This document provides an overview of public policy analysis. It defines key terms like policy, analysis, and public policy. Public policy is described as a course of action by governments to address citizen needs and maintain order. Policy analysis involves assessing alternatives to satisfy goals. The document outlines the main actors in policymaking like legislatures and executives. It also describes characteristics of public policy, the stages of the policy process, and the theory of public choice, which applies economic concepts like rational self-interest to political behavior. Public choice theory posits that politicians, voters, bureaucrats, and interest groups act in their own self-interest in the policy process.