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The concept of deliberative democracy and wide usage of mass media have led to discourses on effective public policies. Recently, I participated in a policy discussion program where one of the hosts asked, “Is it correct to say that Nepal has ‘effective’ policies but often fails in their implementation?” A good majority of participants almost fully accepted the statement, but it made me reflect on the issue and a few more questions cropped on my mind. 

Despite a resounding yeah from the audience, is this a valid proposition substantiated by adequate evidence? 

Do we truly have effective policies? How often ex-ante and ex-post policy analyses are done? There is no doubt that an effective policy itself is implementable or actionable. So, this article will focus on ways to ensure effectiveness of public policies to make them more operative by ensuring people’s participation and evidence in policy-making.

Public policy is a deliberate attempt to address different societal programs. Decision-making is a thoughtful process, but have we ensured considerable diverse citizen participation in the process? It is the prime question. Public policies deal with important issues of people ranging from the womb to post-tomb, from streets to space. Considering this fact, policymakers need to be more open rather than myopic to provide ample opportunities to incorporate public concerns. If people participate, diverse thoughts can be addressed with optimum consensus in a given time. This kind of practice, ultimately, assists in settling the eclectic issues in a multilingual, multicultural and multiracial society like Nepal. 

Multitude ways are available for civic participation in decision-making. According to Robert A Cropf and JL Wagner, what kind of governance is in operation in a state is the key determinant of the degree of people’s participation. Among the three kinds of democracy: aggregative, direct, and deliberative, deliberative democracy emphasizes the importance of public discourse in creating political opinions, gathering support for various candidates and positions, and influencing policy decisions. Furthermore, Sherry Arnstein (1969), the writer of “A Ladder of Citizen Participation’’, posits that there are eight types of participation in decision-making. She argues that citizen power should be at the center, and they should be authoritative inputs and deciders throughout the policy process. If we critically analyze Nepal’s context, the policy actors seem reluctant to extend their arms; they rather engage in manipulation and placation, as Arnstein said. 

However, only the people’s engagement in decision-making is not enough. To what extent liberty or authority is given and voices are heard significantly matter. Archon Fung, another famous scholar, questions the ways of participation thus: Who is allowed to participate? Is the sample representative of the population? What is the method of policymaking? 

The issues raised by Archon are significantly relevant in Nepal as well to make a government functional. The policymakers frequently reiterate that Nepal has a participatory decision-making process. However, who is exercising power, and to what context are the big inquiries in the present context? Most of the time, the political process revolves around powerful interest groups and elite sets resulting in the participation of concerned stakeholders in a tokenistic gesture. An evidence of this: Even top-level government authorities seem busy directing and circumscribing provincial and local entities in many ways.

The next most fundamental operational quality of public policy is evidence-based, supported by research-led information. The ideological policy formulation process cannot be effective as it abhors facts and proofs, logic and reasons. The Blair government in the UK shifted to an evidence-based method from ideological policy formulation in 1999 for modernizing the government whereas in Nepal, the whims of an individual, or a person’s institutions are still the basis for making decisions. For instance, the decision on the mandatory national card for social security funds, the development of infrastructure, the distribution of social security funds, etc are only some of the decisions that the government of Nepal has taken without precise research and analysis. It is obvious that generating evidence requires research, resources and patience. To nourish this process, the authority and resources granted to people should not get bridled in any way.

There are certain crucial features associated with evidence-based policy. If those are not met or addressed, policies cannot be effective. Firstly, there should be comparative events over the effects. The second important element is mass support. The third one is a claim with Sound Foundation. For instance, the government decided on obligatory possession of the national ID card a few months ago to receive all kinds of public services. But it quickly reneged because of intense dissatisfaction on the part of the public. It goes without saying that government decisions should be justifiable and feasible, and they should be based on solid evidence.  If the government had been able to convey the importance of the ID card to the public, the latter would not have opposed the initiative. 

People’s participation from different sectors, strata and evidence-based policies are scaffolding for attenuating democracy. In developing countries like Nepal, where the democratic practice is at an infant stage, citizen participation can appear as a retrofitting mechanism. The wider the civic opportunity gap, the more the threats to the policies, leading to a constant peril to the political system. Of late, so many issues have surfaced in Nepal because of this, ranging from provincial politics in Koshi to the issue of youth exodus to constitutional amendment to quality education. All these issues demand equal and meaningful civic engagement. To address such alarming issues with consensus and feasibility, adequate evidence and constant interaction and communication between the government and the people are a must. 

