Policy

….is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s). The term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, and individuals.
Examples:
presidential executive orders,
corporate privacy policies, and
parliamentary rules of order


Policy may also refer to the process of making important organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.

According to William Jenkins in Policy Analysis: A Political and Organizational Perspective (1978), a policy is ‘a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power of those actors to achieve’.
Thus, Jenkins understands policy making to be a process, and not simply a choice.

Clarke E.Cochran, et al.: "The term public policy always refers to the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions".
Clarke E.Cochran, et al.: "Public policy is the outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what".

Thomas Dye: Public policy is "Whatever governments choose to do or not do".

Charles L.Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public policy consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals".

B.Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is the sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens".