling only changes current law in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California and eight other Western states where the bulk of America’s unhoused population lives. But it will also determine whether similar policies elsewhere are permissible; and it will almost certainly influence homelessness policy in cities around the country. Cities complained they were hamstrung in managing a public safety crisis Grants Pass and other cities argued that lower court rulings fueled the spread of homeless encampments, endangering public health and safety. Those decisions did allow cities to restrict when and where people could sleep and even to shut down encampments – but they said cities first had to offer people adequate shelter. That’s a challenge in many places that don’t have nearly enough shelter beds. In briefs filed by local officials, cities and town also expressed frustration that many unhoused people reject shelter when it is available; they may not want to go if a facility bans pets, for example, or prohibits drugs and alcohol. Critics also said lower court rulings were ambiguous, making them unworkable in practice. Localities have faced dozens of lawsuits over the details of what’s allowed. And they argued that homelessness is a complex problem that requires balancing competing interests, something local officials are better equipped to do than the courts. "We are trying to show there's respect for the public areas that we all need to have," Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison told NPR earlier this year. She wrote a legal brief on behalf of more than a dozen other cities. "We care for people, and we're engaging and being involved in the long-term solution for them." The decision will not solve the larger problem of rising homelessness Attorneys for homeless people in Grants Pass argued that the city’s regulations were so sweeping, they effectively made it illegal for someone without a home to exist. To discourage sleeping in public spaces, the city banned the use of stoves and sleeping bags, pillows or other bedding. But Grants Pass has no public shelter, only a Christian mission that imposes various restrictions and requires people to attend religious service. "It's sort of the bare minimum in what a just society should expect, is that you're not going to punish someone for something they have no ability to control," said Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center, which represents those who sued the city. He also said saddling people with fines and a criminal record makes it even harder for them to eventually get into housing. Johnson and other advocates say today’s decision won’t change the core problem behind rising homelessness: a severe housing shortage, and rents that have become unaffordable for a record half of all tenants. The only real solution, they say, is to create lots more housing people can afford – and that will take years. homelessness Supreme Court Essay Service Examples Government Public Policy Essay on Public Policy, Its Main Models and Approaches Defining Public Policy Proper editing and formatting Free revision, title page, and bibliography Flexible prices and money-back guarantee Thomas R. Dye defines public policy as “whatever government wants to do or not to do”. This includes all actions and inaction of the government. B. Guy Peters defines “public policy is the sum of government activities, whether it is acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the lives of citizens”. James E. Anderson defines “public policy is a purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors in dealing with a matter of concern”. Larry N. Gerston defines public policy as 'the combination of basic decisions, actions and commitments made by those who hold or affect government positions of authority. Yehezkel Dror defines public policy as a 'dynamic process which decides major guidelines for action directed at the future, mainly by governmental organs. These guidelines aim at achieving what is in public interest by the best possible means. Models and Approaches to Public Policy simplify and clarify our understanding about government and policies; identify important political forces in society; communicate relevant knowledge about political life, to direct inquiry into politics; suggest explanation for political events; direct our efforts to understand public policy better by suggesting what is important and what is unimportant. Institutional Approach: Policy as Institutional Output Legislative institutions : It is concerned with the central tasks of policy formation and law making in a political system. It also performs other functions like scrutinizing, criticizing, deliberating and publicizing government policies and their consequences of the policies on the floor of the house. Executive institutions : Modern governments vitally depend on the executive institutions for the policy formulation and execution. Especially in the parliamentary form of government, all policies must have approval of the cabinet. In real terms, it is the cabinet which shapes the public policies. Judiciary institutions : In countries where courts have the power of judicial review, they play an important role in policy formulation. Group Theory: Policy as Group Equilibrium Elite theory: policy as elite preference, rationalism theory: policy as maximum social gain, incremental model: policy as variations on the past, game theory: policy as rational choice in competitive situations, systems approach: policy as system output. Our writers will provide you with an essay sample written from scratch: any topic, any deadline, any instructions. Cite this paper Related essay topics. Get your paper done in as fast as 3 hours, 24/7. Related articles Most popular essays Public Policy The modern world continues to struggle with ethical dilemmas in the private and public sector.... One's ability to drive a car plays a significant role in carrying out essential