Policy Analysis: More Art than Science
Policy analysis is more art than science. It draws on i-ntuition as much as method.
Nevertheless, given the choice between advice that imposes too much structure
on the problem-solving process or too little, most beginning practitioners quite
reasonably prefer too much. I have therefore developed an approach I call the
Eightfold Path. The primary utility of this structured approach is that it reminds
you of important tasks and choices that otherwise might slip your mind; its
primary drawback is that, taken by itself, it can be mechanistic.