What is Policy?

Policy is defined by CDC as a law, regulation, procedure, administrative action, incentive, or voluntary practice of governments and other institutions and organizations.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND PUBLIC POLICY

Policies generally operate at the systems level, applying to large sectors or populations, and set the context in which individual decisions and actions are made. Policy can aid efforts to influence change in norms and across the social ecological model by setting the parameters for many individual choices or taking more direct action at the population level to protect the population. Policy can also support and sustain other strategies to prevent TDV. For example, an educational curriculum is more likely to be implemented and sustained during economic downturn if it is required by a school system’s internal policy. The Dating Matters Guide to Informing Policy focuses on two specific levels of policy: organizational policy and public policy.