Identify rights violated or compromised by the social issue, using:
International human rights laws and treaties
National/state constitutions, laws, and regulations
Contextualization of social issue/problem and policy
Identify the stakeholders, rights-holders, and duty-bearers and their roles.
Who benefits from the policy as it exists? Who loses?
Analysis of key forces shaping the policy (using Blau & Abramovitz, 2014) (1-2 pages)
History – What is the history of the social problem in the state or US? When and why did it come into the public’s spotlight? Were there any initiatives/policies/programs or parts of such in the past that tried to address this issue? Any key state/US advocates who pushed this issue into the limelight?
Economics — Is this social problem linked with an economic benefit to the oppressors? What is the economic consequence if this social problem is left unaddressed? What financial impact does the policy and its initiatives/programs have on stakeholders/ organizations/community? Does this policy create economic security/stability? How?
Politics — How did government and politicians become involved in the issue? Is this a bipartisan concern and sponsoring of the bill? Talk to democrat/republican thoughts on the issue.
Ideology — What ideology pushed this social problem to the forefront and why? Main ideologies include radical, conservative (economic or social), feminist, and/or liberal.
Activate Windows Social movements — What social movements (however small) helped to create an environment conducive to caring
about the problem and actually creating policy on it? It does not need to be a social movement
