Program

Public policy is a relatively recent science which focuses on what government decides, why, and to what end they decide.  The study helps to examine and understand the power relationships among the various policy actors during policymaking processes: problem identification and agenda setting, policy formulation, policy legitimation (approval), policy implementation, evaluation, and innovation. All of these activities require informed policy conceptualization, skills, and change of attitudes at all levels to successfully implement public policies within set time and desired quality standards. The FDRE Capacity Building Strategies assessment (2001) noted that knowledge and skills in public policy studies is limited in many of the public institutions in Ethiopia. As a result, many experts and public managers included, fail to associate many of their sectoral activities with national policies cascaded from the latter, which has greater impacts on the process and outcomes of the latter. Moreover, the almost absence of public policy study program, as a discipline of its own, in many of our higher learning institutions, and lack of research think-tanks on the subject, has also contributed to the low knowledge base, skills and experience in the area under consideration.

On the other hand, in light of the series of public policies and strategies that have been put in place since mid-1990s, knowledge and skills to formulate, implement and evaluate public policies, is critically important of the set desire of reaching a middle-income country in 2025. Moreover, citizens have to know and understand that policies designed at federal and state levels have to be advocated and implemented successfully by stakeholders at all levels. Policy actors from all walks of life (public servants in particular) need to be oriented with the basics of policy science, its objectives and what needs to be done for effective implementation in order to cement public trust towards government development initiatives.

It was with this dire need and emphasis that the Ethiopian Civil Service University played a pioneering role to launch the study program at a Master’s level in 2011/12 academic year.  Currently, both the name of the study and program offerings has shown growth in terms of program expansion and delivery modes. The main objective of this master’s program is, therefore, to enhance and forge public servants’ policy knowledge, skills, partnership and ownership attitudes in order that effective policy implementation outputs and impacts can be realized. This ensures effective implementation and also garners positive public trust. This study program is expected to serve all of the aforementioned purposes.