Download or read book The Public Option written by Ganesh Sitaraman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-01 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A solution to inequalities wherever we look—in health care, secure retirement, education—is as close as the public library. Or the post office, community pool, or local elementary school. Public options—reasonably priced government-provided services that coexist with private options—are all around us, ready to increase opportunity, expand freedom, and reawaken civic engagement if we will only let them. Whenever you go to your local public library, send mail via the post office, or visit Yosemite, you are taking advantage of a longstanding American tradition: the public option. Some of the most useful and beloved institutions in American life are public options—yet they are seldom celebrated as such. These government-supported opportunities coexist peaceably alongside private options, ensuring equal access and expanding opportunity for all. Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne Alstott challenge decades of received wisdom about the proper role of government and consider the vast improvements that could come from the expansion of public options. Far from illustrating the impossibility of effective government services, as their critics claim, public options hold the potential to transform American civic life, offering a wealth of solutions to seemingly intractable problems, from housing shortages to the escalating cost of health care. Imagine a low-cost, high-quality public option for child care. Or an extension of the excellent Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees to all Americans. Or every person having access to an account at the Federal Reserve Bank, with no fees and no minimums. From broadband internet to higher education, The Public Option reveals smart new ways to meet pressing public needs while spurring healthy competition. More effective than vouchers or tax credits, public options could offer us all fairer choices and greater security.

Download or read book Public Policy written by Michael E. Kraft and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2017-04-28 with total page 840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, students come to understand how and why policy analysis is used to assess policy alternatives. To encourage critical and creative thinking on issues ranging from the federal deficit to health care reform to climate change, authors Michael Kraft and Scott Furlong introduce and fully integrate an evaluative approach to policy. The Sixth Edition of Public Policy offers a fully revised, concise review of institutions, policy actors, and major theoretical models as well as a discussion of the nature of policy analysis and its practice. Both the exposition and data have been updated to reflect major policy controversies and developments through the end of 2016, including new priorities of the Donald Trump administration.

Download or read book Politics and Public Policy written by Carl E. Van Horn and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2001-02 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Break with convention - An original look at policymaking Policymaking is a messy business. It entails more than the traditional policy cycle discussed in most textbooks. And it involves more than presidents and members of Congress. Judges, bureaucrats, corporate leaders, journalists, and voters all influence and participate in the process, and at all levels of government. Each group practices a different kind of politics, which very often results in different policies and outcomes. By looking at six distinct, yet connected, policy domains, your students will see a more comprehensive and realistic view of policymaking: Boardroom Politics - decisions by professional and business leaders Bureaucratic Politics - rule-making and adjudication by administrators Cloakroom Politics - lawmaking by legislators Chief Executive Politics - decision making by presidents, governors, mayors, and their advisers Courtroom Politics - rulings by judges Living Room Politics - opinions expressed by and through the mass media, grassroots movements, political activists, and voters Policymakers are faced with tough choices. With this text, students are better prepared to evaluate their leaders' performance given the book'ss unique framework linking how policies are chosen with what policy is chosen. Thoroughly updated to reflect the issues of the early 21st century, this new edition also incorporates new and important scholarship. Recommended for classes in: Public Policy and American Government

Download or read book Funding Public Schools written by Kenneth K. Wong and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the fundamental role of politics in funding our public schools and fills a conceptual imbalance in the current literature in school finance and educational policy. Unlike those who are primarily concerned about cost efficiency, Kenneth Wong specifies how resources are allocated for what purposes at different levels of the government. In contrast to those who focus on litigation as a way to reduce funding gaps, he underscores institutional stalemate and the lack of political will to act as important factors that affect legislative deadlock in school finance reform. Wong defines how politics has sustained various types of "rules" that affect the allocation of resources at the federal, state, and local level. While these rules have been remarkably stable over the past twenty to thirty years, they have often worked at cross-purposes by fragmenting policy and constraining the education process at schools with the greatest needs. Wong's examination is shaped by several questions. How do these rules come about? What role does politics play in retention of the rules? Do the federal, state, and local governments espouse different policies? In what ways do these policies operate at cross-purposes? How do they affect educational opportunities? Do the policies cohere in ways that promote better and more equitable student outcomes? Wong concludes that the five types of entrenched rules for resource allocation are rooted in existing governance arrangements and seemingly impervious to partisan shifts, interest group pressures, and constitutional challenge. And because these rules foster policy fragmentation and embody initiatives out of step with the performance-based reform agenda of the 1990s, the outlook for positive change in public education is uncertain unless fairly radical approaches are employed. Wong also analyzes four allocative reform models, two based on the assumption that existing political structures are unlikely to change and two that seek to empower actors at the school level. The two models for systemwide restructuring, aimed at intergovernmental coordination and/or integrated governance, would seek to clarify responsibilities for public education among federal, state, and local authorities-above all, integrating political and educational accountability. The other two models identified by Wong shift control from state and district to the school, one based on local leadership and the other based on market forces. In discussing the guiding principles of the four models, Wong takes care to identify both the potential and limitations of each. Written with a broad policy audience in mind, Wong's book should appeal to professionals interested in the politics of educational reform and to teachers of courses dealing with educational policy and administration and intergovernmental relations.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy written by Michael Moran and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008-06-12 with total page 997 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is part of a ten volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science. This work explores the business end of politics, where theory meets practice in the pursuit of public good.

