Question: What is the goal of public affairs?

Public policy










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Public policy is the principled guide to action taken by the administrative executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues, in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. 
Overview
The foundation of public policy is composed of national constitutional laws and regulations. Further substrates include both judicial interpretations and regulations which are generally authorized by legislation. Public policy is considered strong when it solves problems efficiently and effectively, serves and supports governmental institutions and policies, and encourages active citizenship.[1]
Other scholars define 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."[2] Public policy is commonly embodied in "constitutions, legislative acts, and judicial decisions."[3]
In the United States, this concept refers not only to the result of policies, but more broadly to the decision-making and analysis of governmental decisions. As an academic discipline, public policy is studied by professors and students at public policy schools of major universities throughout the country.  The U.S. professional association of public policy practitioners, researchers, scholars, and students is the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Government actions and process
Public policy making can be characterized as a dynamic, complex, and interactive system through which public problems are identified and countered by creating new public policy or by reforming existing public policy.[4]
Public problems can originate in endless ways and require different policy responses (such as regulations, subsidies, Import quota|quotas, and laws) on the local, national, or international level.[5]
Public policy making is a continuous process that has many feedback loops. Verification and program evaluation are essential to the functioning of this system.[6]
The public problems that influence public policy making can be of economic, social, or political nature.[7]
Each system is influenced by different public problems and issues, and has different stakeholders; as such, each requires different public policy.[6]
In public policy making, numerous individuals, corporations, non-profit organizations and interest groups compete and collaborate to influence policymakers to act in a particular way.[8]
The large set of actors in the public policy process, such as politicians, civil servants, lobbyists, domain experts, and industry or sector representatives, use a variety of tactics and tools to advance their aims, including advocating their positions publicly, attempting to educate supporters and opponents, and mobilizing allies on a particular issue.[5]
Many actors can be important in the public policy process, but government officials ultimately choose public policy in response to the public issue or problem at hand. In doing so, government officials are expected to meet public sector ethics and take the needs of all project stakeholder|stakeholders into account.[6]
Since societies have changed in the past decades, the public policy making system changed too. In the 2010s, public policy making is increasingly goal-oriented, aiming for measurable results and goals, and decision-centric, focusing on decisions that must be taken immediately.[6]
Furthermore, mass communications and technological changes such as the widespread availability of the Internet have caused the public policy system to become more complex and interconnected.[9] The changes pose new challenges to the current public policy systems and pressures leaders to evolve to remain effective and efficient.[6]
Academic discipline

As an academic discipline, public policy brings in elements of many social science fields and concepts, including economics, sociology, political economy, social policy, program evaluation, policy analysis, and public management, all as applied to problems of governmental administration, management, and operations.[10]  At the same time, the study of public policy is distinct from political science or economics, in its focus on the application of theory to practice.  While the majority of public policy degrees are master's and doctoral degrees, there are several universities that offer undergraduate education in public policy.
Traditionally, the academic field of public policy focused on domestic policy. However, the wave of economic globalization that occurred in the late 20th and early 21st centuries created a need for a subset of public policy that focused on global governance, especially as it relates to issues that transcend national borders such as climate change, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and economic development.[11] Consequently, many traditional public policy schools had to adjust their curricula to better suit this new policy landscape, as well as develop entirely new curricula altogether.[12]
See also

Advocacy
Advocacy evaluation
Eightfold Path (policy analysis)
Harold Lasswell
List of public policy topics by country
List of public administration schools
Mandate (politics)
Overton window
Public comment
Public policy school


Further reading
Gilbert, Brett Anitra; David B. Audretsch, McDougall, Patricia P. (2004), The Emergence of Entrepreneurship Policy, Small Business Economics 22
Cohen, Nissim (2012) “” Journal of Social Research & Policy, 3 (1): 5-26.
David B. Audretsch; Grilo, Isabel; Thurik, A. Roy (2007), Explaining entrepreneurship and the role of policy: a framework, in: David Audretsch, Isabel Grilo and A. Roy Thurik (eds.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, Edward Elgar Publishing
David B. Audretsch and Beckmann, Iris A.M. (2007), From Small Business to Entrepreneurship Policy, in: David Audretsch, Isabel Grilo and A. Roy Thurik (eds.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, Edward Elgar Publishing
Considine, Mark (2005). Making Public Policy. Polity Press.