Political Science

How the executive branches participate in the policy making process

The executive branch of the government is headed by the president at the national level, governors at the state level and mayors at the city level. One of the roles of the executive is to issue orders through the head regarding a policy. It is also the role of the executive to issue legislations and decisions regarding management. The orders and decisions provided by the executive are usually in regards to an issue that may be controversial and one that raises public interest. It is after issuing such orders that the public may be involved in debate and also involve the legislature in a legislative process (Health Policy Guide, 2009). Not only do the executive issue legislations to provoke public debate but it can also do so as an initiation of a new policy initiative. Once a policy has been passed by the legislative branch, it is also the role of the executive branch to sign the bills into law. The executive may also veto a bill such as with an appropriation bill or veto sections of a proposed policy (Wisconsin Association of Lakes, 2009). In essence, the executive formulates policies, adopts policies, implements policies through its departments and evaluates policies.

Role of legislative branches in policy making process

The legislative branch of the government is involved in policy making process through a number of ways. It can be directly involved in the policy making process or influence policy making. The following are some of the ways the legislature takes in policy making process

Consultation- Caramani (2008, p 168) asserts that the legislature is mandated to present an opinion about a specific legislative proposal, general plan of action, or broad policy program. It is however noted that in spite of this role, it is not a must that the opinion given by the legislature will be considered by the executive.

Delay-the legislature can be able to slow down the policy making process. Although this role is viewed as relatively negative, it is very important since it allows for bargaining before a proposal is passed. It is however notable that the legislature may not change the proposal directly although its influence is significant if the other bodies wanted to pass the policy with urgency.

Veto-the legislature is also able to block the passage of policies under the veto power. This role is also viewed as quite negative and it usually does not become effective in many cases unless the other government bodies have a strong interest in changing the existing policy status quo (Caramani, 2008).
Amendment-this is among the positive roles of the legislature in policy making process. Under this role, the legislature is not only able to make changes to a proposal but is also able to initiate policies in line with the presented proposal. As such, the legislature body may make changes to a given proposal so that the policy is inline with the views of the majority.

Initiation-in legislatures like the United States legislatures, the mandate of initiating all proposals lies with the legislature. Groups or individuals within the legislature may initiate the policies. This is therefore among the most powerful roles which as legislative members directly involved in policy making process.  

Role of the judiciary in policy making process
The judicial arm of the government is the court system of the government which is primarily mandated to make rulings whenever disputes arise concerning law interpretation. As a check to the executive and legislative bodies of the government, the judicial system of the government is involved in elaborating policies as well as ensuring that the policies are implemented. The judiciary is not only an implementer of policies that have been made by the executive and the legislature but it also takes the role of agenda-setter, catalyst for policy action by others, policy entrepreneur, and, especially a policymaker (Brisbin, 2004, para 3).

Even as the judicial system is involved in policy making process, there should be no partiality on either branch of the government. This means that the judiciary is mainly involved indirectly in policy making with interpretation of the law concerning various policies being its central role. The role of the judiciary is to always remain impartial while making decisions regarding the policy making process. This is why the judges are elected on a non-partisan ground. Regardless of the opinions of the executive, the legislature or the public judges have the responsibility of making independent decisions and judgments that show the correct interpretation of the law. As such, the court system of the government is an excellent way of putting checks and balances on the executive and the legislative arms (Wisconsin Association of Lakes, 2009).

From the above discussion, it is clear on the roles that each arm of the government has in the policy making process. The ability to have each branch of the government act as a check to the others is of particular importance in policy making such that all policies are in line with public interest.