PUBLIC policy can be defined as government-related rules put forward to the public. It is government-related democracy being exercised and links with what really is currently going on in society. Public policy issues arise from the citizens of a country that identify public policy practices that are non-functioning, example: The village people allowing their cattle to stray on No. 63 beach and allowing them to break and damage the only few sand banks left to protect the beach and Berbice from future high tidal flooding is a threat to citizens and breaches the Sea Defence Act. Another good example of a public policy issue is getting stray animals off the road, since it is declared an injustice and is prohibited by the Home Affairs Ministry and this policy needs to be advocated more in Berbice where I learnt has the most stray animals on the public road.
The consequences of not abiding by this rule of law causes: accidents, deaths, manure pollution,the noise nuisance, road blockage, an unorganised atmosphere, an eyesore towards tourism preventing foreigners to come visit and revisit Guyana  and also it’s just a big obstacle on the clear path of life. Commonsense would even tell you it’s not right. If a situation gets real serious and unbearable the chances are that citizens are likely to change a policy if it is not working well with them and it can even be converted into a law that I recently got to know of by a Professor from Vermont in a USAID workshop.
Then again, it would have to be focused on the main objective and the collective good. Everyone has a different perspective on what they want to be changed in their society and the good, valid reasons why old systems should be enforced or replaced with a new, great change. Public policy has to deal mostly with keeping up the “Balancing Act” which like an acrobat walking on a tight rope has to keep a steady balance of getting the job done and doing so by striking a balance. The point I am trying to make here this is when government makes a tax break in one area but raises the tax or prices in another area. Say there is a tax break from building fancy houses from a decrease in VAT, there will have to be an increase in another area, let’s say food prices in supermarkets start sky rocketing but you need the food more than the materials to build a fancy house in order to survive; if there is a large section of the population that disagrees with this, a petition can be made against this public policy issue and the relevant  legislation will have to be reviewed and amended in order to serve the public good, in most cases by majority rule.
Some simple public policies that can be observed anywhere you go today are “No Smoking” signs or even some things that are not written but can be seen and understood and followed via common sense like fastening your seat belts on an aeroplane. I could recall reading from a handout given in my second year of my Public Management Diploma I completed. Some large-scale public policy issues that have been examined and studied for years now with debates arising if these issues should become legal or not and some are already being implemented as legal in countries are: Smoking marijuana, corporal punishment, lesbianism, gays, incest, school prayers, etc. These have been historical, ongoing issues in some countries that never seem to end with debates for it and against it and are challenging to come to a conclusion with the three strong arms of a country i.e. the executive, legislative and judicial parts to maintain a public good to benefit everyone in society. The maturation of a situation also can step in. This is when people change i.e. their behaviour or opinion about a problem and also things might suddenly change around them like the environment and when tables turn. Public Policy Continuity and Change by Carter A. Wilson considers four examples of continuity and change: Clean air, abortion/birth control, civil rights and homeland security. Clean Air would positively need to have an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Act to back it to prevent pollution. Second, abortion and contraceptive use have been legalized in most countries now since there are valid reasons for taking these actions even though the Catholics and other highly religious groups are still advocating against doing such acts which they call evil and inhuman. The third, civil rights, is when there is racial segregation between e.g. blacks and whites, where a black woman in America stood up for her rights and didn’t give up her bus seat to a white male and the time when Martin Luther King as a Civil rights freedom fighter told the public his “I have a dream” message which actually materialized and came through with having equality between blacks and whites in America and everyone living as one in racial harmony. The last one discussed in this part of the book is Homeland Security which actually should take effect in Guyana, especially when there is election time.
People shouldn’t fear election season, instead they should relish it and get involved in participatory democracy like the people in North America. Homeland security has to do with protecting citizens against violent attacks from politically motivated groups who provoke terror in people of the country. We know obviously most of these targeted people are the business people who live in Guyana. The police have to learn to be more active around election time. One worldwide terror that springs to mind is the 9/11/2001 that terrorists destroyed the World Trade Centre and thousands of people were killed. These are examples of public policies and problems and what could be done to prevent ongoing issues that bring about havoc in society. I wrote this article to just sensitize this topic towards people who do not know much about Public policy or don’t have a clue what it is.
I do hope my readers found this piece interesting. This is just the tip of the iceberg that is exposed here about policy formulating and framing and I will be delighted to share more on this interesting topic in the near future.