Public policies are courses of action created and adopted by the government while responding to public issues and concerns. The United States policymaking process is complicated due to the government structure and actors, informal actors such as the public and other interest groups (Kraft & Furlong, 2019). There are several theories that conflict with policy development. Kraft and Furlong's policy process model illustrates six essential stages involved in the policy process. Policymakers play an essential role in problem clarification, developing possible options, and then passing and implementing the proposals. The process is simplified and significantly influenced by government politics and processes.
Agenda setting
During this stage, legislators carry out comprehensive discussions about a specific problem and the potential solutions. Issues that attract high public attention are categorized under systemic agenda, while issues without public debates are categorized under the institutional agenda. Policymakers tend to ignore this level of the policy process. In Alaska, there has been a policy aimed at regulation of taxes and budgets, which has spurred legislators to take action. Projections are made to Alaska budget to close a budget deficit of approximately $3.8 billion.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Policy formulation
During the policy formulation stage, an action to deal with the prevailing problem is developed. There is the intensive use of instruments of policymaking, such as government spending and regulation. Both informal and formal actors are offered an opportunity to promote the desired policy proposal. A policy at this stage of implementation is the policy on environment and energy. The state has been working in collaboration with major oil companies in developing a $55 billion 800 mile natural gas pipeline (Hill & Varone, 2016) . The lawmakers will then result in legislative sessions.
Policy legitimating
During this stage of the policy process, the policy is passed into law by a legislative body. A policy needs to be accepted by the public for it to be fully legitimate. Policies that are not accepted by the public are illegitimate and fail at the implementation stage. In Arizona state, the policy on immigration as a looming issue is at this stage of implementation. Illegal immigration practices helped to reduce cases of deportations.
Policy implementation
During the policy implementation stage, activities carried out on a policy include application, interpreting, and organizing. Activities that put a policy into effect are well defined. They include; laws passed, the amount of money spent, and regulations formulated. Executive branches carry out the implementation through regulations. One of the policy at this policy process stage is the prison policies aimed at curbing the rising population in prisons in Arkansas.
Policy and program evaluation
During policy evaluation, the objective is to find out whether the policy generated a positive or a negative impact or no impact at all. Policies that have a positive output need to be implemented fully and comprehensively. On the other hand, policies that have negative outcomes are discouraged, and alternatives are evaluated. Experts evaluate the goals of a policy process and whether the goals have been met. One of the policies at this stage is the Alabama Medicaid healthcare policy. The policy is aimed at tarns forming how medical care is offered to the people in Alabama.
Policy change
During the policy change stage in the policymaking process, The information collected from the evaluation stage is gathered to inform the necessity for change in the policy cycle (Kraft & Furlong, 2019) . Alternatives to improve the existing policies are also evaluated. The affordable care act policy is a policy that is at this stage of the policy process. There have been divergent views on the affordable care act's effectiveness, making it necessary to adopt a policy change or adjustment.
Reference
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2019). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives . Cq Press.
Hill, M., & Varone, F. (2016). The public policy process . Taylor & Francis.
