177 African American Essay Topics

🏆 Best Essay Topics on African American

1. African American Women: Domestic Violence and Integrity

   At present, gender profiling still remains an issue, and the present-day African American communities are infamously known as a graphic example of women abuse in society.
2. The Issue of Class Oppression Among African Americans

   The years of slavery in the USA provoked a lot of social problems and contradictions which were not resolved even after the years of the Civil War.
3. African Americans Stereotypes and Prejudices

   From the 16th century, African American people were facing racial discrimination. As they had a different color of skin, they were treated unfavorably and even violently.
4. The African American Soldiers in the American Revolution

   The slaves joined the military with a patriotic spirit. This revolutionary army also included free African-Americans who willingly joined the fighting force.
5. Cardiovascular Disease in African American Population

   This paper assembly could provide assistance to improve the distinguishing of racial differences in cardiovascular disease in the framework of the context of the United States.
6. Higher Education for African American Women: Problems and Challenges

   African American women experience problems in the sphere of higher education. The research identifies barriers and factors connected with this problem.
7. African American Politics and Their Representation in the Media

   This paper provides a discussion on African American politics and generally looks at how African Americans are represented in the media.
8. African Americans and Politics in the Media

   This paper generally discusses African American politics in the media. The paper is developed using secondary sources accessed through Google books as well as journal articles.
9. Obesity in African Americans: Prevention and Therapy

   According to the official statistics, African American people present the group of American citizens which is the most susceptible to obesity.
10. Portrayal of African Americans in the Movies

    This paper discusses the changing portrayal of African Americans in 1930-1960s films with reference to Negro Soldier, Gone with the Wind, and Double Indemnity.
11. Prostate Cancer: African American Cancer Initiative

    The initiative will to create awareness about the risks of prostate cancer and the importance of regular screening. It has been designed reduce the health disparities between the races.
12. Higher Education Role for African American Women

    The data analysis on the role of higher education for African American women consists of such steps as the analysis of the secondary data, qualitative data, and the quantitative data.
13. Cardiovascular Diseases in African Americans

    The research provides essential information to impact nursing practice because it informs key measures professionals should use to eliminate racial disparities in the prevention of stroke.
14. African Americans and Equality Under the Law

    The purpose of this paper is to indicate the challenges faced by African Americans and their quest for a law that governs equality in the United States of America.
15. Presentation of African Americans in Education Programs

    This paper looks at peer-reviewed journals relate to culturally diverse pedagogy and African American student experiences in general and special education.
16. Health Issues Affecting African Americans and Hispanics

    Healthcare practitioners should provide adequate care to different members of the community. This exercise examines the health issues affecting African Americans and Hispanics.
17. Descendants of Slaves: African Americans

    The psychological consequences of slavery for African Americans are discussed widely in society. In order to discuss the problem it is necessary to find the answer to the research question.
18. Improving the African Americans Health in the USA

    Majority of the people in the community are Latinos and African Americans. The community has been dealing with a wide range of health conditions and diseases.
19. Diet Educational Intervention for African Americans

    Obesity among African American middle-aged and older adults is an important problem that is not sufficiently addressed in research.
20. Education for African American Women: Breaking Barriers Program

    The goal of this paper is to prove that the Breaking Barriers program will help African American women get rid of a negative image of themselves as learners.
21. Health Status of African American Community

    The health of minority groups often requires additional attention due to a variety of socio-political, cultural and socioeconomic factors.
22. Stroke Education Needs of African American Women

    The author conducted a series of interviews in order to raise such an important topic as stroke symptoms awareness among a specific group represented by African American women.
23. The Number of African Americans in Baseball

    Researchers in sociology acknowledge that the reduced number of African Americans in baseball is a reflection of America’s past race relations.
24. Hispanics and African Americans in Miami Community

    Miami is one of the diverse communities in Florida. This is the case because it is characterized by different ethnic groups such as African Americans, Latinos.
25. African American Family Assessment and Diagnosis

    Some of the goals that the family expects to achieve overtime include advancing their children’s education and starting a business that will increase the family revenue.
26. Healthcare: Stroke Education Needs of African American Women

    This paper criticizes an article by Beal, which is based on a study aimed at exploring the perception of African American women pertain stroke and evaluate their health searching tendencies.
27. How African Americans Change the Sport?

