American public policy comprises all action taken by the federal government of the United States of America. Although public policies are derived from all three branches of governments, they are primarily enacted through the Executive branch of the President’s administration. There are nine vague public policy subjects as outlined by The Almanac of Policy Issues.
The following are some examples of prominent public policy enacted by the federal government of the United States of America:
Agricultural policy in the United States is primarily comprised of the renewed U.S. farm bills. U.S agricultural policy has seen a shift from a commodity crop dominated industry to support an “industrialized, commodity-based agriculture . . . resulting in farmers leaving the land with agriculture moving to an industrial structure."¹
Drug policy in the U.S is established by the Office of the National Drug Control Policy to “establish policy, priorities, and objectives to eradicate illicit drug use, drug manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences in the U.S.”²
Current energy policy of the U.S aims to invest in cleaner energy sources, make homes more energy efficient and create more effective efficiency standards.
U.S environmental policy has recently primarily been addressing to protecting environment in general and combat the dangerous effects of climate change and reducing its root causes. This including monitoring and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and support other countries who do the same.
Foreign policy in the U.S. addressed security of American citizens and promotes and enforces order on the international stage. Some prominent foreign policy has including a focus on Al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ending the war in Iraq, maintain American alliances, promoting space in Israel and Palestine and keeping nuclear weapons out of irresponsible hands.³
References:
1. The Minnesota Project: A New Agricultural Policy of the United States. Retrieved from http://www.mnproject.org/pdf/A%20New%20Agriculture%20Policy%20for%20the%20U.S.%20by%20Dennis%20Keeney%20%20Lo..pdf
2. "2010 National Drug Control Policy.", Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/policy-and-research/ndcs2010.pdf
3. U.S. Dept of State - Foreign Policy Agenda