Anderson 該版本的階段模型被廣泛認可。[8] 但是,它也可以被視為有缺陷。根據 Paul A. Sabatier 的說法,該模型已經“失去效用”而應被替換。該模型的問題導致了一種矛盾的情況,即當前的研究和模型的更新版本繼續依賴Anderson創建的框架。但是階段模型的概念已被質疑,它攻擊循環作為啟發式的地位。
由於這些問題,該模型的替代版本和更新版本旨在創建更全面的政策週期視圖。Peter Bridgman 和Glyn Davis 在 The Australian Policy Handbook 中詳細制定了一個八步政策週期:[9]
^Thomas R. Dye: Policy analysis: what governments do, why they do it, and what difference it makes. University of Alabama Press, Alabama 1983, ISBN 0-8173-4834-4 (englisch; Erstauflage: 1976).
^Nakamura, Robert T. (September 1987). "The textbook policy process and implementation research". Review of Policy Research. 7 (1): 142–154. doi:10.1111/j.1541-1338.1987.tb00034.x.
^Lasswell, Harold Dwight. A Pre-view of Policy Sciences. American Elsevier Publishing Company. 1971. ISBN 978-0-444-00112-2(英语).
^Howlett, Michael. Designing Public Policies: Principles and Instruments. Routledge. 2019-01-18. ISBN 978-1-351-86675-0(英语).
^Althaus, Catherine; Bridgman, Peter; Davis, Glyn. The Australian Policy Handbook: A Practical Guide to the Policy-making Process. Allen and Unwin. 2018. ISBN 978-1-76063-963-1(英语).
^Carlisle, Keith; Gruby, Rebecca L. Polycentric Systems of Governance: A Theoretical Model for the Commons. Policy Studies Journal. 2019, 47 (4): 927–952. ISSN 1541-0072. doi:10.1111/psj.12212(英语).
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