With the right information, we can develop public policies that work better.
Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, Eighth Edition helps students understand how and why policy analysis is used to assess policy alternatives. The text encourages them to not only question the assumptions of policy analysts, but also recognize how various strategies are used in support of political arguments.
Table of Content
Part I: The Study of Public Policy
Chapter 1: Public Policy and Politics
What Is Public Policy?
Defining Basic Concepts
Why Study Public Policy?
The Contexts of Public Policy
The Reasons for Government Involvement
The Practice of Policy Analysis
Chapter 2: Government Institutions and Policy Actors
Growth of Government
Government Institutions and Policy Capacity
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Informal Policy Actors and Policy Capacity
Improving Policy Capacity
Chapter 3: Understanding Public Policymaking
Theories of Politics and Public Policy
The Policy Process Model
Instruments of Public Policy
Policy Typologies
Part II: Analyzing Public Policy
Chapter 4: Policy Analysis: An Introduction
The Nature of Policy Analysis
Steps in the Policy Analysis Process
Types of Policy Analysis
What Kind of Analysis Is Needed?
Chapter 5: Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
Problem Analysis
How to Find Information
Constructing Alternatives
Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Chapter 6: Assessing Policy Alternatives
Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals
Using the Methods of Policy Analysis
Economic Approaches
Decision-Making and Impacts
Political and Institutional Approaches
Ethical Analysis
Part III: Issues and Controversies in Public Policy
Chapter 7: Economic and Budgetary Policy
Goals of Economic Policy
Tools of Economic Policy
The Budget Process and Its Effect on Economic Policy
Economic Policy: Successes and Failures
Economic Issues and Challenges
Deficits and Debt
Focused Discussion: Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery
Chapter 8: Health Care Policy
Major Government Health Care Programs
Other Health Care Policy Issues
Rising Health Care Costs
Managed Care Organizations
Reducing Health Care Costs
Quality of Care
Focused Discussion: Should There Be Greater Emphasis on Preventive Health Care?
Chapter 9: Welfare and Social Security Policy
Social Security
Welfare
Focused Discussion: Can We Do Better? Addressing Poverty
Chapter 10: Education Policy
Problems Facing Education
Education Policy Reforms
Higher Education Issues
Focused Discussion: Higher Education Affordability, Cost, and Value
Chapter 11: Environmental and Energy Policy
The Evolution of Environmental and Energy Policy
From Consensus to Conflict in Environmental Policy
Major Federal Environmental Policies
Energy Policy
Focused Discussion: Climate Change and Energy Policy Alternatives
Chapter 12: Foreign Policy and Homeland Security
Background and Policy Evolution
Selected Issues in Homeland Security
Focused Discussion: Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism
Part IV: Conclusions
Chapter 13: Politics, Analysis, and Policy Choice
Policy Analysis, Citizen Participation, and Policy Change
Public Policies and Their Impacts
Policy Analysis and Policy Choices
Citizen Participation in Decision-Making
About the author
Scott R. Furlong is provost/vice president for academicaffairs at the State University of New York at Oswego asof July 2017, after serving ten years as dean of the Collegeof Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and professorof political science and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. His areas of expertise are regulatorypolicy and interest group participation in the executivebranch, and he has taught public policy for over twentyyears. He is the author or coauthor of many book chaptersand coauthor of Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Laws and Make Policy, 5th ed. (2019), with Cornelius M. Kerwin. His articles have appeared in such journals as Public Administration Review, Journalof Public Administration Research and Theory, Administration and Society, American Review of Public Administration, and Policy Studies Journal.
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