What Is Public Policy?[1]
Public policy refers to the process whereby the members of a geographic area or political unit make choices that address their areas and issues of concern.“Public”reflects the preferences and actions of a group of people，most commonly through their joint voice as reflected in their governing institutions and especially their governments.“Policy”refers to rules，management strategies，processes，and plans allowed by the public to address their areas of concern.These strategies，processes，and plans can be both intentional and accidental.Often，jurisdictions develop an approach to address a given issue or concern，such as crime.Other times，the absence of a strategy or plan to address a given issue establishes a de facto plan，namely the intent to not take action in a given area.The presence or absence of such a plan would also be a public policy.
Control over policy choices can be exerted by the public directly(for example through voter initiatives)and indirectly(where neartotal control is ceded to a third party，most often the government，to act as the public's agent).Historically，and in nondemocratic political structures，public policy was established through edicts from the ruler and his or her authorized agents.Such choices were binding on communities through the powers and authority that they granted their monarch.The derivation of that power and authority can be military，political，economic，religious，or traditional.(https://www.daowen.com)
In modern democracies，public policies are typically generated by the governing(legislative)and administrative(executive)branches of the government.Often，general approaches to addressing a given concern are specified by the legislative body and used by the executive body to prescribe rules and procedures to implement the approach.
The term public policy is used not only to describe that process and its consequences，but also the general set of tools and mechanisms through which these choices are made.Whether it be by fiat，legislative voting，administrative rule making，public assent，or default，the ways that choices are made in the interest of the people is an important aspect of the public policy process.
Public policy also refers to a field of academic research and training that has developed around the tools and processes associated with public decisionmaking and priority setting described above.The field as an academic discipline emerged in the 1960s as the academic and political communities sought ways to maximize the effectiveness of the U.S.government ever-expanding investment in public programs.Since then it has emerged as one of the fastest growing areas of professional training and education.Students in the field of public policy typically focus on the tools and processes whereby the body politic addresses areas of mutual concern.
Public policy differs from public administration in that it focuses on the“public”problems requiring action，while public administration focuses on the process through which they are solved.Public policy retains the public administration processes as one of the sets of resources available to address problems.