Policy by the Way: When Policy Is Incidental to Making Other Policies

In: Journal of public policy, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 163-176

Abstract

Explores an important feature of public policy, ie, that many policies are largely made via making other polices. The notion of "policy by the way" is employed to convey the reality of many areas of concern that are touched by public policy entirely or primarily by focusing on other areas of concern. The notion of policy by the way is anticipated in policy research & policy analysis, but its specific features deserve more focused attention. The notion is supported by well-known contributions to the field & a few case examples from Israel, although Israel is not necessarily representative of other Western democracies. It is quite possible, however, that the reality of public policy as a byproduct is more easily discerned in these cases because of the special politics of Israel, basically, a fragile coalition government with strong turf orientation & weak coordination. 30 References. Adapted from the source document.