Do you know what the EU is doing to tackle today’s many challenges such as unemployment, migration, climate change and terrorism?

Complete this quiz and check your knowledge on EU policies. 

Do you feel like your concerns and issues you care about are on the EU agenda? Do you agree with the proposed EU solutions? 

If you felt like your own views and causes were not part of the agenda, it might be time to get involved in the policy making process! Being concerned and informed about an issue has better outcomes when being active and knowing how to shape and influence local public policies. So let's see how citizens can get involved!

What is Public Policy?

One of the most often quoted definitions of public policy is the one given by Thomas Dye: “public policy is whatever governments choose to do or not to do” [1]. Broad and vague, but actually perfectly accurate. According to this author, any government-imposed solution that “alleviates personal discomfort or societal unease” can be considered Public Policy. These solutions are then transformed in our constitutions, laws and judicial decisions, presenting the backbone of our society. Needles to say, these government activities have an impact on everything we do, and are inseparable from our own daily activities. As citizens, we should be interested (and concerned) in the policies our governments pursue, and the consequences of these policies. 

Let’s check this video, by the Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) from Brandman University in California, to have a better idea about Public Policy, using an example of Environmental Policy (4:01). Although it is from the USA context, it is universally applicable.

References

[1] Dye, T.R. Understanding Public Policy. Pearson