Overview

Comparative studies enable us to learn from the mistakes and successes of others, and this is as true of government as it is of any other field of human endeavor.  Policies may be developed based on ideology, manifesto commitment or pressing national need.  Some reasons for policies last less than a government, and some are so profound that they last beyond the current government and have to be taken up by its successor.

Rationale

Why are some policies successful and others failures?  The answer lies in the way in which policies are formulated and the care taken to think them through.  Moreover, unintended consequences need to be foreseen in a systematic way.

This workshop goes into detail about the way in which policies come into being, are managed for best results and ultimately judged to be successes or failures.

For whom?

Politicians, Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Deputy Directors, Section and Departmental Heads

Key coverage / learning points

• Ways in which issues reach the agenda.
• Policy formulation
• Regulatory Impact Assessment
• Policy budgeting and the financial cycle
• Policy implementation
• Policy options – regulation or guidelines
• Why policies fail
• Policy evaluation
• Policy communication
• Managing policy development as a project.

Objective / benefits

After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Understand the development of policy from the formulation of an agenda
• Recognize the issues associated with good policy design
• Anticipate unintended consequences of policies
• Appreciate the role that communication plays in ths successful implementation of policy

• Apply ways to evaluate policy success