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Claude Haiku 3.5 — cheapest
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Takshashila, in a box.
A researcher's instrument forthinking through policy.
The Takshashila Institution's research process, broken into stages. Pick the one that matches what you have right now.
Path A
I have a hypothesis or argument
You think X causes Y, or you want to argue a position. Begin by making the claim testable, then map who it affects and trace its causal logic.
Frame → Map actors → Trace cause → draft → Review → Stress-test
Path B
I have a policy problem to work through
You have an issue but no settled position yet. Work the full eight-step analysis to generate and weigh alternatives, then pressure-test them.
Analyse (Bardach) → Map actors → Trace cause → draft → Review → Stress-test
Path C
I have a draft to review
The thinking and writing are done. Run it through Takshashila's pre-submission standards and an adversarial critique.
Review → Stress-test
New to policy analysis, or a student? Start with one exercise →
Know exactly what you need? Browse all tools individually →
← Back to the start
New here? Start with one exercise.
You do not need to know the tools, or any of the frameworks. Policy reasoning is a craft. You learn it by doing it once, then doing it again.
Pick a policy issue from this week's news — something you already have an opinion about.
Run it through Policy Analysis . It walks you through eight steps and ends with a memo. The tool guides you; you do not need to know the method going in.
Run Find a Framework on the same issue. Seeing which lenses apply to a problem you understand is the fastest way to build analytical vocabulary.
Want the thinking behind all this first? Read how Scholar thinks , or browse the full framework library at frameworks.pranaykotas.com .
Begin: Policy Analysis →
See the guided paths instead
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← Back to guided start
All tools
Each is a stage of the same research process. Pick one to use it on its own.
01 Hypothesis Development Turn an intuition into a testable, falsifiable claim. Produces a Research Brief.
02 Find a Framework Match your problem to the Takshashila framework library and learn why each fits.
03 Policy Analysis Bardach's eight-step path, with India-specific state-capacity and federalism lenses.
04 Stakeholder Analysis Map the political economy: who holds power, who holds interest, who can block.
05 Causal Loop Analysis Make implicit causal claims explicit. Name feedback loops. Find leverage points.
06 Op-ed Draft A 600–900 word newspaper op-ed in the Takshashila voice, built on your analysis.
07 Policy Brief Draft Problem, evidence, options, recommendation — in the Takshashila brief format.
08 Discussion Document A longer analytical piece that maps the problem and opens the debate.
09 Draft Review Pre-submission review on Takshashila standards: RBF, 21st-century realities, voice.
10 Values Review Read through Takshashila's five commitments. Tensions surfaced as questions.
11 21st-Century Realities Check Climate, energy transition, information age, complexity — the quick four-lens check.
12 Argument Critique Adversarial review: Baloney Detection, Sagan's method, named logical fallacies.
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