Public Policy Agenda Essay

A public policy agenda is a system of laws or the actions of the government governed by what the public or society’s take on the agenda. It also includes the endowment priorities and the set of laws dazzling certain positions, laid down rules and the society accepted rules. To illustrate: when lawyers embark on making laws they do so by properly considering the take of the public. In this essay, I will look at abortion as one of the public policy agenda. I will consider the theories that explain its placement on the public policy agenda. (Frank R. Baumgartner, 2005)

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. This is the termination of the fetus or an embryos life from the mothers’ uterus before birth. It is placed on the public policy agenda for the following issues: first it’s an issue that entails life of human beings. It is termination of life of a living being. It is a sensitive issue since it brings different understanding due to some religious believe and the government must have a good public policy regarding abortion. There is a great debate on whether abortion is murder or not. This makes it highly ranked as a public policy agenda. There is also the argument of when it is necessary to carry out an abortion. These issues make abortion highly ranked in the most critical public policy agendas of any society.

Abortion is under society and culture. Abortion is one of the sensitive issues and brings high emotions especially because of the religious believes. One of the theories that explain its placement on the public policy agenda is the theory of street level bureaucracy by Lipsky. This theory seeks to find or balance competing demands. The theory focuses on forefront providers. The theory tells us that these providers not only implement the policies from their superiors but also consider keenly on what they have at their disposal.

Examples of street level bureaucrats are fire fighters, police, doctors and nurses. Lipsky argued that these people interact with the society on a daily basis and should as a result, be wholly involved in coming up with the public policies. Doctors should be part of the procedures in making laws regarding abortion. They speak for the public. (Frank R. Baumgartner, 2005)

Another theory that explains the placement of abortion on the public policy agenda is the constitutional theory. This theory prompts the government to look at the issue at a fair perspective.  This theory being a constitutional mandate places abortion on the policy agenda.  It looks at abortion in two perspectives i.e. the pro-life and the pro-choice. The pro-life means that the embryo is the priority, its life should not be terminated. The pro-choice give the mother the choice to decide whether to abort or not.

In conclusion, we I will look at external factors that influence the need to have a public policy agenda. I will look at the abortion agenda. One of these factors is the need to have a balanced society. This is a society that has one stand on the issue of abortion. A society with one stand will move together as one and hence avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. Another factor is the need to have similar laws. Similar laws will avoid biasness when it comes to verdicts of certain issues. The verdicts for abortion crimes should be similar across the society (Frank R. Baumgartner, 2005)

References.

Frank R. Baumgartner, C. G.-P. (2005). Comparative studies of policy Agendas. New York: Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York.