    This paper going to take a trip to the past and explored the barriers and problems that African-Americans had to face in order to be included in American sports.
28. African Americans: Health Related Issues Identification

    There are many health-related issues that can be relevant to African Americans. Some of the issues are chronic health problems caused by poor living conditions.
29. Racial Profiling of African American Drivers

    Driving while black is a concept that is widely used by journalists and bloggers to draw the audience’s attention to the problem of racial profiling.
30. Racism Against African Americans as a Social Construct

    The relationship between African Americans and whites in the US demonstrates that racism is perpetuated by individuals through their actions and interactions.
31. Melvin Tolson and Toni Morrison: African American Equality

    This paper compares and contrasts Melvin B. Tolson and Toni Morrison’s approaches in addressing African American equality, with a close focus on their literal works and the associated themes.
32. HIV and AIDS among African American Women

    This essay gives a detailed description of HIV/AIDS among African American women. It also outlines the best leadership practices that can improve the level of social support.

👍 Good African American Research Topics & Essay Examples

1. Diabetes Interventions for Aging African Americans

   Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a disease that affects the quality of life of many people. In this paper, aging African Americans with T2DM will be chosen as a focus group.
2. Police’s Brutality Towards African American Males

   Police brutality and violence directed against African Americans is a common problem in the United States. This paper assesses this problem and determines how it can be addressed.
3. The Historical Background of African Americans

   The paper presents the historical background of African American population. It states the historical events which brought African people to America.
4. Asthma Factors Among African Americans in California

   The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors predicting asthma among adult foreign-born African Americans in California.
5. Different Roles in African American Literature

   In both “We shall overcome” and Martin Luther King’s speech, there are different roles accorded to African American women of that time.
6. Breaking Barriers Program: African American Women

   To evaluate the program Breaking Barriers: African American Women in Science effectively, it is necessary to concentrate on quantitative data and qualitative sources of information.
7. Schizophrenia Features Among African American Men

   Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that may occur at any age. African Americans usually have severe psychotic symptoms regarding the scope and quality of hallucinations.
8. Diseases and Health Promotion in African Americans

   African Americans tend to be faced with certain adverse health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, HIV, and stroke, more often than White individuals.
9. African Americans in the United States’ History

   African Americans have managed to achieve justice and acquired the same status as other races of American society.
10. Supporting African American Women in Pursuing Higher Education

    The goal of the phenomenological qualitative study is to examine the lived experiences of African American women participants seeking higher education.
11. African American Women and Higher Education Barriers

    Critical Race Theory is theoretical perspective that support the research because it is effective to explain why African American women can face certain difficulties in higher education.
12. Health Issues Affecting Latinos and African Americans

    This paper compares and contrasts how health issues affect the Latino and African American populations within the community with the view to suggesting actionable changes to their specific needs.
13. African American Women in Science

    Science is one of fields which are overwhelmed by prejudice and bias especially when it comes to African American females.
14. African Americans and Racial Profiling in the USA

    This paper highlights the problems of white privilege and racial profiling and emphasizes that both of these phenomena are common in contemporary America.
15. Single African American Mothers’ Experiences With Sons

    Parenting adolescents is a challenging task in the modern American society. The problem is compounded when one is forced to raise such teenagers as a single mother.
16. Diabetes in African American Patients

    This research project addresses the implications of diabetes for African American patients and reviews the possible ways of treating it.
17. The Religion of African Americans during the 20th Century

    The theme of religion enables an appreciation of historical backgrounds of a people. The African-American society is seen to affirm to the concept of subordination, which encourages their slavery.
18. Health Status and Promotion Among African Americans

    This paper not only looks into the current health status of African Americans, but also assesses issues of health promotion and health disparities as they relate to this group.
19. Asthma Care Education in African American Children

    In African American children, will proper education on asthma management compared to no education help reduce the disruption of daily lives over a one-year period?
20. African American Women in Higher Education

    In the field of higher education in the United States, activities of public administrators are directed toward improving the availability of higher education for African Americans.
21. Biases Against Female African American Researchers

    Qualitative studies are often regarded as biased. This paper includes a brief analysis of the possible prejudice being an African American female researcher.
22. Higher Education for African American Women

    This study is aimed at investigating whether African American women experience certain barriers while obtaining their higher education.
23. Education Issues for African American Women

    This work presents the literature review of a discussion on the barriers and success strategies for African American women to obtain higher education.
24. African American Minority in the School Workplace

    This paper discusses the issue of the minority in the workplace, using an interview with an African American male, the employee teacher in a secondary school.
25. African American Cultural Group and Heritage

    This paper contains presentation about African Americans as cultural group and African American Heritage as socio-cultural group using scientific literature, Internet resources, and other sources.
26. Are African Americans More Harassed by Police?

