Description
Book SynopsisThis readable and comprehensive introduction to the principles of public-policy analysis is the first book to integrate the tools students need to analyze policies with the common sense they need to understand how real policies are made.
Table of ContentsPart 1 Policy happens when we decide to decide: an overview of policy analysis as a profession and a process; deciding how to decide - "experts", "the people", and "the market". Part 2 Why is policy analysis important?: a benchmark for performance - what is a "market"; case study 1 - a simple exchange economy; evaluation and "market failure" - criteria for intervention; experts and "advocacy" - the limits of policy analysis; democracy and "government failure" - the limits of choice by the people; case study 2 - a simple command polity. Part 3 How is policy analysis conducted?: the welfare economics paradigm - introduction to analytics; choice of regulatory form - efficiency, equity, or politics?; case study 3 social security crisis. Part 4 Cost-benefit analysis; discounting 1 - probability, expected values and risk; discounting 2 - time; cost-benefit analysis.
