Participatory Policy Analysis in a Social Service Agency: A Case Study

Abstract

In this article, I identify four types of participatory policy analysis (PPA) that have been proposed to address two alleged failures of traditional policy analysis: that it is antidemocratic and that its positivist framework creates a mistaken view of the analytic task. Then I present a case study of one type of PPA that has received little research attention, organization-stakeholder policy analysis. In the case, I describe how the Georgia Division of Rehabilitation Services used an 11-member policy analysis team, all employees of the organization, to analyze its order of selection policy and present advice to its executive committee. Following the case description, I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this type of PPA and suggest that it should be viewed as a “method of the second type” that may be well suited for addressing some messy or ill-structured policy issues.