The Policymaking Process[2]
The policymaking process moves through a succession of stages:1.agenda setting(or the identification of a policy issue)，2.policy decision or non-decision，3.implementation，4.program evaluation or impact analysis，and finally 5.feedback，which leads to revision or termination.Thus the process comes full circle(see Figure 3.1).A review of this process will show that public administration is both at the heart of the process and a feature of every aspect of it.
1.Agenda Setting
Agenda setting is the process by which ideas or issues bubble up through the various political channels to wind up for consideration by a political institution such as a legislature or court.The agendasetting process often makes extensive use of the mass media to take a relatively unknown or unsupported issue and，through publicity，expand the numbers of people who care about the issue so that an institution is forced to take some action.While there are only a few places—such as a legislature，court，or regulatory commission—where agendas can be formally enacted，there are infinite numbers of sources from which agenda items spring.And like hope，they spring eternally.
Figure 3．1 The Public Policymaking Cycle
Political Environment
2.Decisionmaking
Public policymaking is the totality of the processes by which a government decides to deal or not to deal with a particular problem or concern.It is a never-ending process.Nineteenth-century British statesman Lord Salisbury is usually credited with first remarking:“There is no such thing as a fixed policy，because policy like all organic entities is always in the making.”
There are two distinct and opposite theories seeking to explain the mechanisms that produce policy decisions or non-decisions.The first might be called the rational decisionmaking approach and the second is the incremental approach which was urged by Charles E.Lindblom.Lindblom rejected the notion that most decisions are made by rational(total information)processes.Instead，he saw such decisions—indeed，the whole policymaking process—as dependent upon small incremental decisions that tend to be made in response to short-term political conditions.Decisions in the political arena are influenced far more by the perception of a situation than by any rational concept of objective reality.(https://www.daowen.com)
3.Implementation
Implementation is the process of putting a government program into effect;it is the total process of translating a legal mandate，whether an executive order or an enacted statue，into appropriate program directives and structures that provide services or create goods.Implementation，the doing part of public administration，is an inherently political process.Its essence is in details.A law is passed but the process of putting it into effect requires countless small decisions.
Like lawmakers，administrators and those with whom they interact during the implementation process exert power over program objectives and influence program inputs and outcomes.Implementation involves administrators，interest groups，and other actors with diverse values，mobilizing power resources，forming coalitions，consciously plotting strategies，and generally engaging in strategic behavior designed to ensure that their point of view prevails.But，never forget that the goal of program implementation is necessarily the creation of the myriad details of everyday administrative life.
4.Evaluation
Any evaluation is an assessment.A program evaluation is the systematic examination of activities undertaken by government to make a determination about their effects，both for the short term and the long range.Program evaluation is distinguished from management evaluation(also called organization evaluation)because the latter is limited to a program's internal administrative procedures.While program evaluations use management and organizational data，the main thrust is necessarily on overall program objectives and impact.Thus a program evaluation is less concerned with the management of a police department than with that department's overall effect on crime;less concerned with a welfare agency's internal administration than with its effectiveness in dealing with clients.
The concepts of efficiency and effectiveness[3]are the standard criteria against which programs are pitted by evaluation.We expect programs to be administered efficiently.But efficiency is not enough.A work unit could be terribly efficient while working towards the wrong goals.Because of this，evaluations，if they are themselves to be effective，must also deal with the questions of effectiveness and relevance.Simply put，the most basic objective of a program evaluation is to assay the impact of a program on its target problem.Program evaluations，while usually undertaken by the executive and legislative branches of government，are sometimes even done by the courts in response to petitions by client groups.The press also conducts evaluations with every expose of a mismanaged agency，which is called journalistic evaluations.
5.Feedback
The public policy cycle comes full circle when evaluation information creates new agenda items for subsequent decisions.This is called feedback because the new information feeds back into its original source.Note how everything about this cycle is impacted by politics.This is because the whole process takes place in a political environment.Feedback is effective to the extent that it is noisy.The people who set the goals and make the decisions must hear it.