Description
Book SynopsisH. K. Colebatch''s The Work of Policy provides an international perspective on the field of policy analysis. Colebatch collects voices from around the world to consider the applicability of policy models to the actual practice of policy work. International case studies demonstrate that policy work takes a variety of forms, and policy analysis plays only a small role. Claudia Scott addresses the changing nature of policy analysis in New Zealand due to changing priorities and a lack of well-funded think-tanks, while Zdravko Petak''s study of Croatia illustrates the development of policy analysis as part of a struggle to create a zone for critique outside the dominant central bureaucratic system. Other chapters, such as Kyungja Jung''s look at the development of women''s policy in South Korea, reveal the importance of understanding policy work in the context of the historical trajectory of the political process. These studies illustrate the importance of the institutional dimension in policy work: the organizational framework through which it takes place, the discourses in use, and the values that underlie both the discourses and the organization. Combining policy analysis with comparative politics, this unique collection should be read by scholars around the globe who are striving to gain a better understanding of the range of practice that makes policy.
Trade ReviewColebatch and an international team of contributors use primary documents, interviews with elites, and other sources to examine the intersection of comparative public administration and comparative politics. The book stresses potential tensions between policy analysis as presented academically, and a broader set of tasks central to what these authros call "policy work" in practice. . . . The central contribution of Colebatch's volume is its detailed exploration of how techniques of polciy analysis have been adapted by bureaucrats and lobbyists alike in response to specific changes in the government's structure, and its partisian composition. Recommeneded. * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Is there a standard model of policy work ? Chapter 2 Policy, Models and the Construction of Governing Chapter 3 Professionalization and Policy Analysis: the Case of the United States Part 4 Policy work and the State Bureaucracy Chapter 5 How policy workers define their job: a Netherlands case study Chapter 6 The Changing Policy Environment in Japan Chapter 7 Decentralization and Policy Analysis in Croatia Part 8 Policy Work and Political Change Chapter 9 The Development of Women's Policy in South Korea Chapter 10 Policy Work and Public Management Reform in New Zealand Chapter 11 Policy-making in Finland: Consensus and Change Part 12 Institutionalization and Discourse in Policy Work Chapter 13 Gender, Budgetary Processes and Policy in Korea Chapter 14 The Voice of Reason in Policy Discourse: Whispers from the Local Level of Government Chapter 15 Policy Knowledge for Policy Work Chapter 16 Mapping the Work of Policy
