Policy Analysis: Key Questions

*In assessing feasibility, it is important to identify critical barriers that will prevent the policy from being developed

or adopted at the current time. For such policies, it may not be worthwhile to spend much time analyzing other

factors (e.g., budget and economic impact). However, by identifying these critical barriers, you can be more readily

able to identify when they shift and how to act quickly when there is a window of opportunity.

Table 1: Policy Analysis: Key Questions

Framing Questions

 What is the policy lever—is it legislative, administrative, regulatory, other?

 What level of government or institution will implement?

 How does the policy work/operate? (e.g., is it mandatory? Will enforcement be necessary? How is it funded?

Who is responsible for administering the policy?)

 What are the objectives of the policy?

 What is the legal landscape surrounding the policy (e.g., court rulings, constitutionality)?

 What is the historical context (e.g., has the policy been debated previously)?

 What are the experiences of other jurisdictions?

 What is the value-added of the policy?

 What are the expected short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes?

 What might be the unintended positive and negative consequences of the policy?

Criteria

Questions

Public Health Impact:

Potential for the

policy to impact risk

factors, quality of

life, disparities,

morbidity and

mortality

 How does the policy address the problem or issue (e.g., increase access, protect

from exposure)?

 What are the magnitude, reach, and distribution of benefit and burden (including

impact on risk factor, quality of life, morbidity and mortality)?

o What population(s) will benefit? How much? When?

o What population(s) will be negatively impacted? How much? When?

 Will the policy impact health disparities / health equity? How?

 Are there gaps in the data/evidence-base?

Feasibility* :

Likelihood that the

policy can be

successfully adopted

and implemented

Political

 What are the current political forces, including political history, environment, and

policy debate?

 Who are the stakeholders, including supporters and opponents? What are their

interests and values?

 What are the potential social, educational, and cultural perspectives associated

with the policy option (e.g., lack of knowledge, fear of change, force of habit)?

 What are the potential impacts of the policy on other sectors and high priority

issues (e.g., sustainability, economic impact)?

Operational

 What are the resource, capacity, and technical needs developing, enacting, and

implementing the policy?

 How much time is needed for the policy to be enacted, implemented, and

enforced?

 How scalable, flexible, and transferable is the policy?

Economic and

budgetary impacts:

Comparison of the

costs to enact,

implement, and

enforce the policy

with the value of the

benefits

Budget

 What are the costs and benefits associated with the policy, from a budgetary

perspective?

o e.g., for public (federal, state, local) and private entities to enact,

implement, and enforce the policy?

Economic

 How do costs compare to benefits (e.g., cost-savings, costs averted, ROI, cost-

effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, etc.)?

o How are costs and benefits distributed (e.g., for individuals, businesses,

government)?

o What is the timeline for costs and benefits?

 Where are there gaps in the data/evidence-base?