day-to-day tasks,... Many people who live in Detroit are lacking even simple literacy skills. Children are not getting... Public policy making is essential in making sure that the government is guided in order to reach... We are a nation of dog lovers. When you think of perfect pooches, what breeds come to mind? Pretty... There is no universally accepted definition of policy and public policy. This is due to the fact... Conceptual contestation has been causing a lot of difficulties in the study of politics. The... Accountability For this assignment, which is justifying contributions to the development of the poster for the 10... Transparency is operating in such a way that is easy for others to see what actions are performed.... Join our 150k of happy users Get original paper written according to your instructions Save time for what matters most Fair Use Policy EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected]. We are here 24/7 to write your paper in as fast as 3 hours. Provide your email, and we'll send you this sample! By providing your email, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy . Say goodbye to copy-pasting! Get custom-crafted papers for you. Enter your email, and we'll promptly send you the full essay. No need to copy piece by piece. It's in your inbox! Election 2024 Entertainment Newsletters Photography AP Investigations AP Buyline Personal Finance AP Buyline Shopping Press Releases Israel-Hamas War Russia-Ukraine War Global elections Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East Election Results Delegate Tracker AP & Elections Auto Racing 2024 Paris Olympic Games Movie reviews Book reviews Financial Markets Business Highlights Financial wellness Artificial Intelligence Social Media What it means for the Supreme Court to throw out Chevron decision, undercutting federal regulators FILE- Gulls follow a commercial fishing boat as crewmen haul in their catch in the Gulf of Maine, in this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo. TExecutive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court. The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) The Supreme Court building is seen on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Copy Link copied WASHINGTON (AP) — Executive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court . The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. The 40-year-old decision has been the basis for upholding thousands of regulations by dozens of federal agencies, but has long been a target of conservatives and business groups who argue that it grants too much power to the executive branch, or what some critics call the administrative state. The Biden administration has defended the law, warning that overturning so-called Chevron deference would be destabilizing and could bring a “convulsive shock” to the nation’s legal system. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said federal judges “must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.” The ruling does not call into question prior cases that relied on the Chevron doctrine, Roberts wrote. Here is a look at the court’s decision and the implications for government regulations going forward. What is the Chevron decision? Atlantic herring fishermen sued over federal rules requiring them to pay for independent observers to monitor their catch. The fishermen argued that the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act did not authorize officials to create industry-funded monitoring requirements and that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to follow proper rulemaking procedure. In two related cases, the fishermen asked the court to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which stems from a unanimous Supreme Court case involving the energy giant in a dispute over the Clean Air Act. That ruling said judges should defer to the executive branch when laws passed by Congress are ambiguous. In that case, the court upheld an action by the Environmental Protection Agency under then-President Ronald Reagan. In the decades following the ruling, Chevron has been a bedrock of modern administrative law, requiring judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of congressional statutes. But the current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority has been increasingly skeptical of the powers of federal agencies. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch have questioned the Chevron decision. Ironically, it was Gorsuch’s mother, former EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch, who made the decision that the Supreme Court upheld in 1984. What’s at stake? With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in. President Joe Biden’s administration, for example, has issued a host of new regulations on the environment and other priorities, including restrictions on emissions from power plants and vehicle tailpipes , and rules on student loan forgiveness , overtime pay and affordable housing. Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place. With billions of dollars potentially at stake, groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief last year on behalf of business groups arguing that modern application of Chevron has “fostered aggrandizement’’ of the executive branch at the expense of Congress and the courts. David Doniger, a lawyer and longtime Natural Resources Defense Council official who argued the original Chevron case in 1984, said he feared that a ruling to overturn the doctrine could “free judges to be radical activists” who could “effectively rewrite our laws and block the protections they are supposed to provide.” “The net effect will be to weaken our government’s ability to meet the real problems the world is throwing at us — big things like COVID and climate change,″ Doniger said. More than just fish “This case was never just about fish,’' said Meredith Moore of the environmental group Ocean Conservancy. Instead, businesses