ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a check list which can serve as a structure for developing a policy analysis. This check list is meant to be useful in dealing with the complex issues raised more frequently during the twenty-first century than may have been encountered in the past. These are not policy problems that have clear clients, agreed upon goals, accessible data and seemingly appropriate analytic approaches. The list begins with issues related to clients and moves to analysts. It then moves to items that relate to the complexity of the policy environment and then to the policy issue itself. Information and evidence follow and the list concludes with items dealing with criteria and values. The case examples are drawn from both US and global settings and, as such, provide attention to the impact of the public sector structure, culture and political process on the policy analysis process.
