Administration
It is the process through which social policy is implemented or executed.
It is a process through which the total activities of an organization or a country are directed towards goals and objectives. Also a process of organizing resources to get the work done in relation to the set aims and objectives
Key players in policy administration / who is involved
1. Legislators
In Kenya a parliament is made up of the president and the national assembly. The parliament has legislative powers of the state. They have the power to formulate and administer social policy through provision of resources and laying down the necessary plans.
2. Executive
In Kenya it is made up of the president and the provision administration arm of the government. In the minister of that ministry the civil servant implements policies which have been formulated by the government and there is no way they can change those policies.
3. Judiciary
It includes charges of court and officials such as magistrate who are specialized. They are mainly concern with enforcement of law through a medium court. It needs to be just so that the implementation of the law is implemented in the line with the other law.
4. Bureaucrats
Policies are administered through various organization e.g. private sectors, NGO and missionary organization.
5. Pressure group
They act as watchdog of policy implement that use all ways means i.e. lobbying, advocacy and rallies to compel the concern to administer policies as they are supported
NB – the pressure group may complain on behalf of the citizens in case the government is reluctant to carry out its obligation in the provision of social services.
ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES
The categorization of the implementing agencies is important in the implementation of social polices. Organization can be categorized into different groups in which are formal in nature. It includes;
Normative Organization
This organization is controlled by norms and values and people join them because they have similar goals to this they believe in this organization have voluntary membership and highly concerned and committed to the purpose and objectives. Policies are implemented though such formal organization and social unit like human are deliberately constructed and reconstructed to seek specific goals.
Cohesive organization
They use forces to control those of the bottom structure; people join them because they have no choice force them physically. They do not submit to the rules and obey them they are punished. Members of the society are highly alienated from such organization they include the police system and criminal justice system.
Private sector
They are small organization of the group of people they seek to implement policies that fit their interest e.g. on micro financing of small groups people join this organization voluntarily because they receive benefits from doing this, this organization uses money to control people and they do what the organization expect from them to do so because they have been paid for it, they include co-operative societies and private companies.
Government organization
They include the executive legislative and the judiciary they play a key role in the implementation of policies and their focus in political.
The Non Governmental Organization
Also known as welfare organization, they produce service and technical staff and give specific service to particular category of people.
The organization stated by individual mostly to substitute government efforts in the provision of welfare services. Most of them are international organization, world vision, all work hand in hand with the government to give their services.
IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
This process is the stage which involves translating of guidelines or putting policies into practice, it involves real action and establishment of project for the provision of goods and services
Implementation activities
There are three main activities involves in the implementation process;
1. Interpretation
Under this activity the following factors should be considered
2. The nature of the problem
Extends and sovereignty of the problem
It involves summarizing the policy and getting through understanding of the policy which about to be implemented and qualified personnel is required to interpret the policy which is about to be implemented and qualified personnel is required to interpret the policy
3. Organization and administration
The administrations have formal duties to control the subordinate by means of rules and laws enforcement. The policy implementer are the administrator they can be looked in elsewhere if they are not available in the country thus there must be enough to allow smooth implementation of policy
4. Application
This is the putting policy into effect. Policies that are implemented have unique factors but there are some common elements that demand attention.
The basic qualities of application include authority and powered to make implement decision also performance indicator is another quality
It involves establishing procedure so as to access progress of your policy.
MODEL OF POLICY IMPLEMENTING PROCESS
Types of models
- Elite model – policy is a reflection of the interest of these people within society that have the most powerful rather than demand of the masses
- Group model – the political system role is to establish and enforce compromise between various conflicting interests in the society
- Rational model – policy is intended to achieve maximum social goals rationally, the policy that maximize benefits while maximizing cost is the best policy
- Institutional model – public policy is determined by political institution which gives policy legitimacy; government universally applies approach to the citizens of society and no monopolies or use of force in applying policy
Factors influencing success of social policy implementation
1. Participation level of decision making process
Here every person must be involved in decision making especially the beneficiaries, the implementer, the beneficiaries’ makers’ .While the need assessment the beneficiaries are to state clearly in terms of priority. What needs are and what they want .done with these needs if they are not involved, there will be problems in implementation because they may not support the programs.
2. Simplicity of the programs For the program to succeed, the process used must be simple, clear and easily understood if the process is complex then even implementers may not be able to do their work properly.
Participation level of decision making
It should be bottom up in approach problem identification and formulation of policy should be involved participation of community members. They should also be involved in listing of alternative thus participating is an active process whereby individual have the right to make their choice. Thus beneficiaries’ implements and policy makers involve in decision making.
The process of implementation
If it is followed effectively the success of the policy implementation is assured. All decision and plan should follow correct procedure without skipping others.
Factors influencing failures in policy implementation
1. Limited resources
It involves resources in term of finance, personal expertise and material resources. The resources can be provided by the government NGO and other donor, if resources are lacking the policy programme will not take off.
2. Misuse of available resources
Mismanagement of improper use of resources can lead to the failure of implementation of process due to shortage of the resources. It will also lead to demolization of the personnel
3. Environmental factors
These include drought, food, diseases e.t.c this will harbor the process of implementation to a great extend by causing displacement of people and making some areas in accessible
4. The community apathy
Lack of concern or interest in the present due to cultural values of difference, community may be concern in the process of implementing policies due to several reasons, such as lack of consultant with the government or NGO involved in the administration of the policy. Also may lack interest due to difference in cultural beliefs
5. Lack of effective participation and coordination
When people at the grass root level didn’t include in the decision making they refuse to participate in such implementation. So the community should come together and join hand in hand for the achievement of the intended tasks.
6. Implementation process
This could lead to the failure if not followed closely or if some stages or activities are skipped. Thus it should be clear and simple in procedure for easy application.
7. Delay
This will lead to the failure of the implementation process because the resources might be utilized elsewhere and people will be seeking for alternation solution to the problems
Delay can be due to natural and human factors such as floods leading to collapsing of bridges.
Delay can also be due to administrative and budget difficulties