Download or read book Public Choices and Policy Change written by Merilee S. Grindle and published by . This book was released on 1991-04 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Public Matters written by William Arthur Galston and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virtual enterprises and mobile computing are emerging as innovative responses to the challenges of doing business in an increasingly mobile and global marketplace. In this rapidly changing environment, it is critical to focus on the fundamental technological aspects that enable the concept of pervasive computing. Mobil Computing: Implementing Pervasive Information and Communication Technologies is designed to address some of the business and technical challenges of pervasive computing that encompass current and emerging technology standards, infrastructures and architectures, and innovative and high impact applications of mobile technologies in virtual enterprises. The various articles examine a host of issues including: the challenges and current solutions in mobile connectivity and coordination; management infrastructures; innovative architectures for fourth generation wireless and Ad-hoc networks; error-free frequency assignments for wireless communication; cost-effective wavelength assignments in optical communication networks; data and transaction modeling in a mobile environment, and bandwidth issues and data routing in mobile Ad-hoc networks. The book is organized around four categories of mobile and pervasive computing and technologies: (1) business and management, (2) architecture, (3) communication, and (4) computing. The first three chapters focus on the business aspects of mobile computing and virtual organization. The fourth chapter lays out an architecture for a fourth generation wireless network. Chapters 5 and 6 are geared towards communication technology, both wireless and wireline. Chapter 7 is a taxonomy of data management environments in mobile computing and Chapter 8 is a review article on data and transaction management and research directions in this area. Finally, Chapter 9 addresses various routing strategies for the seamless switching between mobile hosts in an Ad-hoc network. The primary audience for this book is industry practitioners, university faculty, independent researchers and graduate students. The articles have a mix of current and successful efforts, innovative ideas on providing the infrastructure support, and open problems-both conceptual and experimental. People in the academic as well as industry can benefit from this book. All the articles have gone through a peer review process. It is anticipated that the book will act as a single, consolidated source of information on the cutting edge of pervasive computing technologies.

Download or read book Public Policy written by Charles L. Cochran and published by Lynne Rienner Pub. This book was released on 2014 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drones. Obamacare. Immigration. The economy. Gun control. Topics in the news on a daily basis, all the subject of heated policy debates. This new edition of Public Policy: Perspectives and Choices thoroughly revised to reflect a half-decade of significant changes in the policy environment¿is designed to give students the tools that they need to analyze and assess the nation's public policies for years to come. The authors combine a clear explanation of the basic concepts and methods of the policymaking process with a keen focus on how values influence policy choices. They then apply this foundation to a range of policy areas. The fully updated text: presents complicated ideas in an accessible way; engages with controversies, bringing the study of public policy alive; draws on a wealth of real world examples; provides balanced consideration of liberal and conservative policy positions; and emphasizes the relationship between individual and national interests. The result is an ideal combination of theory and practice for effectively teaching public policy.

Download or read book Power Knowledge and Politics written by John A. Hird and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2005-03-29 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If knowledge is power, then John Hird has opened the doors for anyone interested in public policymaking and policy analysis on the state level. A beginning question might be: does politics put gasoline or sugar in the tank? More specifically, in a highly partisan political environment, is nonpartisan expertise useful to policymaking? Do policy analysts play a meaningful role in decision making? Does policy expertise promote democratic decision making? Does it vest power in an unelected and unaccountable elite, or does it become co-opted by political actors and circumstances? Is it used to make substantive changes or just for window-dressing? In a unique comparative focus on state policy, Power, Knowledge, and Politics dissects the nature of the policy institutions that policymakers establish and analyzes the connection between policy research and how it is actually used in decision making. Hird probes the effects of politics and political institutions—parties, state political culture and dynamics, legislative and gubernatorial staffing, partisan think tanks, interest groups—on the nature and conduct of nonpartisan policy analysis. Through a comparative examination of institutions and testing theories of the use of policy analysis, Hird draws conclusions that are more useful than those derived from single cases. Hird examines nonpartisan policy research organizations established by and operating in U.S. state legislatures—one of the most intense of political environments—to determine whether and how nonpartisan policy research can survive in that harsh climate. By first detailing how nonpartisan policy analysis organizations came to be and what they do, and then determining what state legislators want from them, he presents a rigorous statistical analysis of those agencies in all 50 states and from a survey of 800 state legislators. This thoroughly comprehensive look at policymaking at the state level concludes that nonpartisan policy analysis institutions can play an important role—as long as they remain scrupulously nonpartisan.

Download or read book Public Policy Analysis written by Kenneth N. Bickers and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text gives students a framework for analyzing public policy choices. The unique "political economy" approach focuses on the institutions and market processes that contribute to the solving of public problems.

