NEW GROUNDS

Hello readers, One of my resolutions this year was to read as many books as I could – at least 2 every month to be precise – and also write at least 1 blog every month (2 would be most preferred) Well, to ignite the spark of writing I decided to read one of my old posts and I now know why I started this journey all together. Being somewhat of an avid reader *Wink* I need to exhale and dispose my thoughts out to the universe. Self writing is a bit subtler than self speech, I think.

The old post in mention is the “Zoonotic Diseases” one, which was my excitement in a knowledge area where I had a deficiency and gaining knowledge hardly left me with any choice but to share my new findings. This has re-ignited that same wish to share with you my new findings as I learn along life’s way. My new thrill is on Public Policy.

Kenya's President H.E Hon Uhuru Kenyatta with Former President Hon. Mwai Kibaki, 2007

I had never been thrilled by the thought of how governments work and how interactive the global systems and processes are. The thought of international matters like global recession were far beyond my scope of understanding until I found myself in a Masters program, studying nothing other than Public Policy and Management. From the first class I had, I knew that I had walked into a thrilling fun-filled experience that would fuel my need to learn more and more. To become an informed voice does not come simply from following edited minimalist news stories and reading the same in the newspapers, it takes a lot of deliberate and sustained effort to take that path of knowledge, dive into a bit of history to understand how it all begun and then majestically learn with the right pace how systems and processes work. That’s the path I am currently on.

By definition, Public policy is stated as a series of intentionally coherent decisions or activities taken or carried out by different Public and sometimes private actors, whose resources, institutional links and interests vary, with a view to resolving in a targeted manner, a problem that is politically defined as collective in nature (Knoepfel et al, 2011)

Critical spheres of public policy include; Economic policy (Monetary and fiscal), Education Policy, Health Policy, Environmental and Energy Policy, Integrated Transport Policy, Competition Policy, Innovation Policy among others. Public Policy is affected by prevailing social, economic, political and cultural contexts. My thrill in all this is that whenever we have had public matters such as inadequate supply of public goods and services like water or access to public services like hospitals, the government tackles these problems in a systematic manner as the private sector would when they are in the business of providing goods or services.

The government’s preference is for the public to exercise compliant behavior during the implementation of certain policies, for instance in tax reforms, the public must comply with the requirements of the government and pay taxes accordingly. The arguments, however, in ensuring compliance at the implementation phase of policies may include a consideration of the government or public institution mandated with the implementation of the said reform, on variety constraints as well as strategic responses. For this to be achieved, a stakeholder analysis must be done to ensure buy-in before the policy is implemented and help mitigate any negative policy implications if any.

Over the coming weeks I will be sharing some of the case studies we have discussed especially in developing states and a few cases in developed states- their systems and governance.

I look forward to receiving your feedback and also questions regarding any mentioned points that may have not been clearly articulated.

Feeling enthusiastic!

Sincerely,

Nekoye