How a Policy Actually Gets Made · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Why passing a law is only the middle

Civics & Economics · Government · ages 16-18
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Who holds the most power during implementation?

    • Lawmakers debating the draft
    • Voters reading the evaluation
    • The agency carrying it out

  2. Which order lists the policy stages correctly?

    • Agenda, drafting, implementation, evaluation
    • Drafting, evaluation, agenda, implementation
    • Implementation, agenda, evaluation, drafting

  3. A well-drafted policy can still fail if implementation goes badly.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A school rule is clear on paper but ignored in hallways. Where did this policy fail?

    • At the agenda stage
    • At the drafting stage
    • At implementation

  5. An agency faces cuts and threatens to close its most loved site. What is it doing?

    • Saving money in the quietest way possible
    • Picking a painful cut to press lawmakers
    • Asking evaluators to rewrite the law

  6. A mayor claims a curfew worked because incidents fell that month. What do you need before believing it?

    • A longer curfew with tougher fines
    • Praise from the drafting team
    • The baseline and time window behind the numbers

  7. A pundit says agencies have no power since they only follow laws. Which case proves this wrong?

    • The Washington Monument budget threat
    • A law that everyone obeys at once
    • An evaluation with clear numbers

  8. Two reports on one housing policy disagree. One compares this year to a crash year, the other to a boom year. What should you conclude?

    • The friendlier report is always right
    • Each may be technically true, so find a neutral baseline
    • Baselines never change a verdict
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Why passing a law is only the middle W1-mt_TMkaYc1MIg-s1

  1. The agency carrying it out · The agency controls how rules are applied day to day, so its choices shape the outcome.
  2. Agenda, drafting, implementation, evaluation · Issues reach the agenda, rules get drafted, agencies carry them out, and someone evaluates the result.
  3. True · Drafters cannot control every later choice, so poor delivery sinks good drafting.
  4. At implementation · The words were fine, but the people meant to apply them did not, so delivery is the failure point.
  5. Picking a painful cut to press lawmakers · It uses its control of delivery to make pain visible and push lawmakers to reverse the cut.
  6. The baseline and time window behind the numbers · Without the starting point and the period covered, a fall in incidents proves nothing.
  7. The Washington Monument budget threat · The agency bent a budget decision by choosing which cut the public would feel, which is power beyond following orders.
  8. Each may be technically true, so find a neutral baseline · The starting point decides the story, so only a fair baseline lets you judge the policy.
Worksheet · LightMySky