In conclusion, new thoughts in governance and extensive usage of mass media have laid vicarious demands on policymakers to make public policy more effective.  Policy effectiveness can be ensured in many ways, among them policymakers should ensure meaningful wider citizen participation and evidence compliance in decision-making by analyzing the feasibility of policies. If decision-makers keep abreast of these issues (at least), policies will have higher chances of implementation.

The author is a faculty member at Public Administration Campus, TU

‘Death and Awareness’ by Dr Mohan Prasad Joshi contains one hundred poems that worship awareness, and invoke death to teach the mystery of mindful living. In every poem, one can symbolize that a deep-meditative sage, who has acknowledged his future way precisely, is inspecting every incident consciously. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the book is a collection of hymns of awakened spirits that establishes the correlation between awareness and death. As many poems are enriched with philosophies, a reader needs a philosophic mindset to comprehend them.

The poet believes that theories and techniques bring no peace but create an illusion in the minds. The reality/ truth that we call is the immediacy of the moment. True awareness is when we look at ourselves inward and realize we are inhaling and exhaling. It is an actual self-realization. This miracle can happen unknowingly anywhere, but we should sense it. The days we decide to listen to the true self, we feel we are living our purpose and honoring our true nature. ‘You are two sides’ and ‘Rise’ are some of the prominent poems that expound awareness significantly. 

The poet says that we should live in the present and know ourselves. Each day upon waking we have a choice to be human beings or to be a caterpillar. Humans should not get jailed by the past and haunted by the ghost-like future. He believes blissfulness and the feeling of godliness are always in the present. Even enlightenment is in the present because enlightenment is not the goal. He further supposes that life is a false dream. As Heraclitus says ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man,’ one cannot live in the moment twice. 

Once this acceptance arises in the heart, it becomes clear that living in the past and the future is a huge mistake. The poems ‘Why Wait,’ ‘Rise,’ ‘This and next rock n Roll’ and ‘Live Fully while Alive’ are prominent poems under the philosophic realm of living in the present.

Human beings have millions of possibilities. The poet believes our physical existence is a mysterious gateway that can transcend ourselves. In his words, ‘just like dispersed pollen makes thousands of flowers bloom, we have those potentials too.’ However, we are in such a hurry that we have already missed the opportunities to sense them. Being shielded by our materialistic virtue, we all want one another upon the achievement of one. This has pushed us into the vicious cycle of craving. He believes that to let our potential bloom, it needs adequate space. 

Thus, we must evade our endless thirst to see a new version of ourselves. That is the true purpose of human beings in the world, and we also have this possibility. Poems ‘Expound a new definition,’ ‘Antivirus Thoughts’ and ‘Miles and Miles’ are some of the poems under this theme.

Everything in the universe is a Guru because one can learn something from it. For example, the Shrimad Bhagavat narrates the story of the deity Dattatreya who accumulated knowledge from the 24 Gurus. The poet looks upon many things for lessons. The more we subtly observe ourselves, the more we find everything livable. He believes that we all have the same strings despite our different forms that provide a distinguished approach to our journey of awareness. 

Above all, death is a great guru that teaches us the fragility of our existence and helps erase our toxic memories. Some representative poems in this category are ‘Lost my reference Point,’ ‘A River’s Journey,’ ‘Everything is Alive,’ and ‘Despite Differences’ are some of the poems that speak the heart of the poet.

The poet shows a correlation between death and awareness. Death is inevitable, and this is the truth. Many of us are afraid of death. However, he stands out differently in the case of death. The poet is quite conscious of it and asks death to be his friend. He profoundly believes acceptance of death's inevitability leads human beings to consciousness and awareness escorts humans to liberation.  He further writes that death is not that furious, horrible, or dark- ending. 

Death becomes a celebration when there is awareness. We all are in all-time through several memories from many generations in the form of DNA that hurdle our journey of consciousness. Death is the only tool that robustly cleanses and completes us. If one remains awake consistently, s/he will admire that voidness. ‘The Letter from Death,’ ‘The Art of Dying’ and ‘Be Friend of Mine' are prominent examples of glorification of death. 

