Policy Implementation

Policy implementation is the fourth phase of the policy cycle in which adopted policies are put into effect.

Learning Objective

Describe how policies are implemented and the challenges that accompany the process

Terms

policy
A principle of behaviour, conduct etc. thought to be desirable or necessary, especially as formally expressed by a government or other authoritative body.
implementation
The process of moving an idea from concept to reality. In business, engineering and other fields, implementation refers to the building process rather than the design process.

Full Text

How Policies are Implemented

The implementation of policy refers to actually enacting the proposed solutions. Whether a given policy has been implemented successfully depends on three major criteria:

A policy needs to be communicated from the creator (e.g., a local official, or the President) to the relevant governing body within the bureaucracy that has the power to enact it. Thus, a policy designed to enforce traffic safety by cutting down on the number of drunk drivers would be passed down to law enforcement officials for implementation. When no existing agency has the capabilities to carry out a given policy, new agencies must be established and staffed. This is reflected most clearly in the "alphabet soup" agencies established by Franklin D. Roosevelt under the New Deal.
Second, a 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.
Finally, the resources applied to implementation must integrate with existing processes and agencies, without causing extensive disruption, competition, or conflict.

In addition to the aforementioned elements, policy implementation can further be complicated when policies are passed down to agencies without a great deal of direction. Policy formulation is often the result of compromise and symbolic uses of politics. Therefore, implementation imposes a large amount of both discretion and confusion in agencies that administer policies. In addition, bureaucratic incompetence, ineptitude, and scandals may complicate the policy implementation process.

The above issues with policy implementation have led some scholars to conclude that new policy initiatives will either fail to get off the ground or will take considerable time to be enacted. The most surprising aspect of the policy process may be that policies are implemented at all.

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