Evaluations of public policy proposals before passage
Policy impact assessments, or simplyimpact assessments (IAs), are formal, evidence-based procedures that assess prospective economic, social, and environmental effects of apublic policy proposal.[1] They have been incorporated into policy making in theOECD countries and theEuropean Commission. If the assessment is favourable, and the proposed policy is enacted—after a suitable length of time for the policy to gain traction—it might be followed by animpact evaluation; ideally, assessed impacts before the fact and evaluated impacts after the fact are not wildly divergent. In some cases, impact becomes politicized due to a change in the governing regime between assessment and evaluation, and non-congruence might be amplified for ideological reasons. In other cases, the world is a complex place, and assessment is not a perfect art.
Key types of impact assessments include global assessments (global level), policy impact assessment (policy level), strategic environmental assessment (programme and plan level), andenvironmental impact assessment (project level). Impact assessments can focus on specific themes, such associal impact assessments and gender impact assessments.
The department which is responsible for the policy proposal usually has to carry out the IA. Although the purpose and orientation of IA procedures differ, IA guidelines in the various jurisdictions all follow a similar set of steps to be followed by desk officers:
Planning of the IA
Carrying out the impact analysis
Consultation of affected stakeholders and the general public
Coordination with affected departments
Summary and presentation of findings in a report
Forwarding findings to decision makers
Publication of the IA report (not in all countries)
The analytical steps, which mainly relate to step 2, can be set out asi.Problem definitionii.Definition of policy objectivesiii.Development of policy optionsiv.Analysis of impactsv.Comparison of policy options and recommendation of one optionvi.Defining monitoring measures.
Throughout the IA process, methods can be used for support. In recent years governments have increasingly invested in developing and applying methods and tools for IA.[3][4]Depending on usage, IA methods can be classified as methods for
^Podhora, Aranka; Helming, K; Adenäuer, L.; Heckelei, T.; Kautto, P.; Reidsma, P.; Rennings, K.; Turnpenny, J.; Jansen, J. (2013). "). The policy-relevancy of impact assessment tools: Evaluating nine years of European research funding".Environmental Science & Policy.31:85–95.Bibcode:2013ESPol..31...85P.doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.03.002.
^Nilsson, Mans; Jordan, Andrew; Turnpenny, John; Hertin, Julia; Nykvist, Björn; Russel, Duncan (2008). "The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union".Policy Sciences.41 (4):335–355.doi:10.1007/s11077-008-9071-1.S2CID154062860.
