Policy Design Assessment Matrix

Guide

A Policy Design Assessment Matrix is a table of related problems and their correlating solutions, identifying historical examples and their effectiveness as well as their unintended outcomes.

Rationale: In order for problems to be solved, problems must be analyzed, their component parts identified, and a systematic program of interventions must address each component of the problem.

Instructions: Identify the overarching problem. Create a table with as many rows as related manifestations. Create columns for the manifestation, the solution, as well as historical examples, their effectiveness and unintended outcomes. Fill in related information with an emphasis on using terms.

General Guidelines

· Breakdown the overarching problem into as many manifestations as you can find

· Fill in the table completely

· Command terms

· Reason as well as research unintended outcomes.

Policy Design Assessment Matrix Rubric

possible points	expectations	specifics	Op1	Op2	Op3	Avg.
4	Clarity	Articulates overarching problem
		Uses table correctly
		Solutions directly related to manifestation
4	Insight	Identifies manifestations
		Identifies effectiveness and outcomes
N/A	Comprehensiveness	Includes major information
		Uses vocabulary
8

Policy Design Assessment Matrix Model

Overarching Problem
Articulate the overarching problem here.
Manifestations	Solution	Historical Example(s)	Effectiveness	Unintended Consequences
Identify the manifestations in this column	Identify the solution(s) in this column	Identify the historical examples in this column	Identify the effectiveness in this column	Identify the unintended consequences in this column

Policy Design Assessment Matrix Example

Overarching Problem
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the capitalist system within the United States was at risk of a violent revolution inspired by radical political and economic theories.
Manifestations	Solution	Historical Example(s)	Effectiveness	Unintended Consequences
Labor Unrest	Create a governing body to arbitrate labor conflicts	National War Labor Board	Mitigates unrest	Acknowledges power of unions
Unskilled Immigrants keep wages low	Restrict Immigration through literacy tests and quotas,	Quota Act; National Origins Act; Chinese Exclusion Act; Gentleman’s Agreement	Slows immigration	Legitimizes anti-immigrant racism.
Popular radicals gain large following	Make speaking out against government a criminal offense	Alien and Sedition Acts	Opposition somewhat silenced	Neighbors turn on one another, loss of civil rights, some writers and thinkers jailed and deported (Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti)
	Make radical ideas unattractive	Propaganda creates Red Scare	Red Scare creates national paranoia
Large gap between rich and poor	Create a progressive tax based on income	16^th Amendment authorizes income tax	Primary source of wealth redistribution	Stifles economic growth, enables large government