Prepared by

Pamela Marquez

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What Governments Do, Why They Do It,

and What Difference It Makes

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CHAPTER 1

Policy Analysis:

Outline
(Click on buttons to go to the relevant slide)
1.1

What Is Public Policy?

1.2

Why Study Public Policy?

1.3

What Can Be Learned from Policy Analysis?

1.4

Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy

1.5

Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to

Americas Problems

1.6

Policy Analysis as Art and Craft

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

What Is Public Policy?

1.1

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.

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Why Study Public Policy?

1.2

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

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What Can Be Learned from

Policy Analysis?

1.3

Description
Causes
Consequences

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Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy

1.4

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

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Policy Analysis and the Quest for

Solutions to Americas Problems

1.5

Limits on government power

Disagreement over the problem
Subjectivity in interpretation
Limitations on design of human research
Complexity of human behavior

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Policy Analysis as Art and Craft

1.6

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.

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1.
1

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
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1.
1

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
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1.
2

Traditional political science focuses

on
A.
B.
C.
D.

political processes.
human behavior.
policy analysis.
institutions.

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1.
2

Traditional political science focuses

on
A.
B.
C.
D.

political processes.
human behavior.
policy analysis.
institutions.

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1.
3

Which of these is NOT a major

focus of policy analysis?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Forming public policy

Describing public policy
Examining the impact of public policy
Investigating what determines public
policy

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1.
3

Which of these is NOT a major

focus of policy analysis?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Forming public policy

Describing public policy
Examining the impact of public policy
Investigating what determines public
policy

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1.
4

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.

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1.
4

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.

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1.
5

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

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1.
5

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

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1.
6

According to Wildavsky, policy

analysis is essentially
A.
B.
C.
D.

scientific.
creative.
useless.
unproductive.

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1.
6

According to Wildavsky, policy

analysis is essentially
A.
B.
C.
D.

scientific.
creative.
useless.
unproductive.

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Back to Learning Objectives