This is a step-by-step guide to completing the report. Policy Analysis Report should contain the following sections. We have included recommended word lengths for each, but these are a rough guide.
- Introduction (250 words): Tell us the purpose of your report, e.g. ‘This report presents an analysis of housing afordability policies in AUSTRALIA, in order to explain governments’ choice of policy instruments to respond to housing afordability.’ Next tell us your argument, e.g. ‘I argue that Australian governments have chosen to rely on authority- and nodality-based instruments, because they represent a lower cost option than treasure- and organisation-based instruments’. Finally, quickly outline the structure of your report.
- Summary of policy instruments (250 words): Summarise the main policy instruments in your chosen policy area. You may want to give a brief historical account of how the instruments have changed over time. Use the N-nodality: information, argument and persuasion
A-authority: direct coercion
T-treasure: collection and expenditure
O-organisation: public administrative bodies
framework to present the instruments. - The Policy Context (300 words): How has the policy context shaped the choice of policy instruments in your area? You may find the paradigms (laissez-faire, Keynesianism and neoliberalism) very useful in discussing the context.
- The Policy Actors (300 words): Outline who are the major political and policy actors in your area. Which do you believe have been the most influential and why?
- The Policy Process (300 words): How are policy decisions made in your policy area? Which of the models – rational, incremental or opportunistic – best describes the policy decision making process, and why?
- Conclusion (100 words): Briefly summarise your argument.