and other interest groups used the herring fishery “to attack the foundations of the public agencies that serve the American public and conserve our natural resources,’' she said. The court ruling will likely open the floodgates to litigation that could erode critical protections for people and the environment, Moore and other advocates said. “For more than 30 years, fishery observers have successfully helped ensure that our oceans are responsibly managed so that fishing can continue in the future,’' said Dustin Cranor of Oceana, another conservation group. He called the case “just the latest example of the far right trying to undermine the federal government’s ability to protect our oceans, waters, public lands, clean air and health.’' West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the decision a fitting follow-up to a 2022 decision — in a case he brought — that limits the EPA’s ability to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The court held that Congress must speak with specificity when it wants to give an agency authority to regulate on an issue of major national significance. Morrisey, now the GOP nominee for governor, called Chevron “a misguided doctrine under which courts defer to legally dubious interpretations of statutes put out by federal administrative agencies.” A shift toward judicial power The Supreme Court ruling will almost certainly shift power away from the executive branch and Congress and toward courts, said Craig Green, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. “Federal judges will now have the first and final word about what statutes mean,″ he said. “That’s a big shift in power.″ In what some observers see as a historic irony, many conservatives who now attack Chevron once celebrated it. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was among those who hailed the original ruling as a way to rein in liberal laws. “Conservatives believed in this rule until they didn’t,’' Green said in an interview. In recent years, conservatives have focused on “deconstruction of the administrative state,’' even if the result lessens the ability of a conservative president to impose his beliefs on government agencies. “If you weaken the federal government, you get less government,’' Green said — an outcome that many conservatives, including those who back former President Donald Trump, welcome. The ruling will likely “gum up the works for federal agencies and make it even harder for them to address big problems. Which is precisely what the critics of Chevron want,” said Jody Freeman, director of the environmental and energy law program at Harvard Law School. An official website of the United States government Here’s how you know The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Dual Use Foundation Artificial Intelligence Models with Widely Available Model Weights On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order on “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” which directed the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, and in consultation with the Secretary of State, to conduct a public consultation process and issue a report on the potential risks, benefits, other implications, and appropriate policy and regulatory approaches to dual-use foundation models for which the model weights are widely available. Pursuant to that Executive Order, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) hereby issues this Request for Comment on these issues. Responses received will be used to submit a report to the President on the potential benefits, risks, and implications of dual-use foundation models for which the model weights are widely available, as well as policy and regulatory recommendations pertaining to those models. Written comments must be received on or before March 27, 2024. All electronic public comments on this action, identified by Regulations.gov docket number NTIA–2023–0009, may be submitted through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal . The docket established for this request for comment can be found at www.Regulations.gov, NTIA–2023–0009. To make a submission, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. Additional instructions can be found in the “Instructions” section below, after “Supplementary Information.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Please direct questions regarding this Request for Comment to: Travis Hall   Subject line: ‘‘Openness in AI Request for Comment’’. If submitting comments by U.S. mail, please address questions to: Bertram Lee, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230. Questions submitted via telephone should be directed to: (202)-482-3522. Please direct media inquiries to NTIA’s Office of Public Affairs: Telephone: (202) 482–7002 or NTIA’s Office of Public Affairs email SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Background and authority  . Artificial intelligence (AI) 1 has had, and will have, a significant effect on society, the economy, and scientific progress. Many of the most prominent models, including the model that powers ChatGPT, are “fully closed” or “highly restricted,” with limited or no public access to their inner workings. The recent introduction of large, publicly-available models, such as those from Google, Meta, Stability AI, Mistral, the Allen Institute for AI, and Eleuthera AI, however, has fostered an ecosystem of increasingly “open” advanced AI models, allowing developers and others to fine-tune models using widely available computing. 2 Dual use foundation models with widely available weights (referred to here as open foundation models) could play a key role in fostering growth among less resourced actors, helping to widely share access to AI’s benefits. 