Policy

A policy is a plan of action for tackling issues. It is often initiated by a political party in government, which undergoes reforms and changes by interested actors (for example, opposition parties and lobby groups). Policy designates a process. This process includes the elaboration of programs by different, usually public and private collective actors and the way the programs are then applied as concrete programs and actions. Policies in short can be understood as political and administrative mechanisms arranged around explicit goals. (Source: Müller, Pierre; Surel Yves: L'analyse des politiques publiques. Paris, 1998)

Social Policy

Social Policy has an impact on the ?real? world. Government, business and voluntary organisations all have policies, which are experienced by families and individuals.

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In one way policies can be seen as aims or goals, or statements of what ought to happen. Social policies aim to improve human welfare, though they may fail to do so, and to meet human needs for education, health, housing, and social security.

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Different forms of policies include;

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· Official government policy (legislation, guidelines that govern how laws should be put into operation)

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· Broad ideas and goals in political manifestos and pamphlets

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· A company or organization?s policy on something eg. The equal opportunity policy of a company like Microsoft shows that the company aims to treat all its staff equally.

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Policies are living things, not just static lists of goals or laws. Policy blueprints have to be implemented, often with unexpected results. Social policies are what happens ?on the ground? when they are implemented, as well as what happens at the decision making or legislative stage.

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There is often a gulf between the concepts and goals that inspire policy and ?real? policy, the ugly result of compromise. Implementing policies may have unexpected results.

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(Source: "Social Policy: an Introduction" by Ken Blakemore, 1998)

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