Alternative Selection

Abstract

Policy analysis is considered to be a process of inquiry meant to provide “courses of action” or a variety of “strategies of intervention to solve or mitigate a problem. ”² Ultimately, its target role is alternative selection: alternatives address and answer the problem on which the entire analysis process is based, and provide the foundations for policy design. An original analogy is provided by Kingdon who views the generation of policy alternatives as a selection process analogous to biological selection.³ Whereas in other fields this might be the result of a random process, in policy analysis selection is resolved by pre-determined criteria that may range from cost-benefit calculations to technical and political feasibility.^{4 5 6}