ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the obstacles to better policy formulation and how they may be overcome through concerted efforts on the part of public sector managers. Challenges to policy formulation can be categorized according to whether they are political, technical, or organizational in nature and whether their resolution involves capacity-building in these particular areas. The chapter provides an overview of the challenges governments confront in generating better policy options and how these barriers may be overcome. It addresses the roles public sector managers and other policy actor's play in formulation, the constraints they face and the strategies they can adopt to enhance the effectiveness of their actions. The nature and composition of the policy community may also pose political challenges for policy formulation. Consultation with other members of the policy community is an inexpensive way to overcome technical challenges. Operational constraints also exist for effective policy formulation.