3 Small businesses, academic institutions, underfunded entrepreneurs, and even legacy businesses have used these models to further innovate, advance scientific knowledge, and gain potential competitive advantages in the marketplace. The concentration of access to foundation models into a small subset of organizations poses the risk of hindering such innovation and advancements, a concern that could be lessened by availability of open foundation models. Open foundation models can be readily adapted and fine-tuned to specific tasks and possibly make it easier for system developers to scrutinize the role foundation models play in larger AI systems, which is important for rights- and safety-impacting AI systems (e.g. healthcare, education, housing, criminal justice, online platforms etc.). 4 These open foundation models have the potential to help scientists make new medical discoveries or even make mundane, time-consuming activities more efficient. 5 Open foundation models have the potential to transform research, both within computer science 6 and through supporting other disciplines such as medicine, pharmaceutical, and scientific research. 7 Historically, widely available programming libraries have given researchers the ability to simultaneously run and understand algorithms created by other programmers. Researchers and journals have supported the movement towards open science 8 , which includes sharing research artifacts like the data and code required to reproduce results. Open foundation models can allow for more transparency and enable broader access to allow greater oversight by technical experts, researchers, academics, and those from the security community. 9 Foundation models with widely available model weights could also promote competition in downstream markets for which AI models are a critical input, allowing smaller players to add value by adjusting models originally produced by the large developers. 10 The accessibility of open foundation models also provides tools for individuals and civil society groups to resist authoritarian regimes, furthering democratic values and U.S. foreign policy goals. While open foundation models potentially offer significant benefits, they may pose risks as well. Foundation models with widely-available model weights could engender substantial harms, such as risks to security, equity, civil rights, or other harms due to, for instance, 11 affirmative misuse, failures of effective oversight, or lack of clear accountability mechanisms. 12 Others argue that these open foundation models enable development of attacks against proprietary models due to similarities in the data sets used to train them. 13 The wide availability of dual use foundation models with widely available model weights and the continually shrinking amount of compute necessary to fine-tune these models together create opportunities for malicious actors to use such models to engage in harm. 14 The lack of monitoring of open foundation models may worsen existing challenges, for example, by easing creation of synthetic non-consensual intimate images or enabling mass disinformation campaigns. 15 On October 30, 2023, President Biden signed the Executive Order on “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” 16 Noting the importance of maximizing the benefits of open foundation models while managing and mitigating the attendant risks, section 4.6 the Executive Order tasked the Secretary of Commerce, acting through NTIA and in consultation with the Secretary of State, with soliciting feedback “from the private sector, academia, civil society, and other stakeholders through a public consultation process on the potential risks, benefits, other implications, and appropriate policy and regulatory approaches related to dual-use foundation models for which the model weights are widely available.” 17 As required by the Executive Order, the Secretary of Commerce, through NTIA, and in consultation with the Secretary of State, will author a report to the President on the “potential benefits, risks, and implications of dual-use foundation models for which the model weights are widely available, as well as policy and regulatory recommendations pertaining to those models.” 18 In particular, the Executive Order asks NTIA to consider risks and benefits of dual-use foundation models with weights that are “widely available.” 19 Likewise, “openness” or “wide availability” of model weights are also terms without clear definition or consensus. There are gradients of “openness,” ranging from fully “closed” to fully “open.” 20 There is also more information needed to detail the relationship between openness and the wide availability of both model weights and open foundation models more generally. This could include, for example, information about what types of licenses and distribution methods are available or could be available for open foundation models, and how such licenses and distribution methods fit within an understanding of openness and wide availability. 21 NTIA also requests input on any potential regulatory models, either voluntary or mandatory, that could maintain and potentially increase the benefits and/or mitigate the risks of dual use foundation models with widely available model weights. We seek input as to different kinds of regulatory structures that could deal with not only the large scale of these foundation models, but also the declining level of computing resources needed to fine-tune and retrain them. Definitions   This Request for Comment uses the terms defined in Sec. 3 of the Executive Order. In addition, we use broader terms interchangeably for both ease of understanding and clarity, as set forth below. “Artificial intelligence” or “AI” refer to a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions, influencing real or virtual environments. 22 Artificial intelligence systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments, abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner, and use model inference to formulate options for information or action. Foundation models are typically defined as, “powerful models that can be fine-tuned and used for multiple purposes.” 