    The paper explores the hypothesis that members of the African American community are more likely to be harassed by the police than members of other ethnic groups.
27. African American, African and Haitian Heritage Culture

    African American and African cultural group is represented by individuals who live in Africa or in the African Diaspora in the USA. Haitian Heritage’s socio-cultural group includes people from Haiti.
28. African American Expressive Culture

    The belonging to the American and African culture at the same time made me more inclinable and amiable towards other cultures.
29. African American Women’s Education and Barriers

    This qualitative research study will examine cultural, economic, spiritual, and social barriers that African American women face in obtaining higher education.
30. African American Studies: Political Socialization

    The dual process of political socialization can be defined as the acquisition of political views from a combined overview of self and others.
31. Single African American Mothers: Research Methods

    This project narrows down the focus of the study to single African American females’ experience of being mothers to their adolescent sons.

🌶️ Hot African American Ideas to Write about

1. African American Female College Students’ Barriers

   The literature reviewed discussed the barriers and success strategies for African American women to obtain higher education.
2. Single African American Parents: Literature Review

   Parenting among single African American women poses serious challenges. This paper reviews existing literature to understand what other scholars have found out in this field.
3. African American Revolutionary Era

   The revolutionary period that took place in the eighteenth century is among the most eventful eras in United States history.
4. Harlem Renaissance and African American Society

   The research paper will answer the question of the influence of the Harlem Renaissance on the progress of African American society in terms of religion and family.
5. African American Stereotype Threat

   The present paper reveals the reasons for and outcomes of the stereotype threat and emphasizes the prospective advantages of such a kind of influence.
6. African American Students’ Civil Rights History

   The Civil Rights movement in the United States has a long history. Starting in the 1950s, this social impetus for change implied taking direct action.
7. Harlem Renaissance: African American Identity

   Harlem in New York became the center of the cultural recovery for African Americans after the Great Migration of Blacks to the Northern states of the country, including New York.
8. Teaching Sessions for African American Children With Asthma Issue

   The problem is that African-American children are likely to have this disease twice more compared to other races. These children are at risk regardless of social status and family income.
9. HIV Among Caucasian, African American, and Latino Homosexual Men

   Creating awareness at the community level would play a significant role in reducing the number of new HIV infections among Caucasian, African American, and Latino homosexual men.
10. Health Promotion Among African Americans

    The present paper offers the analysis of health problems faced by African Americans and suggests health promotion approaches to reduce the risks.
11. Single African American Mothers’ Experiences of Relationships With Their Sons

    During the review of the literature, different factors were identified, which may have a direct influence on the relationship between single African American mothers and their adolescent sons.
12. African American Women Education: Barriers Population Faces

    The present phenomenological study involving African American women aims to explore the barriers that the population faces when seeking higher education
13. Factors Influencing Breast Cancer Screening in Low-Income African Americans in Tennessee

    This article focuses on understanding the factors that are associated with the decision and obstacles to breast cancer screening in African-American women living in Tennessee.
14. Lung Cancer Early Screening in African Americans

    New communication policies should be incorporated into the healthcare system in the US to enhance annual CT screening for high-risk patients exposed to smoke and chemical poisons.
15. Data Mining Techniques for African American Childhood Obesity Factors

    One of the major healthcare problems that manifest significant racial disparities is obesity. In the US, research suggests that African American children have increased risks of developing the issue.
16. HIV Management in African American Residents of Houston, TX

    Due to the drop in health literacy levels among vulnerable groups, along with restricted access to the necessary healthcare resources, the levels of HIV have risen among the specified demographic.
17. Single African American Mothers and Their Relationship With Adolescent Sons

