30 3.7 – CONCEPTUALIZING THE POLICY PROCESS
- CONCEPTUALIZING THE POLICY PROCESS
So far in this chapter we have discussed what circumstances lead to government action, what values governments should pursue, and the goals that guide policy making. Next, we make sense of policy by articulating the steps that proposed policies take through the political process, beginning with problem identification and ending with a comprehensive evaluation. These steps are not all encompassing; the policy process is messy and rarely moves smoothly from one phase to the next, but students of policy may find that the basic stages model provides a helpful guide to understanding an imperfect process.