23 Under the Executive Order, a “dual-use foundation model” is “an AI model that is trained on broad data; generally uses self-supervision, contains at least tens of billions of parameters; is applicable across a wide range of contexts; and that exhibits, or could be easily modified to exhibit, high levels of performance at tasks that pose a serious risk to security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters….” 24 Both definitions of “foundation model” and of “dual-use foundation model” – highlight the key trait of these models, that they can be used in a number of ways. 25 “Generative AI can be understood as a form of AI model specifically intended to produce new digital material as an output (including text, images, audio, video, software code), including when such AI models are used in applications and their user interfaces.” 26 The term “generative AI” refers to a class of AI models built on foundation models “that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content.” 27 Chatbots like ChatGPT, large language models like BLOOM, and image generators like Midjourney are all examples of generative AI. This Request for Comment is particularly focused on the wide availability, such as being publicly posted online, of foundation model weights. “Model weights” are “numerical parameter[s] within an AI model that help [. . .] determine the model’s output in response to inputs.” 28 In addition to model weights, there are other “components” of an AI model, including training data, code, or other elements, which are involved in its development or use, and may or may not be made widely available. The Executive Order directs NTIA to focus on dual-use foundation models that were trained on broad data; generally use self-supervision; contain at least tens of billions of parameters; are applicable across a wide range of contexts; and exhibit, or could be easily modified to exhibit, high levels of performance at tasks that pose a serious risk to security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matter. 29 NTIA also remains interested in the discussion of models that fall outside of the scope of this Request for Comments in order to better understand the current landscape and potential impact of regulatory or policy actions. Instructions for Commenters Through this Request for Comment, we hope to gather information on the following questions. These are not exhaustive, and commenters are invited to provide input on relevant questions not asked below. Commenters are not required to respond to all questions. When responding to one or more of the questions below, please note in the text of your response the number of the question to which you are responding. Commenters should include a page number on each page of their submissions. Commenters are welcome to provide specific actionable proposals, rationales, and relevant facts. Please do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to Regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. How should NTIA define “open” or “widely available” when thinking about foundation models and model weights? Is there evidence or historical examples suggesting that weights of models similar to currently-closed AI systems will, or will not, likely become widely available? If so, what are they? Is it possible to generally estimate the timeframe between the deployment of a closed model and the deployment of an open foundation model of similar performance on relevant tasks? How do you expect that timeframe to change? Based on what variables? How do you expect those variables to change in the coming months and years? Should “wide availability” of model weights be defined by level of distribution? If so, at what level of distribution (e.g., 10,000 entities; 1 million entities; open publication; etc.) should model weights be presumed to be “widely available”? If not, how should NTIA define “wide availability?” Are there promising prospective forms or modes of access that could strike a more favorable benefit-risk balance? If so, what are they? How do the risks associated with making model weights widely available compare to the risks associated with non-public model weights? What, if any, are the risks associated with widely available model weights? How do these risks change, if at all, when the training data or source code associated with fine tuning, pretraining, or deploying a model is simultaneously widely available? Could open foundation models reduce equity in rights and safety-impacting AI systems (e.g. healthcare, education, criminal justice, housing, online platforms, etc.)? What, if any, risks related to privacy could result from the wide availability of model weights? How do these risks compare to those associated with closed models? How do these risks compare to those associated with other types of software systems and information resources? What, if any, risks could result from differences in access to widely available models across different jurisdictions? Which are the most severe, and which the most likely risks described in answering the questions above? How do these set of risks relate to each other, if at all? What are the benefits of foundation models with model weights that are widely available as compared to fully closed models? What benefits do open model weights offer for competition and innovation, both in the AI marketplace and in other areas of the economy? In what ways can open dual-use foundation models enable or enhance scientific research, as well as education/training in computer science and related fields? How can making model weights widely available improve the safety, security, and trustworthiness of AI and the robustness of public preparedness against potential AI risks? Could open model weights, and in particular the ability to retrain models, help advance equity in rights and safety-impacting AI systems (e.g. healthcare, education, criminal justice, housing, online platforms etc.)