    The study focused on investigating the experience of single African American mothers of their relationship with their adolescent sons.
18. Major Problems in African American History by T. Holt

    The resistance to slavery seem to have been evolved from the culture and the way the communities interpreted the incidents happening around them.
19. African Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights

    The Law proclaimed equal rights for all, African Americans are not slaves any more, and they have the same rights as Native Americans, but still the problem remains.
20. African Americans in Films

    Acquiring equal status in white society gave African Americans a possibility to take part in its social life; this resulted in their self-realizations through literature, music, etc.
21. History of African Americans in Florida

    African Americans are people who are either citizens or residents of the United States of America whose ancestors came from one of the black populations inhabit African continent.
22. African American Leadership: Articles Review

    It is very evident from the articles described above that African American leaders had a lot of challenges in the earlier days.
23. Jim Crow Laws for African American

    Jim Crow laws of separate but equal facilities and services for the whites and black Americans were not ideal. African American continued to suffer from inequality.
24. Africa’s Role for African Americans in Literature

    Africa means the consciousness of having a particular way of doing things. This is because the African culture has so many events which are carried out seasonally.
25. Wilson and Hughes’ Portrayal of African Americans

    The twentieth century was the era of the African-American cultural movements and numerous, besides, successful attempts of African- Americans to present themselves.
26. United States History and African American Movements

    This essay is about the rise of the different movements that fought for African American emancipation, the government’s reaction and action towards them
27. African American Women Obtaining Higher Education

    Over the past few years, African American women have gained a number of opportunities for pursuing higher education. Women in their 40s-50s are finally capable of getting a degree.
28. The African American Art Expression

    Nowadays the existence of art is independent and democratic throughout the world unlike America’s 20th century battles for African Americans’ art implementation the way they saw it.
29. Retention Rate for African American Women Aged 40-50 in Obtaining Higher Education

    Recent reports have shown, that the retention rates among African American students aged 40–50 remain comparatively low despite the latest changes in standards for job applicants.
30. African American Women and Stroke Education

    The investigations prove that when it comes to stroke education, African American women are the little-informed category.
31. The Making of African American: American Historiography

    The change in the number of African Americans in USA was even felt in church congregations. In New York, immigrants composed well over a third of the whole black population.

🎓 Most Interesting African American Research Titles

1. African American Population in the United States

   Socioeconomics of the African American population demonstrate that Black American middle class has long since established in the United States.
2. Retention Rates & Modalities Rate of African American Children Aged 4–9

   Students’ learning patterns and the stages of information processing, which students go through, must be observed closely from the very start of the child’s academic life.
3. Social Sciences: African American Stereotypes

   Dating back to the colonial years of settlement, stereotypes have been part of America, especially after inheriting slavery.
4. Mathematics Performance Among African Americans in Los Angeles

   This essay will act as an advocacy piece for African American students who have registered varying performances in mathematics within the Los Angeles School Department.
5. African Americans in the Revolutionary War

   Slavery and its factors such as the lack of basic human and civil rights, severe living conditions resulted in many African Americans joining the Revolutionary War.
6. African American Females’ Experiences in Community Colleges

   Although African American women receive many opportunities to get a degree, there are still some barriers that can be faced by women of color on their path to higher education.
7. The African American Nurse: Discrimination Case From the Elderly Patients

   Elderly patients who have discriminatory tendencies simply do not respect or trust doctors or nurses who are from a minority.
8. Single African American Mothers’ Relationships With Sons

   The research topic for this study dealt with the experiences of single African American mothers’ relationships with their sons.
9. COVID-19 Mortality Among African Americans

   The primary factors that affect mortality rates among African Americans are underlying health conditions and discrepancy in access to care.
10. The Need for Curriculum Change Among African American Students

    The purpose of the study was to determine if schools’ racial composition had a significant impact on the achievement of students in elementary, middle, and high schools.
11. Wellness Education Program for African Americans

    A new wellness education program for African Americans will cover the educational needs of the latter concerning healthy prevention practices and management of diabetes.
12. African Americans During World War II

    During World War II, African Americans served in every capacity while simultaneously struggling to advance their status in society and gain more civil rights.
13. Civil Rights for African Americans: Evolution From the Civil War to Today

