Why is public policy important?
Let us say that you are out shopping for a fancy new soap that you feel like using for tomorrow’s bath. When you’re at the counter, someone walks up to you, looks at the soap and tells you that because you’re buying this soap, you owe them 10% of the value of the soap. They are well built and look like they can be very persuasive at getting that 10%. Do you give them that money or do you not?
Whether or not we give it to them, the fact is that they are being coercive. They are trying to use violence to get their way. With that in mind, think of this: ️Governments do exactly this and call it Taxation. And we are OK with it.
The only difference between that person and the Government, is that the Government has legitimacy over the violence it can exert. And this legitimacy is something that is granted to it by you, me, and everyone around us. We understand (implicitly or explicitly) that in order for us to live as a society, it is important that a few certain things are taken care of, by someone with much more power than you and I have.
And as Uncle Ben famously said:
With great power, comes great responsibility
At the crux of everything, that’s what it is for me - our Governments are granted great power. Through this power, they craft policies. Policies that have answers to my everyday concerns:
- Am I protected against terrorists?
- How protected is my female friend when she goes out for a run?
- If I have an accident on the road, how fast can an ambulance reach me?
- What are the kind of streets that we drive our vehicles on?
- How do our footpaths look?
- What kind of air am I breathing? What kind of water am I drinking?
- What kind of education are my children getting?
- How much money gets taken out of our wallets?
- What kind of a voice do I have?
- Even though I am a minority, can I still walk with my head held high?
These concerns - from safety, to infrastructure, to development and to my rights are all the decisions made in Government offices and legislative chambers among other places. At its core, Public policy is the sum of everything that a Government chooses to do and not to do - towards building, maintaining and growing the society.
Public policy matters because it represents the choices that are made by those that we elect to positions of power - to be representative of our voices. When policy succeeds, it can create safer spaces, create opportunities and uphold our rights. When it fails, the consequences can have long lasting ripple effects through our society.
Understanding public policy isn’t an academic process - it is a practical one. It affects the air we breathe, the water we drink, the safety we feel, the streets our kids walk on to get to their schools and the dignity with which we can live our lives.
Simply put, in a democracy like ours, engaging in public policy allows us to shape society - together. And that is why it is important.
PS: In the taxation example, I have used a simplified analogy to illustrate the fine line between coercion and legitimate authority. In reality, Taxation is a set of well established processes that is very important to fund the essential services for society to function.