As a reader, I have found the smooth writing style in poems. He sings the songs of awareness and death with the melodious flute of consciousness. Unlike the contemporary writers and poets, he has a different taste in poetry. He does not have lamentation, grievance, or complaints but has glorification of every little thing. Being inspired by the Samyak view, he accepts the lively grandeur of nature. In some poems, there is the taste of science. It feels like each poem is a masterpiece itself. Overall, the poet is successful in making us wake up from deep sleep transcending our minds.

There is a saying that in an autocracy, one person has his way; in an aristocracy, a few people have their way; in a democracy, no one has his way. Now, the question is, would you prefer a self-intuitive leader or an unprejudiced one, who welcomes multiple thoughts in decision-making?

I recently came across an interview with a well-known municipality representative of Nepal. He proudly said being a leader with precise visions, he does not need to take advice from others. This reality-based short story depicts and sums up our political condition in which leaders/power-holders generalize their interests as a group or community’s interest guided by their self-intuitive knowledge. I wonder why our political parties and leaders are evolving into cult leaders. Why are they so reluctant to listen to others to identify the real policy problems by diving into some basic questions like what is the context, who are the key actors and other stakeholders, what is the policy problem, what are the relevant variables and outcome criteria?

Policy problems have multiple realities. It is a universal truth that reality is multifaceted, and actors entertain different ways to understand the issues and employ several criteria to work out solutions. In the political arena, there are many situations that we cannot measure, classify, and understand thoroughly. A positivistic interpretation cannot unveil many dimensions of policy problems as people reflect their limited knowledge, time, and memory. It is crystal clear that this sort of practice to analyze a problem will ultimately lead to a conflict in society. Thus, policymakers should adopt a dynamic approach to deal with a web of underlying realities of problems.

The next most fundamental thing is that policy issues are value-laden. Social values and policy problems co-exist in parallel. Values include justice, freedom, respect, community, and responsibility. Something can be two or more different things at once when problems appear along with social issues. To say it precisely, diverse groups may not hold the same thoughts on the same political phenomena as they judge it based on their principles, beliefs, status and many other elements. The Gurung community might hold different views from the Newar community on the same subject matter. Thus, policy-makers should be ultra-conscious about not destroying social harmony and contracts.

In the policy universe, problems intertwine with each other. It means a problem may have more than one variable. Policy problems arise from sociological, psychological and economic systems. For instance, multiple causes may be behind youth unemployment. To find diverse causes of the problem, public officials have to go through research and analysis before making decisions. Understanding the dynamics of the issues helps design effective policies and prevent unintended consequences This is one of the fundamental ways to ensure the rationality of decisions with adequate evidence.

Decision-makers should accept that their knowledge is limited. In his decision theory called Bounded Rationality, Herbert Simon talks about how our knowledge is partially rational. Human beings attempt to satisfy their personal interests, rather than optimize solutions. We often tend to analyze each subject in terms of our individual interests. He further believes humans cultivate logic and reason based on prior knowledge and experience, which ultimately leads to a false sense of rationality because we do not have all the information available. Deborah Stone, a renowned scholar, identifies that poor decisions of those in political power are the main reason for unfairness and unrest rather than culture, geography, climate, or any other factor. Hence, policymakers should be open to suggestions and criticisms for a healthy democratic practice.

The involvement of diverse groups/peoples helps to strengthen democratic practices in decision-making. James Buchanan, a Nobel laureate, assumes that individual political actors are guided by their self-interest in choosing the course of action to their best advantage. Circumvention of this practice is essential in developing nations to foster good governance. There is an old Sanskrit proverb that it is only through the articulation of diverse opinions that truth will finally emerge. It shows how important communication is among diverse groups to keep petty interests of power holders in check. Frank Fisher has introduced the ‘Argumentative Turn’ technique to exchange ideas among decision-makers. This technique allows ample opportunities for constructive debate, discourse, and conversation promoting communication among diverse thoughts in policy analysis. The main idea is that reason/logic does not evolve in individualism but in collectivism. This methodology being humanistic, subjective, and non-deterministic would help promote healthy discourse on political controversies.  

Policymakers have to formulate policies in various situations. They should comply with the democratic spirit to ensure good governance in underdeveloped nations. There are a few things that policymakers should be aware of before making policies. The most fundamental thing is that policy problems have multiple realities with values. They should know the dynamic nature of problems. To overcome such political dilemmas, they must be mindful of their limited knowledge and allow adequate room for people in policymaking.