Getting policy implementation right is critically important. Failure can cause financial waste, political frustration and disruption for ordinary citizens, as demonstrated in a series of policy failures under governments of all parties.
But while the literature on failure is considerable, there is a gap around practical accounts of how to make implementation effective in the distinctive context of government.
The ultimate policy that is chosen to solve the issue at hand is dependent on two factors.
First, the policy must be a valid way of solving the issue in the most efficient and feasible way possible.
Effective formulation involves analysis and identification of alternatives to solving issues. Secondly, policies must be politically feasible. This is usually accomplished through majority building in a bargaining process.
Policy formulation is, therefore, comprised of analysis that identifies the most effective policies and political authorization.
A bureaucracy is an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs.
In some nations, the bureaucracy began as a very small collection of individuals. Over time, however, it grew to be a major force in political affairs.
Indeed, it grew so large that politicians in modern times have ridiculed it to great political advantage.
However, the country’s many bureaucrats or civil servants , the individuals who work in the bureaucracy, fill necessary and even instrumental roles in every area of government: from high-level positions in foreign affairs and intelligence collection agencies to clerks and staff in the smallest regulatory agencies.
They are hired, or sometimes appointed, for their expertise in carrying out the functions and programs of the government.
The implementation or carrying out of policy is most often accomplished by institutions other than those that formulated and adopted it. A statute usually provides just a broad outline of a policy.
For example, Congress may mandate improved water quality standards, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides the details on those standards and the procedures for measuring compliance through regulations.
As noted earlier, the Supreme Court has no mechanism to enforce its decisions; other branches of government must implement its determinations.
Successful implementation depends on the complexity of the policy, coordination between those putting the policy into effect, and compliance.
The justices realized that desegregation was a complex issue; however, they did not provide any guidance on how to implement it "with all deliberate speed."
Here, implementation depended upon the close scrutiny of circuit and appeals court judges, as well as local and state school board members who were often reluctant to push social change.
For a policy to be implemented, policy needs to be communicated clearly and easy to interpret if it is to be implemented effectively.
Too much ambiguity in this stage can lead to involvement by the judiciary that will force legislators to clarify their ends and means for policy implementation.
The judiciary may overrule the implementation of such policies.
The resources applied to implementation must integrate with existing processes and agencies, without causing extensive disruption, competition, or conflict.