ABSTRACT
Public policymaking can be viewed as a test of how well—or how poorly—core democratic principles are put into practice. In democratic societies, public policies are not the product of the whims or fancies of arbitrary rulers. They are the product of problems, issues, or demands that citizens expect or want the government to address. Political scientists who specialize in the study of public policy often impose order on their vast and sprawling topic by viewing public policymaking as a system made up of four distinct stages: agenda setting, policy formulation and adoption, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. This chapter presents some idea of how the various institutions and actors that make up the political system interact to make public policy. It assesses how that process upholds the core principles of democracy. The chapter examines each of the core principles and provide an appraisal of how well (or poorly) they are reflected in the policymaking process.
