Download or read book Interrogating Public Policy Theory written by Linda Courtenay Botterill and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book questions the way policy making has been distanced from politics in prevailing theories of the policy process, and highlights the frequently overlooked ubiquity of values and values conflicts in politics and policy. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of current theories, reviews the illusions of rationalism in politics, and explores the way values are implicated throughout the democratic process, from voter choice to policy decisions. It argues that our understanding of public policy is enhanced by recognizing its intrinsically political and value-laden nature.

Download or read book Public Policy Values written by J. Stewart and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More and more policy issues involve issues that are explicitly values-based, yet public policy analysis tends to skirt around the question of values. Public Policy Values overcomes this reluctance by showing how public policies enable values-choices to be made, often without seeming to do so.

Download or read book Politics Values And Public Policy written by Frank Fischer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressed to the growing concerns about norms and values in policy assessment, this study develops a methodology for the political evaluation of public policy. It is designed to move policy evaluation beyond its current emphasis on efficient achievement of goals, focusing instead on the assessment of the acceptability of the goals themselves, emplo

Download or read book Culture and Values at the Heart of Policy Making written by Muers, Stephen and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2020-07-08 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do so many government policies fail to achieve their objectives? Why are our political leaders not held to account for policy failures? Drawing on his years of experience as a senior government policy maker, as well as on global research, Stephen Muers uses examples ranging from the collapse of the Soviet Union to Cold War Germany, the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum to expose the crucial impact culture and values have on policy success and political accountability. This illuminating study sets out why policy makers need to take culture seriously, how culture and values shape the political system and presents essential, practical recommendations for what governments should do differently.

Download or read book Public Values and Public Interest written by Barry Bozeman and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2007-10-24 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic individualism and market-based values dominate today's policymaking and public management circles—often at the expense of the common good. In his new book, Barry Bozeman demonstrates the continuing need for public interest theory in government. Public Values and Public Interest offers a direct theoretical challenge to the "utility of economic individualism," the prevailing political theory in the western world. The book's arguments are steeped in a practical and practicable theory that advances public interest as a viable and important measure in any analysis of policy or public administration. According to Bozeman, public interest theory offers a dynamic and flexible approach that easily adapts to changing situations and balances today's market-driven attitudes with the concepts of common good advocated by Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and John Dewey. In constructing the case for adopting a new governmental paradigm based on what he terms "managing publicness," Bozeman demonstrates why economic indices alone fail to adequately value social choice in many cases. He explores the implications of privatization of a wide array of governmental services—among them Social Security, defense, prisons, and water supplies. Bozeman constructs analyses from both perspectives in an extended study of genetically modified crops to compare the policy outcomes using different core values and questions the public value of engaging in the practice solely for the sake of cheaper food. Thoughtful, challenging, and timely, Public Values and Public Interest shows how the quest for fairness can once again play a full part in public policy debates and public administration.

Download or read book The Politics of Values written by Jo Renee Formicola and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2008 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Politics of Values examines the emergence, climax, and gradual erosion of the symbiotic relationship between the Republican Party and the Evangelicals from 1998 to 2008. It argues that their similar, conservative, social values tied them together in moral, ideological, and partisan ways during the last decade, thus jeopardizing the principle of the separation of church and state and doing irreparable harm to the American political process.

Download or read book The Political Value of Time written by Elizabeth F. Cohen and published by . This book was released on 2018-03 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyses of why precise dates and quantities of time become critical to transactions over citizenship rights in liberal democracies.

Download or read book Handbook of Public Policy Analysis written by Frank Fischer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of public policy and the methods of policy analysis are among the most rapidly developing areas in the social sciences. Policy analysis has emerged to provide a better understanding of the policymaking process and to supply decision makers with reliable policy-relevant knowledge about pressing economic and social problems. Presenting a broad, comprehensive perspective, the Handbook of Public Policy Analysis: Theory, Politics, and Methods covers the historical development of policy analysis, its role in the policy process, and empirical methods. The handbook considers the theory generated by these methods and the normative and ethical issues surrounding their practice. Written by leading experts in the field, this book- Deals with the basic origins and evolution of public policy Examines the stages of the policy-making process Identifies political advocacy and expertise in the policy process Focuses on rationality in policy decision-making and the role of policy networks and learning Details argumentation, rhetoric, and narratives Explores the comparative, cultural, and ethical aspects of public policy Explains primary quantitative-oriented analytical methods employed in policy research Addresses the qualitative sides of policy analysis Discusses tools used to refine policy choices Traces the development of policy analysis in selected national contexts The Handbook of Public Policy Analysis: Theory, Politics, and Methods describes the theoretical debates that have recently defined the field, including the work of postpositivist, interpretivist, and social constructionist scholars. This book also explores the interplay between empirical and normative analysis, a crucial issue running through contemporary debates.

