The Policy Cycle, step by step
The stages.
- Agenda settingA problem gains attention and becomes a candidate for action.
- FormulationOptions are developed and assessed.
- DecisionOne option is adopted, often modified politically.
- ImplementationDelivered through agencies, often changing again.
- EvaluationEffects assessed against the stated objectives.
Educational reference. In practice solutions often precede problems: existing proposals attach to whatever crisis arrives.
Questions about the The Policy Cycle poster
- What’s on the The Policy Cycle poster?
- 5 numbered steps. The stages. Agenda setting — A problem gains attention and becomes a candidate for action.; Formulation — Options are developed and assessed.; Decision — One option is adopted, often modified politically.; Implementation — Delivered through agencies, often changing again.; Evaluation — Effects assessed against the stated objectives.. Educational reference. In practice solutions often precede problems: existing proposals attach to whatever crisis arrives.
- Who is the The Policy Cycle poster for?
- The Policy Cycle belongs to the Political Science section rather than to a school year, because law & society is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning public policy can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Policy Cycle poster?
- A useful map, provided you remember policy rarely proceeds in this order. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Policy Cycle belongs on the wall where that law & society work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Policy Cycle?
- How Problems Reach the Agenda, The Cost of Inaction and Why Policies Fail sit alongside The Policy Cycle in the Political Science section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.How Problems Reach the AgendaThe Cost of InactionWhy Policies Fail
- Is the The Policy Cycle poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Policy Cycle downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Political Science section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Policy Cycle poster print at?
- The Policy Cycle is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Policy Cycle loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Policy Cycle on the same wall.
How Problems Reach the Agenda
Political Science
The Cost of Inaction
Political Science
Why Policies Fail
Political Science
Policy in a Crisis
Political Science
Evidence in Policy
Political Science
The Implementation Gap
Political Science
Changing Behaviour
Political Science
Regulating New Technology
Political Science
Browse every Political Science poster, or start from the full catalogue.