What is a language policy?

A policy is "a definite course or method selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions." http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/polintro/polintro.html

Many countries have a language policy designed to favor or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viability is threatened.

Language policy as is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.

Language policy has to do with decisions (rules, regulations, guidelines) about the status, use, domains, and territories of language(s) and the rights of speakers of the languages in question.

According to Harolf F. Schiffman (Linguistic Culture and Language Policy, 1998), language policy is primarily a social construct based on belief systems, attitudes and myths. For him, language policy is culture-specific.