Domestic policy

Domestic policy—sometimes called internal or social policy—is the branch of public policy that handles administrative decisions about everything happening inside a country’s borders. It covers areas like business, education, energy, healthcare, law enforcement, taxes and money, natural resources, social welfare, and personal rights and freedoms. This is different from foreign policy, which is how a government pursues its interests in other countries. How domestic policy is made and carried out depends heavily on a state’s form of government.

Implementation

In authoritarian systems, a ruling group can push through its domestic goals without asking for or needing the people’s consent. In parliamentary democracies, however, citizens have much more influence. There, elected leaders, legislatures, and specialized government agencies are mainly responsible for designing domestic policy. But other forces also shape it.

Voters choose which people and parties hold the power to set policy. The mass media spread information and opinions about domestic issues, shaping public beliefs. Lobbyists, activist groups, and other organizations try to influence policy through donations, promises of support, advertising campaigns, or protests and demonstrations. How well domestic policy works depends on the government bureaucracy—the system of agencies that actually puts laws and programs into action.

Sometimes bureaucracies are slow, inefficient, or don’t apply policies as originally intended. Domestic policy can also be challenged in court. In many countries, courts have judicial review, letting judges strike down any legislative or executive action that violates the policy’s constitution. Cultural policy deals with the arts and creative work of a government or its citizens.

Cultural policy

It uses bureaucracy to “channel both aesthetic creativity and collective ways of life.” Cultural policy shapes fundamental aspects of a nation, like its official language, and can help form national identity, encourage civic duties, and define ethical behavior. Many countries have a ministry of culture to oversee this. Arts policy, language policy, sports policy, and museum planning all fall under cultural policy. Economic policy concerns a country’s economy and treasury.