The Policy Process free essay sample

Before a policy is even established, it goes through several stages which include: agenda building, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation and termination. These steps are extremely important and need to be carefully carried out during the policy process to ensure that the policy will indeed solve the problem at hand and to also improve the quality of life for all citizens. Formulation Stage There is a lot that goes into implementing new policies. Before a policy can be created or even formulated, a problem needs to exist. Policy makers need to be prepared to explain the problem at hand and why the issue is so important. When presenting an existing problem, there are several questions to be prepared for such as: What are the implications of not acting? What is at stake? Why is action needed? These questions are important when presenting a problem to the government. Once a problem exists, the government will look into the situation. What is the formulation stage? Well pretty much the formulation stage is where the government seeks different approaches in order to solve the problem at hand. There are typically several people involved in this stage of the process including: Congress, the executive branch, the courts and interest groups (Cliffsnotes. om, n. d. ). Throughout the formulation process different approaches to the policy are made by either the President or by opposition party members of congress. The last part of the formulation stage is that the proposed bill goes before congress in which they or a regulatory agency will draft proposed rules. Once the proposed rules are drafted the process continues on with adoption in which the next process to discuss is the legislation stage. Legislation Stage The legislation stage can often times be very complicated and sometimes is can take months or even years before a bill is even passed. There are several steps in the legislative stage which include: 1. Referral to the committee 2. Committee action * Subcommittee review and hearings * Mark-up sessions * Committee action to report a bill * Publication of written report 3. Scheduling floor action 4. Debate 5. Voting 6. Referral to other chamber 7. Conference committee action 8. Final floor action 9. Executive action 10. Congressional override The first step in the legislative stage is the referral to committee in which the bills are referred to members such as a senator or congressman that are a part of the committee. The second step is committee action, this takes place when a bill reaches the committee and from there they process the bills being introduced and investigate the need for new legislation. Other actions under this step consist of subcommittee review and hearings, where they gather different viewpoints, mark-up sessions which is when the bill is examined and changes are made if necessary, committee action to report a bill is when the committee can conduct further study and hearings and then from there they vote on it before reporting the bill to the full house or enate, finally the last step under step two is the publication of a written report which is when a written report is prepared on the bill, detailing the scope, and impact of the proposed bill as well as the views of other members. The third step is scheduling floor action, this takes place when the bill is reported back to the Chamber and then it is placed on a calendar until the bill is scheduled to come up. The fourth step is the debate. The debate is subjected to specific rules which determine the amount of time that is allowed. Voting is the fifth step which occurs after the debate. During this step the bill is either passed or defeated by the members voting. According to the American Associated of Critical-Care Nurses (2013), a two-thirds vote is required to amend the Constitution, to override a Presidential veto, or to suspend the rules of the Chamber (Para. 15). The sixth step is the referral to other Chamber, this occurs when the House or Senate passes a bill. At this point the Chamber reviews the bill and can either revise it, reject it or to not take any action on it. Conference committee action is the seventh step in which both House of Congress must approve before the bill is sent to the President. If for some reason both Houses of Congress do not reach an agreement then the legislation dies. Final floor action is the eighth step and at this point the Senate and the House must pass the bill again and then it is sent to the President. The ninth step is executive action; this is when the bill is passed on to the President. At this point he signs the bills and then it becomes a law. However, if the President takes longer than ten days to take action then it will automatically become a law. The tenth step is congressional override, this occurs when the President veto’s a bill, at this point Congress can override the vote with both Houses and enact the law without the President’s signature. There are many steps involved in the process of passing a bill, however the bills that are in process affect all individuals in order to solve problems and everyday issues. Implementation Stage The implementation stage is a very important part of the policy process; it is actually the second to the last stage and occurs after a law is passed. During this stage in the process, implementation consists of organizing, funding, staffing, regulating, directing, and coordinating the program. Generally the implementation stage seeks out the goals and objectives of the policy. Most public policies are carried out by administrative agencies in the executive branch, although sometimes the courts get involved in implementing decisions they make (American Government, 2013). Agencies ensure that policies are being carried out by establishing specific policies and procedures and sometimes they offer incentives to those that comply. Those that do not comply with policies and procedures may be penalized. `Conclusion Laws are very important to everyone and affect all different kinds of people. As you can see there is a lot that goes into the policy process, which include many different people and many stages. Policies are reviewed every day and the purpose of them is to solve problems that affect us every day. Polices are established to improve the quality of life and to increase public safety. Throughout this paper we have learned various different stages of the policy process which include the formulation stage, the legislative stage and the implementation stage. The formulation stage is the beginning stage where a policy is suggested due to an existing problem that needs to be solved. Throughout this stage different people are involved in order to seek different approaches in order to solve the problem. The legislative stage is a huge phase in the policy process and has many important people that are involved and many steps that are involved. People that are involved in this process include the President, Congress, Senate and other important members of the government. This is an extremely important process in policy making because this is where polices are carefully thought out and established. Finally the last part of this paper that was discussed what the implementation stage in which we learned that once the law is passed, administrative agencies in the executive branch implement decisions such as organizing, funding, staffing, regulating, directing, and coordinating the program. Basically the idea of the implementation stage is to seek out the goals and objectives of policy. Policies are important to everyone and affect everyone but overall they improve the quality of life. References American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (2013). Introduction to the Legislative and Regulatory Process. Retrieved from http://www. aacn. org/wd/practice/content/publicpolicy/intro. pcms? menu=practice American Government. (2013). Policy Making: Political Interactions. Retrieved 2/18/2013 from http://www. ushistory. org/gov/11. asp Cliffsnotes. com. (n. d. ). The Policy Making Process. Retrieved from http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/topicarticleid-65383,articleid-65551. html