About the Hub

What does this Hub aim to do?

Who developed and maintains the Hub?

Questions about the academic content

Questions about copyright

Technical support

Disabilities


What does this Hub aim to do?

Public policy is the action (or sometimes inaction) of the government to address a public issue through the state’s institutions.

Public policy affects all areas of our everyday life, for example, education, work and employment, health, crime and justice, social policy and the environment. There are many examples of stories about public policy in the news, such as:

  • University tuition fees to pay for the cost of higher education.
  • Affordable housing schemes, which aim to help people on lower incomes to get onto the property ladder.
  • Equality policies, which aim to stop people from being unfairly discriminated against in the work place.

Or in other words, public policy affects everyone, everyday.

This hub is designed to help you learn more about public policy. It has three sections:-

  • Structures: Outlines the various institutions and structures that policy operates within.
  • Policies: Gives some examples of topical policy issues.
  • Resources: Provides a detailed and up to date listing of key websites and resources, for example, state institutions and think-tanks.

Each page gives a basic overview of a particular topic and highlights useful reading and resources.  (You will need a University of Portsmouth login to access some of these resources). Other interesting and associated resources can be found on the right-hand side of each page.

This site acknowledges the precedent of the Policy Hub which was produced under the guidance of the National School of Government, which is intended uniquely for policy-makers and officials.

Back to top ^

Who developed and maintains the Hub?

The Hub was developed and is maintained by the academic and e-learning team in the School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies, University of Portsmouth.  This includes the following permanent members of staff:-

Back to top ^

Questions about the academic content

If you have any questions about the academic content on the Hub, please contact the author, Christopher Huggins (christopher.huggins@port.ac.uk)

Back to top ^

Questions about copyright

Written content: The University of Portsmouth owns the written content on the Hub.

Images:  The images on the Hub are taken from sources where their owners have given permission for them to be reproduced. We will be adding a listing of the source of each image here in the near future. However, in the mean time, if you would like to use any of the images in your own work then please  do not credit them to this Hub, instead e-mail emily.bennett@port.ac.uk and we can give you details of the original source. Also, if you are the owner of any of the images on this Hub and you have recently changed your copyright restrictions, please get in contact (emily.bennett@port.ac.uk).

Back to top ^

Technical support

The Hub has been tested on  the popular browsers, i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. It should also be accessible on most popular smartphones.

To access some parts of the Hub you will need the free Flash software installed.

If you experience any problems, please feel free to get in contact with the technical team. E-mail: emily.bennett@port.ac.uk (Senior Online Course Developer).

The quiz: Some people have reported difficulties when using version 7 of the Internet Explorer web browser.  This is an older browser and we recommend you update your version of Internet Explorer to the latest version , or use another browser, such as Firefox or Chrome. However, if this is not possible for you, please get in touch with the technical team and we can provide you with a copy in a simpler format, e.g. a Word document.  E-mail: emily.bennett@port.ac.uk (Senior Online Course Developer).

Back to top ^

Disabilities

We have designed this Hub with accessibility in mind. However, if you or someone you know is having problems accessing the content then please get in touch with the technical team. We are happy to work with you to resolve any issues. E-mail: emily.bennett@port.ac.uk (Senior Online Course Developer).

Back to top ^