? How can the diffusion of AI models with widely available weights support the United States’ national security interests? How could it interfere with, or further the enjoyment and protection of human rights within and outside of the United States? How do these benefits change, if at all, when the training data or the associated source code of the model is simultaneously widely available? Are there other relevant components of open foundation models that, if simultaneously widely available, would change the risks or benefits presented by widely available model weights? If so, please list them and explain their impact. What are the safety-related or broader technical issues involved in managing risks and amplifying benefits of dual-use foundation models with widely available model weights. What model evaluations, if any, can help determine the risks or benefits associated with making weights of a foundation model widely available? Are there effective ways to create safeguards around foundation models, either to ensure that model weights do not become available, or to protect system integrity or human well-being (including privacy) and reduce security risks in those cases where weights are widely available? What are the prospects for developing effective safeguards in the future? Are there ways to regain control over and/or restrict access to and/or limit use of weights of an open foundation model that, either inadvertently or purposely, have already become widely available? What are the approximate costs of these methods today? How reliable are they? What if any secure storage techniques or practices could be considered necessary to prevent unintentional distribution of model weights? Which components of a foundation model need to be available, and to whom, in order to analyze, evaluate, certify, or red-team the model? To the extent possible, please identify specific evaluations or types of evaluations and the component(s) that need to be available for each. Are there means by which to test or verify model weights? What methodology or methodologies exist to audit model weights and/or foundation models? What are the legal or business issues or effects related to open foundation models? In which ways is open-source software policy analogous (or not) to the availability of model weights? Are there lessons we can learn from the history and ecosystem of open-source software, open data, and other “open” initiatives for open foundation models, particularly the availability of model weights? How, if at all, does the wide availability of model weights change the competition dynamics in the broader economy, specifically looking at industries such as but not limited to healthcare, marketing, and education? How, if at all, do intellectual property-related issues—such as the license terms under which foundation model weights are made publicly available—influence competition, benefits, and risks? Which licenses are most prominent in the context of making model weights widely available? What are the tradeoffs associated with each of these licenses? Are there concerns about potential barriers to interoperability stemming from different incompatible “open” licenses, e.g., licenses with conflicting requirements, applied to AI components? Would standardizing license terms specifically for foundation model weights be beneficial? Are there particular examples in existence that could be useful? What are current or potential voluntary, domestic regulatory, and international mechanisms to manage the risks and maximize the benefits of foundation models with widely available weights? What kind of entities should take a leadership role across which features of governance? What security, legal, or other measures can reasonably be employed to reliably prevent wide availability of access to a foundation model’s weights, or limit their end use? How might the wide availability of open foundation model weights facilitate, or else frustrate, government action in AI regulation? When, if ever, should entities deploying AI disclose to users or the general public that they are using open foundation models either with or without widely available weights? Should other government or non-government bodies, currently existing or not, support the government in this role? Should this vary by sector? What should the role of model hosting services (e.g. HuggingFace, GitHub, etc.) be in making dual-use models with open weights more or less available? Should hosting services host models that do not meet certain safety standards? By whom should those standards be prescribed? Should there be different standards for government as opposed to private industry when it comes to sharing model weights of open foundation models or contracting with companies who use them? What should the U.S. prioritize in working with other countries on this topic, and which countries are most important to work with? What insights from other countries or other societal systems are most useful to consider? Are there effective mechanisms or procedures that can be used by the government or companies to make decisions regarding an appropriate degree of availability of model weights in a dual-use foundation model or the dual-use foundation model ecosystem? Are there methods for making effective decisions about open AI deployment that balance both benefits and risks? This may include responsible capability scaling policies, preparedness frameworks, et cetera. Are there particular individuals/entities who should or should not have access to open-weight foundation models? If so, why and under what circumstances? In the face of continually changing technology, and given unforeseen risks and benefits, how can governments, companies, and individuals make decisions or plans today about open foundation models that will be useful in the future? How should these potentially competing interests of innovation, competition, and security be addressed or balanced? Noting that E.O. 14110 grants the Secretary of Commerce the