This article aims to present an analysis of the social policy process, with special relevance to the model of analysis of the policy cycle in phases or moments, as a strategy for Social Work. We start from the perspective of Michael Lipsky (1976, 2010) who considers the social worker as an implementing agent of public policy, as an active agent with influence on policy, as a real "policy maker". Thus, the article presents the three phases of the cycle - formulation, implementation and evaluation - in order to expose a general framework that can be operationalised and used as a tool to analyse the policies that these professionals implement.
Facing the need to analyse politics contributes to the politicisation of intervention, through the mobilisation of power in the struggle of forces which characterise the social field. If this challenge is not taken up, the social work profession can be seen as merely executive, abdicating its propositional function and its active role in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of social policies.