Plain-language explanation.
Public policy analysis examines how governments identify problems, develop solutions, implement programmes, and evaluate their effects. It is the applied social science of governance — combining political science, economics, sociology, and management.
Core concepts and standard treatment.
Core public policy covers the policy cycle (agenda setting — Cobb and Elder — systemic vs institutional agenda; Bachrach and Baratz — two faces of power — non-decision-making; issue framing; Kingdon — Multiple Streams — problem stream, policy stream, political stream — policy entrepreneurs — policy windows; formulation — alternatives generation — rational model — satisficing — Simon; Lindblom — muddling through — successive limited comparisons; decision — public choice — Arrow impossibility theorem — voting paradoxes; implementation — Pressman and Wildavsky — complexity of joint action; top-down vs bottom-up — Lipsky — street-level discretion; evaluation — process, outcome, impact; theory of change), evidence-based policy (what works movement — What Works Centres — NICE, EEF, What Works for Wellbeing, Crime Reduction; Magenta Book — HMT — evaluation guidance; ROAMEF cycle — rationale, objectives, appraisal, monitoring, evaluation, feedback; counterfactual — RCT gold standard vs systems approaches; rapid evidence assessments — systematic reviews — Campbell Collaboration; EPPI Centre), and regulation theory (responsive regulation — Ayres and Braithwaite — pyramid; risk-based regulation — Hampton Review; regulatory impact assessment — RIA — Better Regulation Executive; Regulatory Policy Committee — RPC — EANDCB; compliance and enforcement — OECD regulatory governance; regulatory capture — Stigler — industry captures regulator; network regulation — Ofwat, Ofgem, ORR, CAA, Ofcom — incentive regulation — RPI-X — RIIO framework).
Deeper theory, debates and edge cases.
Advanced public policy covers policy design and instruments (Howlett — policy design — instrument choice — regulatory, economic, information, organisational; nudge and behavioural public policy — Thaler and Sunstein — choice architecture — EAST — BIT; co-production — Ostrom — citizens as co-producers; co-design — double diamond — Design Council; agile government — GDS methodology — discovery, alpha, beta; mission-oriented policy — Mazzucato — Mariana Mazzucato Entrepreneurial State — IIPP; place-based policy — Levelling Up agenda — evidence on what works for economic geography — Overman — SERC), policy transfer and lesson drawing (Rose — lesson-drawing across time and space; Dolowitz and Marsh — policy transfer spectrum — voluntary to coercive; transnational policy networks — OECD as policy transfer broker — PISA-driven education reform; Europeanisation — download and upload; Best Value benchmarking; policy mobility — urban policy — BIDs — Business Improvement Districts from US to UK; what works internationally vs what works locally — translation problem — NESTA), and policy evaluation methods (Magenta Book — types of evaluation — process, impact, economic — timing; contribution analysis — not attribution; realistic evaluation — Pawson and Tilley — CMO — context, mechanism, outcome; developmental evaluation — Patton — complex adaptive systems; realist synthesis — evidence synthesis in realistic tradition; implementation fidelity vs adaptation debate; spending review evaluation — HMT ROAMEF cycle; public value — Moore — creating public value — strategic management in government).
How it is applied in practice.
At the senior policy adviser and evaluation director level, practitioners contribute to Policy and Politics and Evidence and Policy; lead policy design and delivery in Whitehall (10 Downing Street policy unit; HMT spending team — business case development — OGC Gateway Review; MHCLG levelling up missions; DHSC health policy — NHS Long Term Plan; DfE curriculum reform; Home Office immigration policy — MAC — Migration Advisory Committee); contribute to evaluation and research (RAND Europe — What Works evaluation; Ipsos MORI government research and evaluation; IFF Research; National Evaluation Partners — Cabinet Office EET fund evaluations; NESTA innovation in public services; CREST — Centre for Research Evidence on Security and Threat); advise on regulatory reform (BEIS BERR — deregulation — Better Regulation — OIOO one in one out — EANDCB; National Infrastructure Commission — regulatory framework for infrastructure; Smarter Regulation Programme — post-Brexit regulatory divergence; AI regulation — pro-innovation approach — DSIT AI White Paper; Online Safety Act 2023 — Ofcom regulation — designated harmful content); and lead international policy (OECD PUMA — public management and governance — SIGMA — GovLab NYU — innovations in governance — UN DESA e-government survey; World Bank Governance practice — MAPS methodology — mutual accountability frameworks; USAID programme cycle — DM&E — design, monitoring and evaluation; SIDA Results Portal — results-based management in development assistance).