    Due to the efforts of many activists, African Americans gained the status of free citizens and equal rights in the second half of the 20th century, which continues to this day.
14. The Literature of African American Diaspora

    In the second half and at the end of the 20th century, African American literature revisited some topics that are classic in the African American literary tradition.
15. African American Females Diversity in the Workplace

    The US labor market is overwhelmed with a variety of discriminative practices, one of the most common causes of discrimination is the one associated with a part-time job.
16. Freedom of African Americans in the Southern States

    The abolition of slavery in the United States was a long process rather than a series of amendments to the Constitution.
17. Cultural Identity Formation of Black Americans and African Americans

    The relations between two cultures that possibly share certain standard features (be it language or parts of history) may seduce one to view them as the same.
18. Police Violence Against African Americans in the USA

    The statistic shows that the violence from law enforcement officials causes thousands of deaths of black men in the USA.
19. Police Brutality Against African Americans and Media Portrayal

    Police brutality toward the African-American population of the United States is an issue that has received nationwide publicity in recent years.
20. African American Women and Cancer

    The existing disparities regarding healthcare services provision in the United States is a critical issue related to such phenomena as racial and gender discrimination.
21. Coronary Artery Disease: Prevalence of Risk Factors in African American Society

    Hypertension compounds risk of developing coronary artery disease by encouraging left ventricular hypertrophy and malfunctioning of endothelium.
22. Religion and Its Role Among African Americans

    Religion has become a shared platform where African Americans could support their fellows and contribute to their communities.
23. African American Cultural Group’s Health Analysis

    African Americans have increased levels of consciousness about the importance of medical care. However, their levels of literacy for health affairs vary with each generation.
24. The Various Risk Factors that Face African American Men and Women over 50 Years

    The research paper discusses similarities and differences of cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, musculoskeletal risk factors in African American men and women over 50 years.
25. Contrasts the Chinese American Culture With the African American Culture

    This paper compares and contrasts the Chinese American culture with the African American culture. Just like African Americans, Chinese Americans tend towards more traditional values.
26. Health Status of the African Americans

    The current paper seeks to focus on the health status of African Americans group and decipher whether disparity prevails.
27. Substance Abuse Among African American Women in Miami

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss substance abuse among African American women aged 25-55 years living in Miami.
28. HIV-Positive African American Women Living in Rural Areas

    This study shows how Black American women have a higher transmission rate of being infected and are more affected relative to their counterparts in the population.
29. HIV Treatment in the African American Women

    The research is important for finding out the connections between social support and HIV treatment in the African American women population, which is the most affected.
30. Treatment Compliance Among African American Women With HIV

    This study looks into how African American women relate to HIV in terms of treatment and the social support offered to those living with HIV.
31. Police Brutality Against African Americans

    The issue being examined refers to the problem of police brutality on African Americans. The mentioned problem is a burning one and is vividly expressed in modern society.

📌 Easy African American Essay Topics

1. HIV Treatment Compliance in African American Women

   The study tries to prove that social support for African American females affects HIV treatment adherence and allows them to cope with negative influences.
2. African American Cultural Group’s Health Beliefs

   The African American community is the second-largest minority ethnic community in the US. Many African Americans are increasingly becoming aware of modern healthcare options.
3. Problem of Malaria in the African American Community

   This paper examines how Community-Based Participatory Research will be used to address the problem of malaria in the African American community.
4. HIV Treatment Compliance and Social Support Among African American Women

   HIV is one of the major public health threats. Researchers find that among all the groups of the American population, African-Americans are affected by HIV the most.
5. Police Brutality Against African Americans in America

   The purpose of this article is to describe the different approaches to researching the problem of police brutality against African Americans.
6. Healthcare System for Native and African Americans

   This paper discusses historical events contributing to mistrust of the health care system and steps to reduce health disparities among Native Americans and African Americans.
7. Health Outcomes of African Americans With Hypertension

   This paper looks at various issues regarding hypertension and how best health care providers can deal with hypertension as a menace to society.
8. Advocacy Campaign for Hypertension in African American Population

   The paper argues health risks can be eliminated with the help of thoroughly designed and successfully implemented health advocacy campaigns.
9. Civil Rights Struggle of African Americans

   This paper aims to analyze three primary sources to reveal in detail the various aspects of the struggle for African Americans’ rights.
10. African American Population’s Health-Related Problems

