Policy Problems and Policy Design

Policy Problems and Policy Design
Author: B. Guy Peters
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2018-07-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1786431351

Public policy can be considered a design science. It involves identifying relevant problems, selecting instruments to address the problem, developing institutions for managing the intervention, and creating means of assessing the design. Policy design has become an increasingly challenging task, given the emergence of numerous ‘wicked’ and complex problems. Much of policy design has adopted a technocratic and engineering approach, but there is an emerging literature that builds on a more collaborative and prospective approach to design. This book will discuss these issues in policy design and present alternative approaches to design.

Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning

Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning
Author: Carl Patton
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2015-08-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317350006

Updated in its 3rd edition, Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning presents quickly applied methods for analyzing and resolving planning and policy issues at state, regional, and urban levels. Divided into two parts, Methods which presents quick methods in nine chapters and is organized around the steps in the policy analysis process, and Cases which presents seven policy cases, ranging in degree of complexity, the text provides readers with the resources they need for effective policy planning and analysis. Quantitative and qualitative methods are systematically combined to address policy dilemmas and urban planning problems. Readers and analysts utilizing this text gain comprehensive skills and background needed to impact public policy.

Theory and Practice in Policy Analysis

Theory and Practice in Policy Analysis
Author: M. Granger Morgan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2017-10-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1316886999

Many books instruct readers on how to use the tools of policy analysis. This book is different. Its primary focus is on helping readers to look critically at the strengths, limitations, and the underlying assumptions analysts make when they use standard tools or problem framings. Using examples, many of which involve issues in science and technology, the book exposes readers to some of the critical issues of taste, professional responsibility, ethics, and values that are associated with policy analysis and research. Topics covered include policy problems formulated in terms of utility maximization such as benefit-cost, decision, and multi-attribute analysis, issues in the valuation of intangibles, uncertainty in policy analysis, selected topics in risk analysis and communication, limitations and alternatives to the paradigm of utility maximization, issues in behavioral decision theory, issues related to organizations and multiple agents, and selected topics in policy advice and policy analysis for government.

Public Policy Analysis

Public Policy Analysis
Author: William N. Dunn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 640
Release: 2015-07-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317344839

Public Policy Analysis, the most widely cited book on the subject, provides readers with a comprehensive methodology of public policy analysis. Starting from the premise that policy analysis is an applied social science discipline designed for solving practical problems facing public and nonprofit organizations, the book bridges the gap between theory and practice. It provides practical skills for conducting policy analysis and communicating findings through memos, position papers, and other forms of structured analytical writing. The book asks readers to critically anazlye the arguments of policy practitioners as well as political scientists, economists, and political philosophers.

The Politics of Policy Analysis

The Politics of Policy Analysis
Author: Paul Cairney
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2021-02-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030661229

This book focuses on two key ways to improve the literature surrounding policy analysis. Firstly, it explores the implications of new developments in policy process research, on the role of psychology in communication and the multi-centric nature of policymaking. This is particularly important since policy analysts engage with policymakers who operate in an environment over which they have limited understanding and even less control. Secondly, it incorporates insights from studies of power, co-production, feminism, and decolonisation, to redraw the boundaries of policy-relevant knowledge. These insights help raise new questions and change expectations about the role and impact of policy analysis.

Policy Analysis as Problem Solving

Policy Analysis as Problem Solving
Author: Rachel Meltzer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2018-12-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351807358

Drawing extensively from real-life cases, Policy Analysis as Problem Solving helps students develop the analytic skills necessary to advise government officials and nonprofit executives on a wide range of policy issues. Unlike other texts, Policy Analysis as Problem Solving employs a pragmatic, heterodox approach to the field. Whereas most texts on policy analysis are anchored in microeconomics, emphasizing economic efficiency, this book takes a broader view, using realistic examples to illustrate the full scope of policy analysis. The book provides succinct but thorough discussions of the key elements of the policy-analytic process, including problem definition, objectives and criteria, development of alternative policy options, and analysis of these alternatives. The text’s practical approach and extensive downloadable resources—which include interviews, case studies, and further readings—will be of enormous benefit to both students and instructors of policy analysis.

Deliberative Policy Analysis

Deliberative Policy Analysis
Author: Maarten A. Hajer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2003-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521530705

What kind of policy analysis is required now that governments increasingly encounter the limits of governing? Exploring the new contexts of politics and policy making, this book presents an original analysis of the relationship between state and society, and new possibilities for collective learning and conflict resolution. The key insight of the book is that democratic governance calls for a new deliberatively-oriented policy analysis. Traditionally policy analysis has been state-centered, based on the assumption that central government is self-evidently the locus of governing. Drawing on detailed empirical examples, the book examines the influence of developments such as increasing ethnic and cultural diversity, the complexity of socio-technical systems, and the impact of transnational arrangements on national policy making. This contextual approach indicates the need to rethink the relationship between social theory, policy analysis, and politics. The book is essential reading for all those involved in the study of public policy.

International Public Policy Analysis

International Public Policy Analysis
Author: George M. Guess
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2016-07-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317201787

Most public policy analysis books currently on the market are US-centric and focused on quantitative analysis, while comparative public policy textbooks are oriented around countries and specific policy processes. International Public Policy Analysis is the first textbook to take a truly comparative and cross-cultural approach, organized around policy issues, to examine important policy ‘lessons’ that affect the everyday lives of citizens. Authors George Guess and Thomas Husted demonstrate that incremental, marginal changes in sectoral policy systems using cross-national lessons can lead to larger changes in country policies, democracy, and better governance. While whole-systems policy transfer without major adaptation to local cultural and institutional contexts often does not work, many opportunities exist in each sector for operational-level piecemeal transfer of lessons and practices to improve policy performance. Jargon-free and using a cross-cultural approach, the individual chapters in this book utilize a 3-level analysis to review the policy issue areas, present analytic tools and frameworks, and provide cases/exercises for practice in applying the methods and frameworks. International Public Policy Analysis is an essential upper-level undergraduate and graduate textbook for courses on comparative public policy, policy process, political economy, and international policy analysis, and may also be used as required reading in introductory public affairs and policy courses at the graduate level.