Documenting Policy

Citizens frequently want to find out the policy of a government official or a government agency. Ironically the question implies that policy can be found out explicitly, not always the case. Here are some suggestions to guide your search.

Status
Policy can be formal and documented, or informal and verbal, or even private or secret. Each status requires a different strategy to seek it out.

	Overt	Covert
Formal	Regulations, memoranda	Secret memoranda & other communications
Informal	Designated verbally or past practice	Private or secret unwritten communications

Legality
Policy may be spelled out as matter of law or regulation. But wherever there is leeway or discretion in the promulgation or enforcement of laws and regulations, the responsible official or agency may interpret their role and make decisions in unexpected ways. Clarifying this is called a determination of policy.

	Executive Branch	Legislative Branch	Judicial Branch
Law	n/a	Acts of Congress (public and private law)	Court decisions and opinions are known as “case law” because the have the force of law. Example: U.S. Supreme Court powers
Regulation	Rules formulated by the President are Executive Orders. But the President may make actionable policy in other ways. The fifteen Federal Departments are directed by their respective Secretaries who report to the President and form the Cabinet. Within the boundaries of authority and budget granted by Congress, Departments may issue regulations, which have the force of law.	Only when they apply to an agency that reports directly to Congress, e.g. the Library of Congress; Congressional Budget Office; Government Accountability Office; Government Printing Office	Only for matters concerning the operation of the courts. Examples: U.S. Supreme Court Rules; Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; Rules of State of Maine Courts

accountability; reports of productivity, action, or achievement
Another way to determine policy is to check the record of actions and decisions of the official or agency in question. Sometimes determining policy "after the fact" is more reliable than trying to make a theoretical understanding.

	Executive Branch	Legislative Branch	Judicial Branch
Formal	If mandated in a public law, the Executive Department or Agency must report to Congress in the manner, and by the deadline specified	Only when they apply to an agency that reports directly to Congress, e.g. the Library of Congress; Congressional Budget Office; Government Accountability Office; Government Printing Office	Publication of court decisions and opinions. Examples: U.S. Supreme Court cases
Informal	Speeches, addresses, testimony to Congressional committees	Newsletters and email to constituents; personal visits	n/a
The Public	Investigative journalists; citizen inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Watchdog groups	Investigative journalists; citizen inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA; Watchdog groups	Formal attendance as “Amicus curiae” (friend of the court,); personal attendance in court gallery and media coverage, when permitted

POLICY RESEARCH - RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Policy Archive, Center for Governmental Studies, Los Angeles
"An innovative, new digital archive of global, non-partisan public policy research. It makes use of the power, efficiency, and economy of modern Internet technology to collect and disseminate summaries and full texts, videos, reports, briefs, and multimedia material of think tank, university, government, and foundation-funded policy research.

Research.gov
A project of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Research.gov is a partnership of federal research-oriented grant making agencies to provide information access services for multiple federal agencies in one location . Some features:
Policy Library - An electronic library that consolidates Federal and agency-specific policies, guidelines and procedures for use by Federal agencies and the awardee community. Agency-specific documents are included only for Research.gov partner agencies.
Research Spending and Results - assists full disclosure for research grant award data in compliance with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.

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