Download or read book Political Economy for Public Policy written by Ethan Bueno de Mesquita and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ideal introductory textbook to the politics of the policymaking process This textbook uses modern political economy to introduce students of political science, government, economics, and public policy to the politics of the policymaking process. The book's distinct political economy approach has two virtues. By developing general principles for thinking about policymaking, it can be applied across a range of issue areas. It also unifies the policy curriculum, offering coherence to standard methods for teaching economics and statistics, and drawing connections between fields. The book begins by exploring the normative foundations of policymaking—political theory, social choice theory, and the Paretian and utilitarian underpinnings of policy analysis. It then introduces game theoretic models of social dilemmas—externalities, coordination problems, and commitment problems—that create opportunities for policy to improve social welfare. Finally, it shows how the political process creates technological and incentive constraints on government that shape policy outcomes. Throughout, concepts and models are illustrated and reinforced with discussions of empirical evidence and case studies. This textbook is essential for all students of public policy and for anyone interested in the most current methods influencing policymaking today. Comprehensive approach to politics and policy suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students Models unify policy curriculum through methodological coherence Exercises at the end of every chapter Self-contained appendices cover necessary game theory Extensive discussion of cases and applications

Download or read book How Local Politics Shape Federal Policy written by Sarah S. Elkind and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on five Los Angeles environmental policy debates between 1920 and 1950, Sarah Elkind investigates how practices in American municipal government gave business groups political legitimacy at the local level as well as unanticipated influence over

Download or read book Comparing Public Policies written by Jessica R. Adolino and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2010-01-05 with total page 587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of comparative public policy reveals the intensely political nature of policy choices. While policy analysts often look to policy successes and failures outside their borders to draw valuable lessons and insights, cultural, economic, political, and institutional conditions vary from country to country and strongly affect how policy analysis is ultimately used. By combining a conceptual discussion of policy making with an examination of seven specific policy areas, Jessica Adolino and Charles Blake show how politics—in the realm of the environment, education, taxation, economics, immigration, health care, and social welfare—shapes policy choices. The second edition of Comparing Public Policies has been revised and updated to reflect the most recent political and policy developments. This new edition expands coverage of the internationalization of domestic policy making by including a European Union case study in each issue area, along with further discussion of the role of international interest groups in the policy process. The seven policy chapters have been revised and updated to examine current issues in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the European Union, such as: the heightened calls for immigration policy reform the return to higher budget deficits in several countries the efforts to lower tax rates in countries with falling expenditures and in countries with rising spending levels the often unsuccessful attempts to control increasing health care costs in countries with aging populations the spirited debate over the future role of the welfare state in an increasingly globalized economy the, at times, divergent education reform debates regarding the role of assessment and calls for decentralization the uneven environmental performance in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions Chapters include analyses of crossnational trends—past and present—and a final chapter reexamines the internationalization of public policy in industrialized countries. Useful pedagogical features have been incorporated throughout the text, including "In Depth" boxes that offer detailed discussion of the political process or analytical techniques, and "Country At-a-Glance" boxes that provide quick reference to political institutions. A wealth of recent data is displayed in numerous tables and a glossary gives students a practical guide to terminology.

Download or read book Politics Policy and Public Options written by Ganesh Sitaraman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A public option is a government-provided social good that exists alongside a similar privately provided good. While the public option is typically identified with health care policy, public options have been a longstanding feature of American life in a variety of sectors, ranging from libraries to swimming pools. Public schools, for example, coexist alongside private schools. However, there is surprisingly little research on 'public options' as a general category. Rather, over the last few decades, considerable scholarly and popular efforts to ensure access to important social goods have focused on market subsidies (like vouchers) or privatization – which both face increasing criticism. Uniting scholars from across disciplines, this volume delves into the theory of the public option, explores several important case studies, and shows how public options could be a corrective to the trend toward privatization and subsidies. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book Prevention Policy and Public Health written by Amy A. Eyler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prevention, Policy, and Public Health provides a basic foundation for students, professionals, and researchers to be more effective in the policy arena. It offers information on the dynamics of the policymaking process, theoretical frameworks, analysis, and policy applications. It also offers coverage of advocacy and communication, the two most integral aspects of shaping policies for public health.

Download or read book Public Policy written by Charles L. Cochran and published by McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages. This book was released on 1999 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is written with a conviction that public policy is not a value-free subject, and values influence and are influenced by economic realities. The result is a uniquely balanced and very readable text that hooks students. Tackling both the theory and processes of policy-making, the authors do not shrink from controversial issues that come before policy makers, and they present the dichotomy between liberal and conservative issues in policy-making.

Download or read book Agendas Alternatives and Public Policies written by John W. Kingdon and published by Pearson. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does an idea's time come? -- Participants on the inside of government -- Outside of government, but not just looking in -- Processes: origins, rationality, incrementalism, and garbage cans -- Problems -- The policy primeval soup -- The political stream -- The policy window, and joining the streams -- Wrapping things up -- Some further reflections -- Epilogue: Health care reform in the Clinton and Obama Administrations -- Appendix on methods.