What are the contours of the field of public policy? How has it evolved? What broad questions does it grapple with? How do policymaking, implementation and evaluation work in India? What are the steps involved in law-making and what often holds back its implementation? How well do the globally hailed policymaking theories actually work in India?

This short introduction addresses such debates and more. Tracing the evolution of the policymaking process in India, with relevant examples and case studies, it provides a concise and lucid overview of how policies develop, how they are implemented, the techniques of evaluation and the challenges in governance that the country faces. It demonstrates that formulating, implementing and evaluating public policy is a cyclical process as changing times keep throwing up new choices and challenges.