policymaking

noun

pol·​i·​cy·​mak·​ing ˈpä-lə-sē-ˌmā-kiŋ 

variants or policy-making

: the act or practice of establishing policy

… Bloomberg described a world where cities, rather than nations, are the major players in both global competition and innovative policymaking …

—Rob Fischer

… leaked word … that all Iraq policymaking was being centralized at the White House …

—Michael Duffy et al.

—sometimes used before another noun

the policymaking process

The Fed's policymaking committee sets rates that serve as the benchmark for the interest rates charged on mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and certificates of deposit.

—Kevin G. Hall

The controller manages a state office of more than 1,400 workers and ensures tax dollars are efficiently and effectively spent. With a few exceptions, it is not a policymaking position.

—The East Bay Times (California)

Examples of policymaking in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Saphier is nominated for a position that carries limited policymaking power but serves as a loud megaphone as the nation's top communicator to Americans on public health issues. — Fatima Hussein, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026

Three of the 12 members on the Fed's policymaking board, however, voted in favor of a rate hike, marking the largest number of dissenters casting ballots in the same direction in a decade. — Max Zahn, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026

That kind of change would also have ripple effects on public policymaking, scientific research and business decisions that rely on data from the once-a-decade census. — Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 9 Sep. 2026

Warsh is now indicating that considerations of AI don't have much to do with current policymaking. — Matt Peterson, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for policymaking

• aching
• baking
• braking
• breaking
• caking
• faking
• flaking
• making
• quaking
• raking
• shaking
• slaking