policy is implemented, a process described in Chapter 10.

e policy is then
evaluated, and the results of evaluation provide feedba to the process,
where it begins anew.
e Policy Process as a System
e stages model of the policy process can be considered as a form of
systems thinking. Systems thinking is a way of thinking about all manner of
things—from social to biological to meanical systems—that became mu
more prominent aer World War II. e simplest model of the policy process
is an input-output model. e inputs are the various issues, pressures,
information, and the like to whi the actors in the system react. e outputs
are, in simplest terms, public policy decisions to do or not do something.
David Easton’s book A Systems Analysis of Political Life was among the first
works to describe politics in this way (Easton 1965; Greenberg et al. 1977;
Gunnell 2013). A simplified depiction of this system is shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 A Systems Model of Politics and Policy

systems thinking A way of thinking about natural or social phenomena as a system, in

whi various inputs into a system are handled, processed, and interact with ea other
to create a set of discernible outputs.

input-output model A model of the policy process that assumes a set of policy demands
or inputs, whi are then processed by the political system into laws, programs, and the
goods and services government provides.