What are the stages of the policy process in correct order HESI?

Alison S. Burke

The stages of policy development can generally be categorized into 5 general stages. U.S. policy development encompasses several stages. Most policy models generally include the following stages: (1) identifying the issue to be addressed by the proposed policy, (2) placement on the agenda, (3) formulation of the policy, (4) implementation of the policy, and (5) evaluation of the policy. This is similar to the community police response acronym SARA (scanning, analysis, response, and assessment) and uses some of the same techniques, but on a much bigger, national level.

Identifying the Problem and Agenda Setting

Identifying the problem involves addressing what is happening and why it is an issue. In criminal justice, this might look at the increase of opioid use and overdoses or acts of youth violence. Once the issue is identified, there can be a serious debate about the plans of the policy. Once it is decided what the policy will look like, it is placed on the agenda. This is perhaps the most politicized part of the process as it involves many different stakeholders. It involves identifying the legislative, regulatory, judicial, or other institutions responsible for policy adoption and formulation.

Formulation and Adoption

The next stage involved adopting the policy. Depending on the nature of the policy, this could involve a new law or an executive order.

Implementation of the Policy

Implementation is about moving forward, taking action, and spending money. It involves hiring new staff or additional police officers. This is where policies often stall because of the lack of funding. For example, a popular program in 1990, Weed and Seed, involved “weeding” out criminals (targeting arrest efforts) and “seeding” new programs (instituting after-school programs, drug treatment facilities, etc.). The weeding portion of the program was a great success, but the program ultimately failed because of a lack of funding to adequately seed new community programming. Funding is a major roadblock for proper implementation.

Evaluation

Finally, the evaluation examines the efficacy of the policy. There are three different types of evaluation: Impact, Process, and Cost-benefit analysis. Impact (outcome) evaluations focus on what changes after the introduction of the crime policy.  Changes in police patrol practices aimed at reducing the level of residential burglaries in an area are evaluated in terms of subsequent burglaries. The difficulty with impact evaluations is that changes in the crime rate are rarely, if ever, due to a single intervening variable. For example, after the implementation of curfew laws for juvenile offenders, juvenile crime decreased. Can we say that was because of curfew laws? The entire crime rate for America decreased at the same time. Attributing a single outcome based on a solitary intervention is problematic.

Process evaluations consider the implementation of a policy or program and involve determining the procedure used to implement the policy. These are detailed, descriptive accounts of the implementation of the policy including the goals of the program, who is involved, the level of training, the number of clients served, and changes to the program over time. Unfortunately, process evaluations do not address the actual impact policy has on the crime problem, just what was done about a specific issue or who was involved. While this is indeed a limitation, it is essential to know the inner workings of a program or policy if it is to be replicated.

Cost-benefit evaluations, or analysis, seeks to determine if the costs of a policy are justified by the benefits accrued. A ubiquitous example of this would be an evaluation of the popular anti-drug D.A.R.E. program of the 1980s and 1990s. The D.A.R.E. program was a school-based prevention program aimed at preventing drug use among elementary school-aged children. Rigorous evaluations of the program show that it was ineffective and sometimes actually increased drug use in some youth. The cost of this program was roughly $1.3 billion dollars a year (about $173 to $268 per student per year) to implement nationwide (once all related expenses, such as police officer training and services, materials and supplies, school resources, etc., were factored in).  Using a cost-benefit analysis, is that a good use of money to support an ineffective program?

Policy formation is often a knee-jerk reaction to the current problem. Many policies are the result of grassroots efforts to change something in their communities. For example, let us pretend the issue is youth crime in our city. Kids are roaming the streets like packs of wild dogs, jeering at the elderly, and generally making us feel unsafe. A proposed policy might be to hold parents accountable for their child’s misbehavior. If parents are responsible, then they will take better care of their kids, right? Take, for example, Little Skippy. He’s kind of a jerk. He smokes, curses, and recently stole his neighbor’s car. Arrested after crashing into the drive-thru sign at the local Taco Bell, based on parental responsibility law, his mom and dad are to blame for his reckless driving fiasco. Let’s look at the policy process.

  1. How can this be instituted? Fine the parent? Sentence the parents to jail time? The policy needs to be a concrete solution to a problem. Many states use fines instead of jailing the parents. (Who’s to watch over the children if the parents are locked up?) Fines sound great. This will make sure parents take an active interest in their children because they do not want to have to pay money if their kid gets into trouble.
  2. Who needs to be involved in lobbying for this law? Legislators? Senators? Local police? Maybe even city officials, local school boards, and religious organizations. So it’s put on the agenda and gets moved onto a ballot for an official vote. The citizens who think their city needs to be tough on crime vote to approve this policy.
  3. Bam, it’s law. It is implemented and now parents of juveniles delinquents are charged fines. This actually is a law in nearly every state. In the 1990s, Silverton, Oregon, was a model for communities interested in imposing ordinances that hold parents accountable for their children’s behavior. In Silverton, parents can be fined up to $1,000 if their child is found carrying a gun, smoking cigarettes, or using illegal drugs. Parents who agree to attend parenting classes can avoid fines. Within the first two months after the law was passed in early 1995, seven parents were fined and many others registered for parenting classes.

Oregon has ORS 30.761 (2017), which states:

(1)In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the parent or parents of an unemancipated minor child shall be liable for actual damages to person or property caused by any tort intentionally or recklessly committed by such child. However, a parent who is not entitled to legal custody of the minor child at the time of the intentional or reckless tort shall not be liable for such damages.

(2) The legal obligation of the parent or parents of an unemancipated minor child to pay damages under this section shall be limited to not more than $7,500, payable to the same claimant, for one or more acts.

