Critical Public Policy Analysis from Social Work: A Methodological Proposal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/c2xw3m17Keywords:
Social inequality, Social planning, Political power, Social policy, Political theoryAbstract
Introduction: Public policy analysis is dominated by technical-instrumental approaches oriented toward efficiency and effectiveness, which tend to render invisible the power relations that shape state action and the production of the social question.
Main objective: To propose a critical reading of public policy analysis from Social Work through a methodological framework that articulates technical-institutional tools with contributions from critical state theory and Latin American Social Work.
Method and technique: A qualitative documentary study was carried out, based on a critical review of specialized literature, institutional documents, and planning instruments used in Latin America. From this corpus, a methodological proposal was developed to reinterpret conventional analytical instruments from a critical perspective.
Results: The article integrates several well-known public planning tools (the problem tree, the logical framework matrix, actor analysis, and evaluation) into a single methodology, reading them through the history of each problem, the power relations that run through it, and the scenarios it opens up. The analysis of Costa Rica’s Puente al Desarrollo strategy illustrates the analytical potential of the framework to identify power relations, exclusions, and possibilities for transformation.
Conclusion: Social Work has sufficient strategic conditions to intervene critically in public policy analysis, moving beyond its traditional role in implementation and strengthening its capacity to question the foundations, scope, and effects of state action.
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