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Prepared by
Pamela Marquez
Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Policy Analysis:
What Governments Do, Why They Do It,
and What Difference It Makes


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Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Outline
(Click on buttons to go to the relevant slide)
What Is Public Policy?

Why Study Public Policy?

What Can Be Learned from Policy Analysis?

Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy

Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to
Americas Problems

Policy Analysis as Art and Craft

1.1
1.3
1.2
1.4
1.5
1.6
Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Key Objectives
Identify the meaning and scope of the
concept public policy.
Formulate research questions and
hypotheses for the analysis of public policy.
Distinguish between policy analysis and
policy advocacy.
Identify and evaluate the limits of our ability
to evaluate/analyze public policy.

Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Back to Learning Objectives
What Is Public Policy?
Definition: whatever governments choose to do or not to
do
A study of public policy examines what governments do,
why they chose certain actions, and the impact of these
actions.
Public policy is defined as what governments chose to
do or chose not to do.
As government has grown in the last century, the scope
of public policy has also expanded.
Although the scope of public policy has expanded greatly
in the last decades, it is not all inclusive.

1.1
Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Back to Learning Objectives
Why Study Public Policy?
Political science goes beyond an understanding of
governmental institutions and processes.
It includes public policy, which focuses on the causes
and consequences of government actions
1.2
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What Can Be Learned from
Policy Analysis?
Description
Causes
Consequences
1.3
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Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy
Definition: advocacy versus analysis
Analysis includes
A focus on explanation
A thorough search for the causes and consequences
of public policies
An effort to test theories with reliable findings

1.4
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Policy Analysis and the Quest for
Solutions to Americas Problems
Limits on government power
Disagreement over the problem
Subjectivity in interpretation
Limitations on design of human research
Complexity of human behavior

1.5
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Policy Analysis as Art and Craft
Art versus craft
Wildavsky on policy analysis:
Policy analysis is one activity for which there can be no
fixed program, for policy analysis is synonymous with
creativity, which may be stimulated by theory and
sharpened by practice, which can be learned but not
taught.
1.6
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these define public
policy?
A. The theoretical basis for government
action
B. Government actions and what
governments choose not to do
C. The consequences of government
actions
D. Finding out what governments do
1.1
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these define public
policy?
A. The theoretical basis for government
action
B. Government actions and what
governments choose not to do
C. The consequences of government
actions
D. Finding out what governments do
1.1
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Traditional political science focuses
on
A. political processes.
B. human behavior.
C. policy analysis.
D. institutions.
1.2
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Traditional political science focuses
on
A. political processes.
B. human behavior.
C. policy analysis.
D. institutions.
1.2
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these is NOT a major
focus of policy analysis?
A. Forming public policy
B. Describing public policy
C. Examining the impact of public policy
D. Investigating what determines public
policy


1.3
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these is NOT a major
focus of policy analysis?
A. Forming public policy
B. Describing public policy
C. Examining the impact of public policy
D. Investigating what determines public
policy


1.3
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Policy advocacy differs from policy
analysis because it
A. focuses on the consequences of public
policy.
B. describes public policy.
C. supports a given policy.
D. investigates the consequences of
policy.
1.4
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Policy advocacy differs from policy
analysis because it
A. focuses on the consequences of public
policy.
B. describes public policy.
C. supports a given policy.
D. investigates the consequences of
policy.
1.4
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these is not a substantial
hindrance to policy analysis?
A. The complexity of human behavior
B. Lack of applicable models
C. Lack of consensus concerning the
problems to be solved
D. Limitations on human research
1.5
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Which of these is not a substantial
hindrance to policy analysis?
A. The complexity of human behavior
B. Lack of applicable models
C. Lack of consensus concerning the
problems to be solved
D. Limitations on human research
1.5
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
According to Wildavsky, policy
analysis is essentially
A. scientific.
B. creative.
C. useless.
D. unproductive.
1.6
Back to Learning Objectives Copyright 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
According to Wildavsky, policy
analysis is essentially
A. scientific.
B. creative.
C. useless.
D. unproductive.
1.6