KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

involvement of individual NGOs – along with NGO groups and associations – in the
process of political decision-making.
The Decision-Making Process
The English language has two words – policy and politics – to refer to what is
denoted by a single word in Russian (politika). “<strong>Policy</strong>” means those actions of political
institutions that make decisions, which influence state and society. “Politics” as a concept
has other goals and objectives. First and foremost, it involves a power struggle, a clash
of divergent ideological forces that have different ideas about how power and resources
should be distributed in the country. <strong>Policy</strong> is the outcome of this political contest, a
coordinated and approved plan of action.
There is also the term public policy, which is translated into Russian as obshchestvennaia
politika. Public policy is a systematic study of the nature and implications of alternative
policies/plans and the making of policies for the efficient attainment of goals.
There are dozens of definitions for public policy. In Kyrgyzstan, two definitions
are dominant. According to the first definition, public policy is a technology used to
accommodate the interests of various groups when making various governance-related
decisions. The second definition is based on the assumption that public policy is a
governance mechanism designed to involve a variety of stakeholders in the process of
policy- and decision-making.
These approaches do not concern public policy in general so much as they concern
the process of decision-making, which is only one stage in the process of policy-making.
The most important aspect of public policy is its focus on solving a specific problem
and on attaining a particular goal. This concept thus incorporates both decision-making
and policy-making.
A real understanding of the differences between these approaches enables us to
better identify points of contact and opportunities for cooperation between the NGO
sector and public administration and local self-government.
Public policy has a direct impact on society; accordingly, various stages of this
process involve different interest groups. These can include public administration and
local self-governments, NGOs or public groups, legal entities and individuals, political
parties and international organizations.
The NGO sector can participate in producing all key elements of public policy. Let
us list these key elements [5]:
• Public policy entails the actions of a government body that has legislative,
political, or financial power to carry out these actions.
• Public policy responds to specific needs or problems of a society or a group,
e.g. a group of citizens, NGOs, or government bodies.
• Public policy focuses on reaching specific, clearly-defined goals that meet a
particular need of the target group.
• Public policy is not a single solution, action, or reaction; usually, it involves a
number of developed approaches or strategies.
• A policy may focus on problem solving or may be attainable in the context of
existing policies and, therefore, may not call for further action.
• A policy is implemented by a single government body or by several government
bodies.
• A policy incorporates a rationale for the actions that are taken.
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