¶ … public policy cycle. Public policy is defined as "a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a given problem," (Pal, 2013, p. 3). The first step of making a given problem known is through public opinion, public interest, and related issues like values and norms. However, as Pal (2013) points out, a more idealistic motivation for bringing policy issues to the attention of policymakers is actually public interest itself in terms of core needs like public safety. There are multiple avenues by which an issue may be made known to the Canadian government. One is via the research route, including university and "think tank" methods of analyzing problems empirically and presenting reports to stakeholder organizations or policymakers. A second is from ministers themselves, through close attention being paid to their constituents and the prevailing interests of the people. Legal restrictions might constrain the ways a potential problem is brought to the attention of government. Jurisdiction issues might impact the influence of the key stakeholders.
There are various ways policy problems are made known, depending on how the proposed policy fits prevailing goals and missions of institutions. Moreover, the proposed policy will be measured against current norms, values,...
Whether same-sex marriage or drug policy, decisions must be ultimately made with regards to the creation of internal consistency among the three components of defining the problem with specific implications for Canadians; the goals of the stakeholders including Canadian voters; and the instruments used to develop and implement policy (Pal, 2013). Likewise, there must be some vertical consistency in that all the programs and institutions invoked in the policy are related to the actual policy (Pal, 2013). Horizontal consistency is sometimes difficult to achieve, as it entails connecting the values of one policy with another. As Atkinson (1993) points out, the new institutionalism reveals the structures and functions of social institutions in the policymaking process.
Although seemingly vague, the starting point of social norms and values plays the most important role in the process by which problems are made known to the Canadian government. The principle of new institutionalism highlights some of the links between the private and public sector in this regard, as consumers use their purchasing power to make known their values and ideals. From their influence on the Canadian economy, responses in policy may follow. Artists and scholars likewise have the…
