Access over 20 million homework & study documents

Eight Fold Path To Policy Analysis Revised

Content type
User Generated
Subject
Political Science
School
Rutgers University Newark Campus
Type
Homework
Rating
Showing Page:
1/5
Surname 1
Name
Professor
Course
Date
Eight-Fold Path to Policy Analysis
The knowledge of public policy analysis has substantially advanced over the last few decades.
Choosing the most efficient and effective policy option to address problems requires a systematic
policy analysis process. It implies that policy analysis is more of an art than science because it
requires both intuition and methodology. It is why influential policy analysts use the Eight-fold
path to choose the most suitable policy option. This paper presents a discussion of the benefits of
the eight-fold path approach to policy analysis, assess its impact in analyzing social problems
and developing systems, and looking at the way forward.
The first benefit of the eightfold path is that it ensures selecting the most suitable policy
option for a particular problem or situation. The eightfold path approach involves eight steps that
include defining the problem, assembling evidence, constructing alternatives, selecting the
criteria, projecting outcomes, confronting trade-off, deciding, and telling the story. Starting by
defining the problem or policy issue always tells the story at the end of the policy analysis
process (Bardach et al., p120). The construction of alternatives and selection of criteria helps
develop policy options that best suit a given situation using the most appropriate criteria.
Assembling evidence at every step of the analysis, particularly in problem definition, and
projecting the outcomes of considered alternatives ensures selecting the most effective and viable
option for a policy situation. Another benefit of the eightfold path in policy analysis is that it is
effective in problem-solving. The policy analysis process requires the input and considerations of

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/5
Surname 2
policymakers and experts, the target population, and the people who administer the analysis
resources. Analyzing a policy issue requires highly tentative problem solving with various
stakeholders' views and inputs. Defining problems, developing alternative solutions, and
structured evaluation criteria based on evidence on the issue lead to the best solution. The
process allows for trial and error when solving problems, which allows for continuous learning
and adaptation of strategies while collaborating with all the actors in the policy analysis process.
Additionally, the eight-fold path process encourages all the stakeholders' active participation
in the policy analysis process because every step requires team engagement. In essence, active
participation helps in framing and presenting information relating to the target audience's beliefs.
However, it is essential to note that the eightfold path process steps do not have a fixed order and
that some situations will not require all the steps. With that in mind, it is critical to understand
some of the challenges in applying the eightfold path approach in policy analysis.
One of the eightfold path approach's challenges is that it is mechanistic because of the eight-
step process that requires consideration when analyzing policies. It consists of some conceptual
guidelines that sometimes need technical terms, limiting its understanding to the target
population. It also consists of abstract concepts that can make it challenging to use when
handling real-life and complex policy issues such as the demands from different interest groups,
bureaucratic routines, and legal rules (Wedell-Wedellsborg, p77). Having looked at and
understood the benefits and challenges of the eightfold path, it is now possible to assess its
impacts on analyzing social problems and developing systems.
Social Problems and Developing Systems
The eightfold path is useful in analyzing social problems and developing systems because it
focuses on getting the analysis right with minimum confusion and reasonable efficiency. Social

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/5

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 5 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Surname 1 Name Professor Course Date Eight-Fold Path to Policy Analysis The knowledge of public policy analysis has substantially advanced over the last few decades. Choosing the most efficient and effective policy option to address problems requires a systematic policy analysis process. It implies that policy analysis is more of an art than science because it requires both intuition and methodology. It is why influential policy analysts use the Eight-fold path to choose the most suitable policy option. This paper presents a discussion of the benefits of the eight-fold path approach to policy analysis, assess its impact in analyzing social problems and developing systems, and looking at the way forward. The first benefit of the eightfold path is that it ensures selecting the most suitable policy option for a particular problem or situation. The eightfold path approach involves eight steps that include defining the problem, assembling evidence, constructing alternatives, selecting the criteria, projecting outcomes, confronting trade-off, deciding, and telling the story. Starting by defining the problem or policy issue always tells the story at the end of the policy analysis process (Bardach et al., p120). The construction of alternatives and selection of criteria helps develop policy options that best suit a given situation using the most appropriate criteria. Assembling evidence at every step of the analysis, particularly in problem definition, and projecting the outcomes of ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
Great! Studypool always delivers quality work.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4