4. It is law, but is it effective? The evaluation stage of policy is critical. The goal is to curb youth crime and we might expect to see a decrease in the juvenile crime rate. However, charging parents fines for the misdeeds of their children actually increases recidivism! It’s true! A study of 1,167 youth in Pennsylvania found that the total amount of fines, fees and/or restitution significantly increased the likelihood of recidivism . Justice system–imposed financial penalties increase the likelihood of recidivism in a sample of adolescent offenders  In particular, males, non-whites, and youth with prior dispositions and adjudicated with a drug or property offense were at an increased likelihood of recidivism associated with owing fines and fees (Piquero and Jennings, 2016). This is problematic as fees not only increase recidivism but also increase the likelihood of a “revolving door” juvenile justice system for minority youth.

In the end, what is law is not always effective and what is effective is not always law. This is where evidence-based practices come in.

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What are the stages of the policy process in correct order HESI?
5 Stages of the policy making process

Policy is an essential part of every human being existing on this planet. Day-in-day-out policies are formulated, relinquished, replaced, revised among other things. Under the stewardship of governments in control of our respective geographical settlement, we operate under numerous sets of values modelled on the forms of governments that be. What are the 5 stages of the policy making process? These are agenda building, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation, and termination. This is also reffered to as the policy making cycle or 5 stages of policy making process PDF.

These values are means by which policies are formulated. The policy making cycle is generally a repetition of the conceptualized five stages of policy making. The word process is replaced by cycle when the activity is always used each time a similar outcome is desired.

In the case of the policy making process, the outcome is a preferred policy that addresses the problem. Despite problems varying from time to time, the process is still the same hence the cycle.
It would be very interesting, before looking at steps of the policy making process (which make up the cycle), to try and understand how public policy itself works.

READ: The 4 Types Of Policy

While there are countless definitions of public policy, one thing remains the same, it is public officials and trying to tackle issues affecting day to day lives in their jurisdiction. These differ according to factors around; political affiliation of officials, nature of the problem at hand.

A good non-politically determined situation is the current Covid-19 pandemic which has birthed various government health policies modelled against the virus.


The five steps of the policy making process are the 1950s work of Harold Lasswell during his tenures at the University of Chicago and Yale University. These are still used today despite new challenges calling for substitution of some fundamentals.

5 Stages of policy making process

1. Agenda Setting


This is the troubleshooting stage where the challenge impacting the public is undressed and laid bare for the legislators to address and come up with solutions. In functional governments, solutions not only come from concerned parties in and outside government, but they are also objectively implemented for public benefit.

Agenda setting itself also has sub-stages to be followed i.e: Systemic Agenda. Public officials brainstorm (based of interactions with the constituencies they represent) all the issues they deem fit to address.

  • Institutional Agenda. Issues shortlisted from the systemic agenda are awarded time for policymakers to articulate and initiate action on.
  • Discretionary Agenda. Lawmakers are responsible for this list of issues without influence from the afore mentioned agendas.
  • Decision Agenda. When this one comes out, it has the agreed upon list of issues policy makers ought to act upon.

2. Policy Formation


At this point, conversations get heated up. Options of policies are developed within government and from a wide range of options, the least effective are taken down. Because public officials have differences by virtue of them being human to start with, and them coming from different walks of life including political parties, interested parties try to have policies more desirable to them kept on the remaining options.

3. Decision Making


Relevant authorities in government single out a particular course of action towards the remaining policy choices. This action should ideally be of the greatest public benefit resonating with the rout that led to the process of trying to come up with the policy.

4. Policy Implementation


At this stage, government rolls out the policy and through public administration tools public officials for the distribution of government resources in whatever form they take. Changes implemented should reflect the plight of affected parties which becomes the first step towards embracing a new policy.

5. Policy Evaluation


Here both government and all stakeholder follow up on the account of the policy from its impact on the issue that led to its formulation. They also determine whether or not, the policy is bringing desired results.

Policies have a tendency to rub on to each other such that this may result in changes in existing policies or even an alteration of the new one to minimize negative impact on existing policy. Present day governments, the world over, have been accused of abusing the responsibility vested in 5 stages of policy making process PDF.

Matters of public interest in some instances have become nonentities such that policies are even formulated to legalize personal growth activities to the detriment of the public who are the rightful beneficiaries of this process. As mentioned earlier, while these are the fundamental stages of the policy formulation process, there are variations to the policy making process. These are just but a framework of the policy making system which has its weaknesses and strengths.


Call to mind how Covid-19 has impacted policy making in your respective country. We have seen activities of the old day being banned and in some instances referred to as illegal and attracting fines and even jail penalties.

Not only public policy was affected, private entities have also found themselves changing their policies to suit the new business atmosphere. Heavy decrease of movement and physical contact activity has been the order of the day.


A good example of a phenomenon affecting policy making is that of Covid-19 vaccination. These vaccines have received a lot of negative criticism and even resistance such that governments have had to implement policies where non-vaccinated citizens are excluded from certain activities.

Recently in Zimbabwe, churches where not allowing citizens who have not received their full vaccination evidenced by vaccination cards, access to their services. This is how effective policy is, despite one wanting to choose what they can or cannot do.


Institutions, companies and other entities operating under these governments have adopted the idea of policy formulation for the benefit of their organizations. We will not delve deep in to their processes as they will vary from institution to institution.


Because of the wide breadth of daily life issues, public policy also takes different forms, among them; new laws, statutory instruments and/or regulatory guidelines. The ideal goal of 5 stages of policy making process PDF is betterment of life for the citizenry and as such some ideas pop up from outside government but public officials are the gatekeepers of the policy formulation system