capacity to adapt the threshold, is the amount of computational resources required to build a model, such as the cutoff of 1026 integer or floating-point operations used in the Executive Order, a useful metric for thresholds to mitigate risk in the long-term, particularly for risks associated with wide availability of model weights? Are there more robust risk metrics for foundation models with widely available weights that will stand the test of time? Should we look at models that fall outside of the dual-use foundation model definition? What other issues, topics, or adjacent technological advancements should we consider when analyzing risks and benefits of dual-use foundation models with widely available model weights? Stephanie Weiner, Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 1  Artificial Intelligence (AI) “has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3): a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or action.” see Executive Office of the President, Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence , 88 Federal Register 75191 (November 1, 2023).  “AI Model” means “a component of an information system that implements AI technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.” see Id. 2   See e.g ., Zoe Brammer, How Does Access Impact Risk? Assessing AI Foundation Model Risk Along a Gradient of Access , The Institute for Security and Technology (December 2023); Irene Solaiman, The Gradient of Generative AI Release: Methods and Considerations , arXiv:2302.04844v1 (February 5, 2023). 3   See e.g ., Elizabeth Seger et al., Open-Sourcing Highly Capable Foundation Models , Centre for the Governance of AI (2023). 4   See e.g . Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget, Proposed Memorandum For the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies (November 3, 2023); Cui Beilei et al., Surgical-DINO: Adapter Learning of Foundation Model for Depth Estimation in Endoscopic Surgery , arXiv:2401.06013v1 (January 11, 2024) (Using low-ranked adaptation, or LoRA, in a foundation model to help with surgical depth estimation for endoscopic surgeries). 5  See e.g., Shaoting Zhang, On the Challenges and Perspectives of Foundation Models for Medical Image Analysis , arXiv:2306.05705v2 (November 23, 2023). 6   See e.g., David Noever, Can Large Language Models Find And Fix Vulnerable Software? , arxiv 2308.10345 (August 20, 2023); Andreas Stöckl, Evaluating a Synthetic Image Dataset Generated with Stable Diffusion , Proceedings of Eighth International Congress on Information and Communication Technology Vol. 693 (July 25, 2023). 7  See e.g., Kun-Hsing Yu et al., Artificial intelligence in healthcare, Nature Biomedical Engineering Vol. 2 719-731 (October 10, 2018); Kevin Maik Jablonka et al., 14 examples of how LLMs can transform materials science and chemistry: a reflection on a large language model hackathon , Digital Discovery 2 (August 8, 2023). 8 See e.g., Harvey V. Fineberg et al., Consensus Study Report: Reproducibility and Replicability in Science , National Academies of Sciences (May 2019); Nature, Reporting standards and availability of data, materials, code and protocols ; Science, Science Journals: Editorial Policies ; Edward Miguel, Evidence on Research Transparency in Economics , Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol. 35 No. 3 (2021). 9 See e.g., Rishi Bommasani et al., Considerations for Governing Open Foundation Models , Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (December 2023). 10   See, e.g., Jai Vipra and Anton Korinek, Market concentration implications of foundation models: The Invisible Hand of ChatGPT , Brookings Inst. (2023). 13 For example, researchers have found ways to get both black box large language models as well as more open models to produce objectionable content through adversarial attacks. See e.g., Andy Zou et al., Universal and Transferable Adversarial Attacks on Aligned Language Models , arXiv:2307.15043 (July 27, 2023).("Surprisingly, we find that the adversarial prompts generated by our approach are quite transferable, including to black-box, publicly released LLMs . . . When doing so, the resulting attack suffix is able to induce objectionable content in the public interfaces to ChatGPT, Bard, and Claude, as well as open source LLMs such as LLaMA-2-Chat, Pythia, Falcon, and others.”). 14 See e.g., Zoe Brammer, How Does Access Impact Risk? Assessing AI Foundation Model Risk Along a Gradient of Access , The Institute for Security and Technology (December 2023). 15 Id and see e.g. Pranshu Verma, The rise of AI fake news is creating a ‘misinformation superspreader’ , Washington Post (December 17, 2023). 16   Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023). 17   Id. 19 Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023). 20 See, e.g., Irene Solaiman, The Gradient of Generative AI Release: Methods and Considerations , arXiv:2302.04844v1 (February 5, 2023); Bommasani et al., supra note 9. 21 See, e.g., Carlos Munoz Ferrandis, OpenRAIL: Towards open and responsible AI licensing frameworks , Hugging Face Blog (August 31, 2022); Danish Contractor et al., Behavioral Use Licensing for Responsible AI , arXiv:2011.03116v2 (October 20, 2022). 22 Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023). 23 See, e.g., “A foundation model is any model that is trained on broad data (generally using self-supervision at scale) that can be adapted (e.g., fine-tuned) to a wide range of downstream tasks[.]” Rishi Bommasani et al., On the Opportunities and Risks of Foundation Models , arXiv:2108.07258v3 (July 12, 2022). 24 Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023). 26 G7 Hiroshima Process on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Towards a G7 Common Understanding on Generative AI, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (September 7, 2023) . 27 Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. 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