Bridging Sociology and Public Policy: An Analytical Inquiry with Reference to Nepal

This paper examines the sociological engagement with public policy by highlighting the discipline's critical role in shaping, analyzing, and improving policy processes.While public policy has traditionally been driven by technological innovation and economic rationalism, these approaches often neglect the underlying social structures, actions, and power dynamics that influence policy outcomes.Sociology, through empirical investigation and theoretical insight, offers a deeper understanding of human behavior and social systems-providing policy actors with tools for more informed and equitable decision-making.The paper explores sociology's role in various stages of public policy, including agenda setting, policy formulation, globalization, and the function of epistemic communities.It underscores the discipline's unique capacity to connect structure and agency, as well as macro and micro dynamics, in a way that reflects current trends in public policy development.Ultimately, sociology contributes to a more holistic and inclusive policy process by illuminating marginalized perspectives, questioning formalistic assumptions, and offering new conceptual frameworks for problem-solving and coordination.The paper also draws on Nepal's evolving public policy landscape as a contextual reference, illustrating how historical legacies, socio-political transformations, and efforts toward inclusive governance shape the interplay between sociological insights and policymaking in a developing, multicultural democracy.