    This paper provides a critical analysis of the factors that put African Americans at greater health risks and steps that can be taken by the governments to address this problem.
11. Increase the Rate of Exclusive Breastfeeding Among African American

    Other factors to consider will be the absence of conditions excluding or complicating breastfeeding and belonging to the African American race.
12. African American Students in Special Education

    The author notes that African American students are more likely to be identified as being mentally retarded, labeled as having learning disabilities.
13. Obesity and Disparity in African American Women

    Several studies indicate that the rate of developing obesity is the highest in African American populations in the US.
14. Marginalized Status of African Americans in the USA

    The Unites States experiences inequality among African-American people due to their skin color, violating their rights.
15. African American Women and Higher Education Barriers

    This research takes a qualitative interpretative phenomenology approach to study the barriers that African-American women face when obtaining higher education.
16. African American Students’ Perceptions of Higher Education Barriers

    The topic that will be explored in the current study is the barriers that African American women face in higher education settings.
17. African American Families in Poverty

    Even though the United States declares the equality of white and black people quite often, the socio-economic situation of African Americans still need changes for the better.
18. Aspects of African American Culture

    The paper states that African Americans historically have expressed themselves through art, shaping the American cultural landscape.
19. Psychosocial Keys to African American Achievement

    The scholarly work answers the problem by using quantitative methods for assessing if psychological variables affect the achievement of high-performing African American students.
20. Diabetes in African Americans and Effectiveness of Educational Sessions

    According to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, over a tenth of the population has diabetes and related conditions, and the number of new cases continues to rise rapidly.
21. African Americans’ Issues in the Healthcare Sector

    The African Americans feared that their race could be used for testing new medicine in the market without their consent.
22. Sampling for African American HIV Women Study

    This paper is aimed at defining the appropriate sampling strategy and sample size for the study concerning the relationship between HIV treatment compliance and social support.
23. African Americans: Participation in the Civil War

    According to the research paper, African Americans were doing their utmost in order to prevent slavery during the Civil War.
24. African American Women With HIV in the United States

    This paper aims to determine factors that can influence treatment compliance among African American women and provide support during the treatment process.
25. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois Fighting Discrimination Against African Americans

    Washington prioritized education as the vehicle for African American people to gain independence, whereas Du Bois emphasized the significance of political involvement.
26. African American Genomes Largest Study

    The study allows historians to look more closely at the conditions of the slave trade and establish new facts, using DNA analysis techniques to help in investigating.
27. Police Brutality on African Americans

    Police brutality against African Americans has been on the rise even after several constitutional and legal reforms made by the country to control it.
28. Overview of African Americans’ Genetic Diseases

    African Americans are more likely to suffer from certain diseases than white Americans, according to numerous studies.
29. Nutrition Plan for an African American Woman for High Cholesterol

    In the case study, Ms. Ellie is elderly and has a history of diabetes. Her job allows her a minimal physical activity level of about ten hours a week.
30. African American Experience During the Harlem Renaissance

    The essay discusses the life of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance and examines how the poems reflect that experience.
31. Treating Mental Disorders Among African Americans

    Compared to other ethnic communities in the United States, African Americans are more severely affected with emotional and behavioral disorders.

💡 Simple African American Essay Ideas

1. African American: History and the Present
2. American Society and the Impact of the African American Family
3. African American Contributions During the Civil War
4. General Characteristics Afro-American Religion and Its Origins
5. African American Leaders Post Reconstruction
6. Overview of African American Artists During the Great Depression
7. African American Colonial Lifestyle Overview
8. Analysis of African American Music and Its Impact on American Culture
9. Causes of Migration of African Americans and Foreign Immigration
10. African American Paintings During the Harlem Renaissance
11. African American Integration and Independence
12. Overview of Stereotypes of African American Youth
13. African American Males and Disparity in the Justice System
14. General Information on the African American Civil Rights Movement
15. African American and Racial Generalization
16. African American Males and Secondary Education
17. Abraham Lincoln and the Use of African American Troops
18. African American Men and the United States Prison System
19. Analysis of African American Cultural Beliefs
20. African American Literature and Spirituality
21. African American Athletes and Their Role in Foreign and Domestic Policy