ABSTRACT
Public policy has wide-ranging consequences across a variety of disciplines. Researchers who study public policy can impact decision-making and outcomes at international, national, regional, state, and local levels. Policy frameworks can be used in policy analyses and studies of policy agenda-setting, design, and implementation, as well as in the evaluation of policy outcomes. This chapter examines a couple of key policy frameworks that can be used to better understand policy design, goals, problems, and solutions in a variety of contexts and at multiple levels of analysis and policymaking. First, this chapter discusses policy instruments as a conceptual framework. Next, the social construction of policy targets is outlined as a conceptual framework for policy analysis.
