Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Interface between Politics and Public Policy: A Relationship of Inseparableness

Taiwo Makinde

Some scholars have argued that politics should be separated from administration while some have argued in the opposite direction claiming that there can be no dichotomy between politics and administration and that public administration is policy making and political process. In this paper, policy was substituted for administration since it is an integral part of administration. This paper attempted to establish the fact that there is interaction between politics and policy by discussing it from the perspective of politics and policy process, drawing examples from the Nigerian experience. While the paper established the fact that there cannot be a dichotomy between politics and administration, it also examined how politics and policy interact at the various stages of policy process – policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy evaluation – through the activities of the various actors. The paper discussed the roles of these actors – the executive, the legislative, the judiciary, the political party, NGOs, as well as interest groups, among others – in the policy process. The paper also attempted to establish the fact that since public policy is the heart of government, which can be manipulated positively or negatively, it gives room for policy actors to bring in their political influence at every stage of its process. The paper concluded that politics and policy interact in a way that one cannot be separated from the other.