Public policy is the net effect of a political jurisdiction’s (government’s) funding priorities, regulations, policies, and system of laws, as well as the enforcement or lack of enforcement thereof. A political entities system of laws include government formation documents (a constitution, Declaration of Independence, municipal charter), legislatively enacted law, and court decisions and judicial opinions that have the effect of law. The process of forming new public policy and ensuring the continued effectiveness of existing public policy is an enormously challenging undertaking, since supporters and opponents of a given policy engage in what seems to be a never-ending battle to achieve their desired end—legislative passage or legislative defeat.
We all have borne witness to the contentious process involved in advancing public policy on highly contested issues such as gun control, abortion rights, criminal justice reform, policing reform, and other hotbed issues. To prevail, proponents must tug at hearts and minds while mastering the art of devising effective strategies that galvanize the masses. Absence a seminal event that causes a leap frogging of social change such as widespread acceptance of the Black Lives Matter Movement following the nationwide airing of George Floyd’s death, the problems that face Black Americans tend to linger from decade to decade and generation to generation. Why? Because the Black problem is often not deemed America’s problem, since America is predominantly white. Few realize, however, that unconstitutional policing also devastates and takes the life of an untold number of White Americans.
