My Struggle with Policy

We've got to have our policy for our next assignments in class today, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do that for two reasons: I don't exactly know what policy is, and there are so many out in the world, I'll never be able to choose one.

Even though I took AP Government last year in high school, and I even got an A in it, I still don't know what exactly public policy is.  I probably knew the definition of it at one point, but I have since forgotten.  So I did a nifty little Google search, and came up with this: "The basic policy or set of policies forming the foundation of public laws, especially such policy not yet formally enunciated." (Thanks www.freedictionary.com) What ever happened to not using the word in the definition?  That was not very helpful at all.  So I continued my search for what exactly public policy was, and trusty old Wikipedia says, " government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs."  Better, but still not crystal clear.  Then it came to me; there is no east definition of public policy.  It varies based on the situation, and there is hardly ever a situation that calls for the same as the situation before it.  So now that I've got a vague idea floating around in my head of what policy is and does, it's time for the decisions.  Which policy should I write about?


I decided pretty soon after the project was introduced to us that I didn't want to do one of the run of the mill topics like sexual assault, abortion, or gay rights.  I wanted to do something that would actually keep my attention during the couple of weeks I would have to research it.  And I am somewhat of an animal freak / nature lover, so I thought it would be nice to choose something in that area.  


But then it came time to find a policy to write on.  Ugh.  This was rough.  But after a while, I've come up with a few things, none of which I am sure about.  So I need your help.  The topics that have so far sparked my interest have been: shark finning, coral reef harvesting, the clubbing to death of seals, and the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest and other forests around the world.  So those are my ideas.  What do you think?