Varia Ranah - Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam

228 Varia Ranah: Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam Some views for example, Hunter (2013) criticizes that public policy in Malaysia is top down and made behind closed doors. On one hand Malaysia has benefitted from its institutional framework for policymaking, however insufficient checks and balances have led to increasing concentration of power within the executive (Kanapathy & Hazri, 2013). Those views can be concluded that policy formulation in Malaysia is done under bureaucratic act where most policy inputs and outputs are systematically determined by the government bureaucracy before proposals are made available to the public for debate and discussion. Social media can be a game changer to complement the shortfalls of traditional public policy process by connecting governments or policymakers directly to citizens. Citizens’ engagement during the policy process will provides an opportunity to draw a comprehensive policy that suits and targeted to the needs of the citizens. Thus, social media provides a suitable platform for common citizens’ inputs, in the form of opinions, comments or in some cases expert opinions, during policy making processes. PROBLEM STATEMENT Before the advent of social media, the dissemination of information was one- way in which it could be controlled by the government. The policies introduced by the government were not discussed directly by the people due to the lack of a suitable medium. However, the presence of social media in the form of multilingual communication has changed the landscape. The policies introduced by the government are open to debate as social media is open and accessible to a wider audience, involving ordinary people, activists, NGOs, and others. Therefore, the study proposed to examine the extent to which social media influence and impact on the formulation of public policy in Malaysia. Public policy in Malaysia is top down and made behind closed doors Citizens’ engagement during the policy process will provides an opportunity to draw a comprehensive policy that suits and targeted to the needs of the citizens