A researcher's instrument for
thinking through policy.

All tools

Each is a stage of the same research process. Pick one to use it on its own.

1. 01

   Hypothesis Development

   Turn an intuition into a testable, falsifiable claim. Produces a Research Brief.

2. 02

   Find a Framework

   Match your problem to the Takshashila framework library and learn why each fits.

3. 03

   Policy Analysis

   Bardach's eight-step path: define the problem, build alternatives, select criteria, project outcomes, decide. India-specific lenses on state capacity and federalism.

4. 04

   Stakeholder Analysis

   Map the political economy: who holds power, who holds interest, who can block.

5. 05

   Causal Loop Analysis

   Make implicit causal claims explicit. Name feedback loops. Find leverage points.

6. 06

   Op-ed Draft

   A 600–900 word newspaper op-ed in the Takshashila voice, built on your analysis.

7. 07

   Policy Brief Draft

   Problem, evidence, options, recommendation — in the Takshashila brief format.

8. 08

   Discussion Document

   A longer analytical piece that maps the problem and opens the debate.

9. 09

   Draft Review

   Pre-submission review on Takshashila standards: RBF, 21st-century realities, voice.

10. 10

    Values Review

    Read through Takshashila's five commitments: Freedom, Pluralism, Citizenship, Realism in IR, and 21st-century realities. Tensions surfaced as questions, not verdicts.

11. 11

    21st-Century Realities Check

    Four lenses every Takshashila analysis must pass: climate change, the energy transition, the information age and AI, and complexity (unintended consequences in adaptive systems).

12. 12

    Argument Critique

    Adversarial review: Baloney Detection, Sagan's method, named logical fallacies.

13. 13

    Citation Formatter

    Reformat references to Takshashila house style. Use at the very end, before submission.

14. 14

    Budget Analysis

    Guide an Indian budget analysis from scratch — identify documents, extract and parse data, compute ratios, get chart specs and story angles. Union or State budgets; any domain.

15. 15

    RBF — Source Digest

    Turn one article, paper, or PDF into a ≤500-word conclusion-first summary for a busy policymaker. Not an abstract — the bottom line and the arguments behind it.