Description
Book SynopsisHow to Do Public Policy offers a guide to students and practitioners on how to improve problem-solving with policies in a political world. It integrates insights from applied policy analysis and studies of the policy process to develop a framework that conceives policy-making as structured by two spheres of action - the ''engine room'' of specialists and experts in government agencies, NGOs, research organizations etc., on the one hand, and the political ''superstructure'' of politicians, key public stakeholders and the public, on the other hand. Understanding the different logics of the engine room and the superstructure is key for successful policy-making. The dual structure of policy-making provides a perspective on policy-analysis (interactive policy analysis) and policy-making (actor-centred policy-making) that moves from the focus on individual and specific measures, towards understanding and shaping the relation and interaction between policy interventions, the institutional con
Trade ReviewThis is an excellent textbook to prepare students in public policy programmes for professional roles in the "engine room" of the policy process. It is well-structured and presents the approaches and analytical methods of public-policy studies lucidly. The authors uniquely and most impressively achieve to integrate technical policy analysis with the perspective of empirical political science. They discuss the tools and limits of evidence-based policy analysis brilliantly and combine them with a sophisticated, but non-cynical, awareness of how policy choices are shaped by multi-actor politics, responding to the contingent salience of political scandals, crises, and windows of opportunity. The book effectively conveys the teachable skills for policy analysts with a realistic awareness of the importance and the limits of their role in the irreducible contingencies of political processes. * Fritz W. Scharpf, Emeritus Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies *
Table of ContentsPart I: Process Intro to Part I: Understanding the Policy Process 1: Public Policy 2: The Dual Structure of Policy Making 3: How to Set the Agenda Part II Policies Intro to Part II: Understanding the Toolbox 4: How to Choose and Design Policy Instruments 5: How to Implement Public Policy 6: How to Evaluate Policies Part III: Capacities Intro to Part III: Understanding Capacities 7: How to Engage with Stakeholders 8: How to Coordinate Public Policy 9: How to Work with Institutions 10: Conclusions Annex
