Policy Analysis and Searching for Policy Alternatives

🏛️ Politics & Public Administration By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 15, 2026

Quick answer: policy analysis is the work of defining a policy problem, finding alternative ways to address it, forecasting and comparing their consequences, and recommending the most desirable option. Searching for alternatives is the stage that generates the options, drawing on past policies, other countries' experience, theory and methods such as brainstorming and Delphi.

Contents

1. Steps in policy analysis
2. Sources of alternatives
3. Forecasting outcomes
4. Criteria for evaluating alternatives
5. Rational and incremental models
6. References

Steps in policy analysis

Wording varies by textbook, but the usual sequence is (1) define the problem, (2) set objectives, (3) search for and design alternatives, (4) forecast outcomes, (5) compare and evaluate alternatives against criteria, (6) recommend the best option. Bardach's "eightfold path" likewise moves through assembling evidence, constructing alternatives, selecting criteria, projecting outcomes and confronting trade-offs.

Sources of alternatives

Past policies and modifications of current ones
Experience of other countries or local governments (policy transfer)
Social-science theory and causal models
Views of experts and stakeholders
Subjective and creative methods: brainstorming, Delphi, policy Delphi, scenario writing

Forecasting outcomes

Dunn distinguishes three kinds of forecast. Extrapolative forecasting projects time-series trends; theoretical forecasting infers outcomes from causal models such as regression; judgmental forecasting systematically gathers experts' intuitive judgments when data are scarce (Delphi, cross-impact analysis).

Criteria for evaluating alternatives

Desirability: effectiveness, efficiency (cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness), equity, responsiveness, adequacy and appropriateness
Feasibility: technical, financial, administrative, political and legal

Rational and incremental models

The rational model assumes every alternative is found and its consequences fully compared, but Simon argued that bounded rationality leads people to choose a satisfactory option (satisficing). Lindblom (1959) held that real policy is made incrementally, by small adjustments to existing policy.

References

Simon, H. A. (1947). Administrative Behavior. Macmillan.
Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The science of "muddling through". Public Administration Review, 19(2), 79–88.
Dunn, W. N. (2018). Public Policy Analysis: An Integrated Approach (6th ed.). Routledge.
Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E. M. (2020). A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving (6th ed.). CQ Press.

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