How Effective is Domestic Public Policy to the Common Citizen

Domestic policy, which can also be termed as public policy, is a presentation of laws, decisions and programs that are established by the government in relation to activities and issues that are within a given country. In addition, domestic policy can also be defined as the set of regulations and laws that are developed within a given nation’s boundaries. Domestic policy is distinct from foreign policy in the sense that foreign policy is defined by the way a given government invests its interest in politics of the world. Domestic policy is believed to cover a different and diverse range of areas such as business, energy, education, law enforcement, health care, money and taxes, social welfare, personal rights and freedoms, and natural resources. Therefore in relation to this study the thesis statement will be: how well does the impact of domestic public policy and its effectiveness relate to the common citizen of a given country.

A reader can conclude that in most cases the decisions that are made based on domestic policy are often a reflection of a given country’s experiences and history, the economic and social aspects, nature of the government in place and the requirements and needs of the people of the given country. Research and study findings show that domestic policy is a common source of disagreement between people who are perceived to have different and diverse philosophies and backgrounds. For instance, people who are perceived to be conservatives in nature are believed to stress and focus more on traditional values, security and order in relation to domestic policy. On the other hand, people who are perceived to be liberal in nature are believed to focus more on government efforts to cater for the needy and having a sense of equality to all people.  Therefore a person can come to the conclusion that domestic policy impacts all people in nature.

In my opinion, I believe that all issues and aspects that are linked to domestic policy seem to be the same in different countries globally. For instance, there is the perception and belief that any given government should ensure that it provides basic services, law and order and education to its citizens. However, there is the notion that domestic policy goals and objectives vary highly based on the capabilities and needs of a given nation. For instance, most of the developed countries can spend a significant amount of money on domestic related programs, while countries which are still developing are perceived to have difficulties when it comes to relaying resources to key areas such as health care and education in general (Henry, 98-102).

Debates that have come up in relation to domestic policy have mainly focused on the social and economic aspects. This often brings out the distinction between people who want the government to deal with issues of the economy and overlook such aspects as equality to all as it is highly unrealistic in nature; and the people who believe that the government should focus on coming up with ways that can reduce suffering and bring about equality. Domestic policy that is set up is often based on coming up with solutions that will deal with such challenges thus; in the end cater for both parties. Moreover, in most countries it is the people who choose officials who will represent their cries and form up the government.

Different authors and scholars bring out the fact that the form of government that is current in a given nation or, country, is the one that largely determines the type of domestic policy that will be established and implemented. For instance, in a democratic government the domestic policy will be largely influenced by the citizens of the given country, while in an authoritarian government, it can come up with domestic policy goals and objectives without looking at what the people want or what they can add up to the domestic policy. Although a given number of factors play a significant role in the development of domestic policy regarding a democratic government, it is primarily the role of leaders who are elected, specialized government agencies and law making bodies.

In my opinion, I believe that the effectiveness of any given domestic policy is highly based on the government agencies that are put in place to come up with programs and laws. There are instances where the agencies are highly inefficient and conduct their actions in a manner that is considered to be very slow. In addition, there are cases where the agencies overlook the policies and set regulations that are established and implemented to act as guidelines.

Conclusion

In conclusion, domestic policy in any given country should be highly effective because it impacts all citizens. The impact can either be positive or negative, but should mostly be positive since domestic policy is set up to look at the requirements of the common citizens.

Bibliography

Henry, Michael. Race, poverty, and domestic policy. USA: Yale University Press, 2004. Print.