Abstract: Policy failure is an universal problem of modern government governance, and policy capacity is also an important part of governance capacity. The causes of policy failure can be analyzed from the dimensions of policy environmental constraints, policy defects, policy subject behavior, ineffective policy monitoring and so on. In order to avoid policy failure, it is necessary to construct an holistic decision-making system based on evidence-based decision-making, a public interest-oriented interest coordination mechanism, a result-oriented policy correction and learning mechanism, and a policy ability-oriented policy quality improvement system, to effectively prevent policy failure, improve the quality of public policy, and promote the scientization and modernization of China’s public policy.