Public Policy 101: A Guide to Multi Level Policy Change

Often, when we think about policy, we think of federal or statewide legislation. But the policy decisions that affect us most are made at the local level, and it’s there that our individual actions can have the biggest impact.

Policy occurs at the federal, state, and local levels, and each level has a different scope and methods for engagement. One way to think about policy is in terms of “Big P” (federal and state laws and regulations) and “little p” (county, city, township, school district, etc.). Frequently, the policies enacted at the state and federal level are broad in scope and rely on local governments to implement (for example, the federal government provided money to states for COVID-19 relief, and state governments determined how that funding was used).