THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC OPINION ON PUBLIC POLICY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: A principal function of representative democracy is to provide a mechanism through which public opinion and public policy are regularly connected. In any modern and democratic political system, the process of making public policy is a relatively complex one. According to Jega (2003), the process through which public policy is formulated and implemented is one of the most important processes of governance. This is because, societal development in modern nation-states lies in the fact that it serves as the political, legal and administrative lubricants within which functionaries of government and its institutions interact with a myriad of non-governmental stakeholders. Public opinion is one of the complex networks of variables that often influence policy making process. According to Ugumanim, Bassey, Obo, et al (2014), the situation in Nigeria shows that most public policies do not reflect the opinions of the populace. Over the years, policy makers rarely considered the genuine opinions of Nigerian in the process of making public policies (Obo & Obo, 2013). Public policies should be products of the wishes and aspirations of the majority but this has not been the case in Nigeria (Wlezien and Soroka, 2016). If government effectively relies on public opinion for its public policy drive, it is a major driving force to good governance.  

Plateau is the twelfth-largest state in Nigeria. Approximately in the centre of the country, it is geographically unique in Nigeria due to its boundaries of elevated hills surrounding the Jos Plateau its capital, and the entire plateau itself.

Plateau State is celebrated as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". With natural formations of rocks, hills and waterfalls, it derives its name from the Jos Plateau and has a population of around 3.5 million people Plateau State was created from Benue-Plateau covering the area of the original Plateau Province. In 1996, Plateau State was further subdivided to create Nasarawa State which was carved out of the western half of Plateau State by Sani Abacha's military regime.

Since its inception different governments have embrace one programme or another. The research work is to examine the activities of the public opinion on public policy from 2015-2019 in Plateau State Nigeria.

Nigeria is a democratic nation. One of the principles of democracy is the operation of fundamental human rights, which of allows for the freedom of speech, which is on the view of the majority, influencing governmental decisions. Public policy as applied to politics is seen as a statement of a principle with their supporting rules of action, that conditions and governs the achievement of their goals. Government usually engages in different programmes, as the government is the authoritative body because they are backed up by the law. Government also has both power and authority to execute their duties and also ensure compliance. These programes are directed towards solving a particular programmes or preempting them. Therefore, programmes are not just mode for fun of making them, they are made to solve the societal needs. They entail the expenditure of public funds.

The concept of public policy can be seen as simply governmental actions or course to proposed actions that are directed to achieving goals (Ikelugbo 1999). Care Fredrick (1980) defined it as government or one of its divisions by government. The main idea of public policy is that it has to do with the government. It is an action or sets of actions taken by public authorities, it is the out put or production of governmental process and activtieyt. Public involves and affects the wide verity of areas and issues with which government have to do such as the economy, education, health, defence, social welfare, foreign affairs as well as other areas like culture. Sometimes, the government adopts the state coercive agencies like the police to enforce and ensure compliance of policies. Also these coercive agencies end up loosing their lives in the course of ensuring compliance.

​​​​​​​STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As a result of the fact that opinions of many Nigerian do not have influence on policy-making process in the country, “public policies” churned out of the process are only designed to promote and protect the class interests of the few elites who control the Nigerian State. According to Obo, Eteng and Coker (2014), the extreme poverty and illiteracy that pervade the Nigerian society disempowered the majority of the people and made them inconsequential in the policy-making process in the country. Lack of awareness by the people of their role in policymaking makes it difficult for them to be involved in policymaking processes of the state. There have been attempts by several scholars to examine the impact of public opinion on public policy (Lowi, Ginsberg and Shepsle, 2004; Ugumanim, Bassey, Obo et al, 2014; Akinleye, 2008 and Oludayo, 2016).This is not because there is lack of subject on which to research upon but because of the importance of this topic to a democratic society. Most of the scholars are of the view that public opinion helps to determine how democratic a state is, however, policy makers often face the problem of how to balance what the people wanted and what the government actually do and have continue to struggle to balance this limitation. The other problem relates to the weak power exercised by the citizen in knowing or influencing public policy decision. As captured by Obo and Obo (2013), some citizens are not awareof their right to participate in public policy decisions while the few people who know perceived their involvement as irrelevant (Milton, 2011 and Stimson, 2014).This, in the end made many policies of government not to represent the views of the people and hence lacking in providing the expected outcomes that the people desired.

​​​​​​​AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The specific objectives of this study are to:

1. Examine the relationship between public opinion and public policy in Plateau state, Nigeria.

2. Find out whether public opinions have effect on public policy in the study area.  

3. Investigate the extent to which plateau State residents are aware of the importance of their views on government policies.

4. Examine the roles of public opinions on public policies in Nigeria.

5. Discuss the factors that inhibit the use of public opinions in Plateau State.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions guided the researcher:

1. Is there a relationship between public opinion and public policy in Plateau State, Nigeria?

2. What effect does public opinion have on public policy in the study area?

3. How aware are the people about their roles in state’s policies?

4. What is the role of public opinion in policy processes?

5. Are there any factors that affect public opinion on the state’s policies of Nigerians?  

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is on the impacts of public opinion on public policy.

This study will improve the public engagements on public policies of the Government in Plateau State.

​​​​​​​SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The Scope of this work is the impact of public opinion on public policy.

​​​​​​​DEFINITION OF TERMS

PUBLIC OPINION: Public opinion consists of the desires, wants and thinking of the majority of the people. It is the collective opinion of the people of a society or state on an issue or problem. This concept came about through the process of urbanization and other political and social forces.

PUBLIC POLICY: public policy as a system of "courses of action, regulatory measures, laws, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives." Public policy is commonly embodied in "constitutions, legislative acts, and judicial decisions."

DEMOCRACY: government where the citizens exercise power by voting. In a direct democracy, the citizens as a whole form a governing body and vote directly on each issue

Public Institutes: Institutes that are controlled and managed directly by a public education authority or agency of the country where it is located or by a government. 

GOVERNMENT: A group of people that governs a community or unit. It sets and administers public policy and exercises executive, political and sovereign power through customs, institutions, and laws within a state.

​​​​​​​ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows; Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.