A policy is a stated course of action a government intends to pursue on an issue -- it can exist before any law is passed, as a declared priority or plan, while a law is the binding legal instrument that may be created to implement that policy. The standard policy cycle runs through several stages: agenda-setting (an issue is recognized as needing attention), formulation (options are drafted and analyzed), adoption (a decision-making body approves a specific option, often through legislation), implementation (agencies put it into practice), and evaluation (its effects are assessed, which can feed back into agenda-setting for revision). Public input is typically gathered during formulation, through consultations, public hearings, or comment periods, though in practice the extent of genuine consultation varies enormously between countries and even between agencies within the same country.