Policies & Guide

I. Substantive Policies are concerned with the general welfare and development of the society with regard to the provision of education, employment opportunities, economic stablisation, law and order enforcement, anti-pollution laws, etc. For instance, the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) and Free Senior High School Education are some substantive public policies.

II. Procedural policies (administrative policies) are concerned with rules that govern the way a government department can carry out its duties, the areas over which it has jurisdiction or authority and the process and strategies it can use to carry out its work.

III. Distributive policies look at how public goods and services, as well as their costs are extended to the whole population. Usually the cost is catered for from taxes from the general public. An example of a distributive policy is the National Health Insurance Scheme.

IV. Redistributive policies are used to alter the socio-economic status of certain sections of the population, usually the poor and marginalised, by giving them social transfers both in kind and in cash. An example of a redistributive policy is the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

V. Regulatory policies are to maintain order and prohibit behaviours that endanger society and also to protect

11 | National Public Policy Formulation Guidelines economic activities and behaviours that enhance development. The government accomplishes this goal by
restricting citizens, groups or corporations from engaging in those actions that negatively affect the political and social order.

VI. Vertical policy is the traditional way in which policy decisions are made (top-down). It is a policy developed within a single organisational structure and generally starts with broad overarching policy, sometime called “framework” policy. Thus, it is policy developed by the government translating national decisions to the regional and district level, taking into consideration, specific context [Smith,2003:11]. Policies initiated and imposed by the government are vertical. An example is the Ghana School Feeding Programme.

VII. Horizontal policy by contrast, is developed by two or more organisations, each of which has the ability or mandate to deal with only one dimension of a given situation. [Smith,2003: 11-12]. Increasingly, there is recognition by governments that many of the objectives they seek to achieve are complex and involve two or more sectors, Ministries, Departments and Agencies. An example is the Ghana National Spatial Development Framework (2015-2035).

Notwithstanding these categorisations, public policies may come in the form of written regulations such as District Assembly by-laws, guidelines; development frameworks and statements on government or sector priorities including procedures or standards to be achieved; legislation and mandates