public policy

[puhb-lik pol-uh-see]

noun

1. 1. the body of laws and other measures that affect the general public.

      These officeholders are creating public policy on important issues including affordable housing and the environment.

   2. the underlying principles, values, or objectives that inform these laws and other measures: In a secular state, no religion can become the basis of public policy.

      The Institute participates in shaping public debate and public policy through inquiry and dialogue.

      In a secular state, no religion can become the basis of public policy.

2. Law.,  the principle that injury to the public good or public order constitutes a basis for declaring an act or transaction illegal or invalid.

   The principle of public policy requires that we judge the tendency of the contract at the time when it was entered into.

Word History and Origins

Origin of public policy¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

“If climate has seen its day and it’s not coming back as part of American public policy, then we’re going to have made mistakes,” he says.

Read more on Barron's

One of the researchers, Eldar Shafir, now a professor of behavioral science and public policy at Princeton University, points out that those living in poverty may be able to make more rational financial decisions, but the act of the decision-making is still stressful and taxing.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Fifty-eight percent of adults in California were opposed to providing healthcare for undocumented immigrants, according to a poll released in June from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The repeated allegations that the company is violating regulations — including the bespoke regulatory arrangement agreed to by the company — indicates that officials aren’t keeping the public safe, said Ben Leffel, an assistant public policy professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Read more on Salon

Southers had a long career in law enforcement before switching to academia and earning his doctorate in public policy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times