A policy-maker, organization executive, stakeholder or member of the public will likely not take the time to read your entire analysis (whether a policy analysis or program evaluation). Many of the reports you come across in your life as a Public Administrator have a 1 to 2 page executive summary at the beginning. An executive summary is a brief summary of your work that can bring any person (expert or lay) up to speed within about 2 to 3 minutes of reading.
The challenge is to provide enough information so the person can speak from an informed position, but to make the document concise enough that they can quickly and easily understand the key points of your research.
For this assignments, your executive summary should include:
- A concise definition of the problem
- The policy goal
- The policy proposals considered
- A description of your findings
- Your recommendation and a brief description of the recommended course of action