Download or read book Public Policy in the United States written by Rushefsky and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This widely respected book offers a unique dualistic view of the policy process. First, it introduces readers to the American approach to public policy making as it has been shaped by our political institutions, changing circumstances, and ideology. Second, it informs readers concisely and even-handedly about U.S. policies in eight major policy realms, with well selected illustrations, case studies, and study questions. In addition to providing analytical tools and empirical information, the book imparts an appreciation of the widely shared but often competing values that must be balanced and rebalanced in the ongoing policy-making process, affecting issues of the highest concern to the American public. For this new edition, all of the policy chapters, especially those on economic policy, foreign policy, the environment, and education, have been very substantially revised and updated.

Download or read book The World of the Policy Analyst written by Robert A. Heineman and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At all levels of government and at every stage of the policy process, analytical studies have remained distant from the power centers where decisions are made. This updated and expanded text has two purposes: to contribute to a more realistic understanding of policy analysis by examining the normative assumptions that are involved in its use; and to explore the essential elements of the policy process with which analysts must work to make their efforts count.

Download or read book Political Peoplehood written by Rogers M. Smith and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-09-11 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than three decades, Rogers M. Smith has been one of the leading scholars of the role of ideas in American politics, policies, and history. Over time, he has developed the concept of “political peoples,” a category that is much broader and more fluid than legal citizenship, enabling Smith to offer rich new analyses of political communities, governing institutions, public policies, and moral debates. This book gathers Smith’s most important writings on peoplehood to build a coherent theoretical and historical account of what peoplehood has meant in American political life, informed by frequent comparisons to other political societies. From the revolutionary-era adoption of individual rights rhetoric to today’s battles over the place of immigrants in a rapidly diversifying American society, Smith shows how modern America’s growing embrace of overlapping identities is in tension with the providentialism and exceptionalism that continue to make up so much of what many believe it means to be an American. A major work that brings a lifetime of thought to bear on questions that are as urgent now as they have ever been, Political Peoplehood will be essential reading for social scientists, political philosophers, policy analysts, and historians alike.

Download or read book Creating Public Value written by Mark H. Moore and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1997-03-25 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A seminal figure in the field of public management, Mark H. Moore presents his summation of fifteen years of research, observation, and teaching about what public sector executives should do to improve the performance of public enterprises. Useful for both practicing public executives and those who teach them, this book explicates some of the richest of several hundred cases used at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and illuminates their broader lessons for government managers. Moore addresses four questions that have long bedeviled public administration: What should citizens and their representatives expect and demand from public executives? What sources can public managers consult to learn what is valuable for them to produce? How should public managers cope with inconsistent and fickle political mandates? How can public managers find room to innovate? Moore’s answers respond to the well-understood difficulties of managing public enterprises in modern society by recommending specific, concrete changes in the practices of individual public managers: how they envision what is valuable to produce, how they engage their political overseers, and how they deliver services and fulfill obligations to clients. Following Moore’s cases, we witness dilemmas faced by a cross-section of public managers: William Ruckelshaus and the Environmental Protection Agency; Jerome Miller and the Department of Youth Services; Miles Mahoney and the Park Plaza Redevelopment Project; David Sencer and the swine flu scare; Lee Brown and the Houston Police Department; Harry Spence and the Boston Housing Authority. Their work, together with Moore’s analysis, reveals how public managers can achieve their true goal of producing public value.

Download or read book Understanding Public Policy written by Thomas R. Dye and published by Prentice Hall. This book was released on 1981 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This leading introduction to public policy is designed to provide learners with concrete tools for not only understanding public policy in general, but for analyzing "specific" public policies. It focuses on "what" policies governments pursue, "why" governments pursue the policies they do, and what the "consequences" of these policies are. Very contemporary in perspective, it introduces eight analytical models currently used by political scientists to describe and explain political life and then, using these various analytical models-- singly and in combination-- explores specific public policies in a variety of key domestic policy areas. For individuals interested in a summary of current public policy in a variety of areas.

