The Foundation for Democratic Reforms, in association with the Centre for Civil Society, organized a two-day workshop, ‘Introduction to Public Policy’, on the 9th and 10th of December 2023, in Hyderabad. The workshop provided an introduction to the domain of public policy, equipping participants with the tools to understand the political economy of India. 

The event covered several fundamentals of policy, explained through the following sessions: 

• Politics of Public Policy:  The session introduced participants to the Public Choice Theory, teaching them to apply economic principles to the political decision-making process. The session dwelled into the illusory set notions of political stakeholders and the governance process, as well as their interaction with institutional mechanisms. 
• Role of the State and Markets:  The session traced the historical evolution of the role of the State. Forming a hierarchy of principles, the sessions enabled participants to understand what constitutes the core responsibilities of the State in their chronological/historical order of emergence. 
• Introduction to Institutions: The session explored the psychological foundations of culture that lead to assumptions about liberty and governance, critically examining approaches to liberal policy-making. 
• Decentralization and separation of power: The session explored means to improve accountability in governance, shedding light on why the politics of individuation and principle of subsidiarity are essential features of a robust democracy. 
• Policy problem activity:  Participants were divided into groups with each group evaluating specific policies in order to determine key stakeholders, shortcomings and insights, to propose alternative solutions that alter incentives. 

The event brought together young professionals as well as university students to orient themselves with the complexities of the world of policy and politics.