Local, state and federal legislators along with governmental agencies engage in public policymaking to solve problems or address issues that affect the public. This is a rather broad definition of public policy; after all, public policy can influence everything from food safety inspections to overseas adoptions. A public policy may be enacted by passing a new law, by signing a presidential executive order or simply by establishing policies at a governmental agency that affect the public in some way.
There are different types of public policies and many people who have public policy careers specialize in a particular type. For example, domestic public policy involves the policies that affect people within the borders of the United States. Within the domestic public policy sphere, there are many different subspecialties, such as healthcare, taxes, law enforcement and social welfare.
Another type is regulatory public policy, which involves all the laws and regulations passed by legislators. For example, lawmakers can pass wage and hour laws to protect the rights of workers. People who work in public policy, such as lobbyists, can try to influence the voting decisions of lawmakers to influence whether a bill becomes a law.
Yet another type is constituent public policy, which is concerned with the structure of government itself. For instance, in 2002, the U.S. established the Department of Homeland Security to protect the country. Another example is the New Deal during the Great Depression, which established the Works Progress Administration, among other things.
Lastly, distributive public policy involves any public policies that affect the distribution of government resources. For instance, COVID-19 vaccines are free to the public because the federal government decided to purchase them with federal funds to make them accessible to all.