Download or read book American Values written by Laurence O'Rourke and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-10 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the measurement of three values that scholars consider critical values in American political culture. My research employed in-depth interviews to explore how individuals think about the values of limited government, moral traditionalism and equality. The research used the values battery of questions in the National Election Studies (NES) as a starting point. The NES survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, has asked a battery of questions related to values for decades, providing a comprehensive time series measurement of the values of the public in the United States. The research described in this book advances the study of public opinion by systematically evaluating the sources of instability in the measurement of values. Chapter 1 reviews research on how values and ideology structure public opinion. What are the most important values for understanding public opinion? Do core values serve as an anchor for many specific attitudes? The next three chapters explore how individuals think about each value. Chapter 2 explores the value of limited government through in-depth interviews. What is limited government? Should the scale of government be expanded to address social problems or guarantee jobs? What does the public believe about why and how government power should be limited? Whether a respondent used an individual or a social frame of reference to think about limited government often affected how they answered this question. Consideration of different types of government programs or parts of the government also could affect how individuals answered. Chapter 3 discusses moral traditionalism. A number of questions are addressed, including the following: Are moral beliefs absolute? Should different moral systems be tolerated? What is tolerance? Should morality change with the times? How important are traditional family ties? Are new lifestyles leading to the breakdown of society? Individuals were conflicted when they considered different meanings of what tolerance was and who it should be applied to. Chapter 4 explores the value of equality through discussions of many specific questions, including: What is equality? Would society be better off with more equality? Can equal rights be pushed too far? For equality, individuals were often conflicted between different dimensions of equality, including equality before the law, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. Chapter 5 provides conclusions on why the public is so conflicted about their own core values. How do people think about and define values as they answer survey questions? What are the sources of instability in the values expressed by the public and what are the implications for American politics and public policy? About the Author Laurence O'Rourke is a public policy consultant at ICF, where he engages in multidisciplinary research on transportation, energy and environmental policy issues. He writes about a range of issues associated with public policy and governance. He is also the author of the book "Great Debates in American Political Science" as well as numerous journal articles, conference papers and reports on a range of public policy issues. He obtained his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in Government from Johns Hopkins University.

Download or read book The Public Clash of Private Values written by Christopher Z. Mooney and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abortion, capital punishment, gambling, homosexual rights, pornography, physician assisted suicide, and sex education are among the most controversial issues facing public policymakers today. All involve controversial questions of first principle that render public policy no less than legal sanctions of right or wrong, or morality policy. Mooney brings together top researchers in the field to explore the unique characteristics and politics of morality policy. The result is a definition of the current state of knowledge in the field and a guideline for future observation.

Download or read book Public Policy Making written by Larry N. Gerston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief text identifies the issues, resources, actors, and institutions involved in public policy making and traces the dynamics of the policymaking process, including the triggering of issue awareness, the emergence of an issue on the public agenda, the formation of a policy commitment, and the implementation process that translates policy into practice. Throughout the text, which has been revised and updated, Gerston brings his analysis to life with abundant examples from the most recent and emblematic cases of public policy making. At the same time, with well-chosen references, he places policy analysis in the context of political science and deftly orients readers to the classics of public policy studies. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading.

Download or read book The Politics of Evidence written by Justin Parkhurst and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. There has been an enormous increase in interest in the use of evidence for public policymaking, but the vast majority of work on the subject has failed to engage with the political nature of decision making and how this influences the ways in which evidence will be used (or misused) within political areas. This book provides new insights into the nature of political bias with regards to evidence and critically considers what an ‘improved’ use of evidence would look like from a policymaking perspective. Part I describes the great potential for evidence to help achieve social goals, as well as the challenges raised by the political nature of policymaking. It explores the concern of evidence advocates that political interests drive the misuse or manipulation of evidence, as well as counter-concerns of critical policy scholars about how appeals to ‘evidence-based policy’ can depoliticise political debates. Both concerns reflect forms of bias – the first representing technical bias, whereby evidence use violates principles of scientific best practice, and the second representing issue bias in how appeals to evidence can shift political debates to particular questions or marginalise policy-relevant social concerns. Part II then draws on the fields of policy studies and cognitive psychology to understand the origins and mechanisms of both forms of bias in relation to political interests and values. It illustrates how such biases are not only common, but can be much more predictable once we recognise their origins and manifestations in policy arenas. Finally, Part III discusses ways to move forward for those seeking to improve the use of evidence in public policymaking. It explores what constitutes ‘good evidence for policy’, as well as the ‘good use of evidence’ within policy processes, and considers how to build evidence-advisory institutions that embed key principles of both scientific good practice and democratic representation. Taken as a whole, the approach promoted is termed the ‘good governance of evidence’ – a concept that represents the use of rigorous, systematic and technically valid pieces of evidence within decision-making processes that are representative of, and accountable to, populations served.