Policy studies is a subdiscipline ofpolitical science that includes the analysis of the process of policymaking (the policy process) and the contents of policy (policy analysis).[1] Policy analysis includes substantive area research (such as health or education policy),program evaluation and impact studies, and policy design.[2] It "involves systematically studying the nature, causes, and effects of alternativepublic policies, with particular emphasis on determining thepolicies that will achieve given goals."[3] It emerged in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
Policy studies also examines the conflicts and conflict resolution that arise from the making of policies in civil society, the private sector, or more commonly, in the public sector (e.g. government).
While policy studies frequently focuses on thepublic sector, it is applicable to other organizations (e.g., the not-for-profit sector). Some policy study experts graduate frompublic policy schools withpublic policy degrees. Alternatively, experts may have backgrounds in policy analysis,program evaluation,sociology,psychology,philosophy,economics,anthropology,geography,law,political science,social work,environmental planning andpublic administration.
Traditionally, the field of policy studies focused on domestic policy, with the notable exceptions offoreign anddefense policies. However, the wave ofeconomic globalization, which ensued in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, created a need for a subset of policy studies that focuses onglobal governance, especially as it relates to issues that transcendnational borders such asclimate change,terrorism,nuclear proliferation, andeconomic development. This subset of policy studies, which is often referred to as international policy studies, typically requires mastery of asecond language and attention tocross-cultural issues in order to addressnational andcultural biases.[citation needed]
The dictionary definition ofpolicy at Wiktionary