Policy Analysis For Big Issues

This book offers a novel, refreshing and politically engaged way to think about public policy. Instead of treating policy as simply the government’s best efforts to address problems, it offers a way to question critically how policies produce “problems” as particular sorts of problems, with important political implications. Governing, it is argued, takes place through these problematizations. According to the authors, interrogating policies and policy proposals as problematizations involves asking questions about the assumptions they rely upon, how they have been made, what their effects are, as well as how they could be unmade. To enable this form of critical analysis, this book introduces an analytic strategy, the “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) approach. It features examples of applications of the approach with topics as diverse as obesity, economic policy, migration, drug and alcohol policy, and gender equality to illustrate the growing popularity of this way of thinking and to provide clear and useful examples of poststructural policy analysis in practice.

In a world grappling with seemingly insurmountable challenges like systemic corruption, elitism, and chronic inequality, this book is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of practical solutions. Brimming with real-world examples and actionable insights, this remarkable anthology equips readers with the knowledge and inspiration needed to ignite transformative change. The book explores topics as awesome as world development, as sordid as extortion, as vital as cultural responsiveness, as intimidating as racial inequalities. Its settings stretch from Harvard to the Himalayas, from the corridors of power to the backwaters of poor places. What binds together its diverse topics is the author’s belief in the possibility of simultaneously being humane and analytical, of dealing with both ultimate goals and concrete choices. Tailored to resonate with policymakers, activists, and scholars alike, this anthology’s global scope and unwavering focus on positive and practical solutions make it an indispensable addition to any collection.

Policy Studies courses are being increasingly offered in public policy schools, political science departments, public administration programmes, and elsewhere. There seems to be a consensus that a basic core of policy courses should deal with policy methods, the policy process, and policy substance. Each can be a course in itself for a term apiece or longer, or as parts of a larger course. This book is designed to deal with the basic theoretical issues in public policy analysis. Those basic issues can be divided into conceptual theory, theory of knowing, casual theory and normative theory.

Thoroughly updated with new and fresh examples, " Beyond policy analysis " examines the shifting environment of public sector governance. The text goes through the stages of policy formulation, design, implementation, and evaluation, but does so by looking at what has changed in the way governments operate today. Unlike other texts, " Beyond policy analysis " focuses on analytic tools and the conceptual side of public policy, blending strong theory with vivid examples and real-world context.

The growth of what some academics refer to as 'the policy analysis movement' represents an effort to reform certain aspects of government behaviour. The policy analysis movement is the result of efforts made by actors inside and outside formal political decision-making processes to improve policy outcomes by applying systematic evaluative rationality to the development and implementation of policy options. This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the many ways in which the policy analysis movement has been conducted, and to what effect, in Canadian governments and, for the first time, in business associations, labour unions, universities, and other non-governmental organizations. Editors Laurent Dobuzinskis, Michael Howlett, and David Laycock have brought together a wide range of contributors to address questions such as: What do policy analysts do? What techniques and approaches do they use? What is their influence on policy-making in Canada? Is there a policy analysis deficit? What norms and values guide the work done by policy analysts working in different institutional settings? Contributors focus on the sociology of policy analysis, demonstrating how analysts working in different organizations tend to have different interests and to utilize different techniques. They compare and analyze the significance of these different styles and approaches, and speculate about their impact on the policy process.

This edition contains updated materials involving actual complex policy issues, such as cigarette smoking regulations, air pollution control, public transit financing, HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, and prison overcrowding.

Often described as a public policy “bible,” Weimer and Vining remains the essential primer it ever was. Now in its sixth edition, Policy Analysis provides a strong conceptual foundation of the rationales for and the limitations to public policy. It offers practical advice about how to do policy analysis, but goes a bit deeper to demonstrate the application of advanced analytical techniques through the use of case studies. Updates to this edition include: A chapter dedicated to distinguishing between policy analysis, policy research, stakeholder analysis, and research about the policy process. An extensively updated chapter on policy problems as market and governmental failure that explores the popularity of Uber and its consequences. The presentation of a property rights perspective in the chapter on government supply to help show the goal tensions that arise from mixed ownership. An entirely new chapter on performing analysis from the perspective of a public agency and a particular program within the agency’s portfolio: public agency strategic analysis (PASA). A substantially rewritten chapter on cost–benefit analysis, to better prepare students to become producers and consumers of the types of cost–benefit analyses they will encounter in regulatory analysis and social policy careers. A new introductory case with a debriefing that provides advice to help students immediately begin work on their own projects. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practices remains a comprehensive, serious, and rich introduction to policy analysis for students in public policy, public administration, and business programs.

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.