Analyzing Public Policies

Public policies are the most concrete forms of political action. They have a fundamental impact on the daily lives of citizens, greatly influencing the determinants of health. Increasingly, public health professionals are expected to have the ability to analyze and understand public policies and their effects. But how can this be achieved without training in political science? How can the processes of public policy development and adoption be broken down and examined, in particular those involving politicians and decision makers within the government apparatus?

In this section, we provide resources that offer accessible explanations of political science concepts and models that are useful for understanding public policy processes (the stages model, agenda setting, etc.). You will also find a framework for analyzing public policies that considers the perspectives of the public health and policy-making communities in conjunction, as well as a range of resources based on this framework (an online course, practical and methodological guides, examples of use by public health actors in Canada). This section also contains resources tied to public policy competencies for public health.

To consult our resources on analyzing public policies, click on the links below:

Free Online Course – A Framework for Analyzing Public Policies

Publications

Presentations and webinars